A useful treatise on whether the truth should be spoken or kept silent

by the distinguished religious father, professor of sacred theology, Lord Jacob

of Paradies, professed of the holy Carthusian Order, at the house

of Saint Agnes near Erfurt.

Frequently moved by myself, and incited by others, I pondered in my mind, doubting whether anyone who knows some truth, or that something is true, is obligated under pain of mortal sin, in every place and time indifferently, to confess that same truth which he has conceived in his mind publicly and with an express voice. Others hold different opinions; some say yes, others say no. This is especially true for those who are less experienced in the scriptures and who do not consider the testimonies and examples of truth, which they grasp easily, as if viewing them from afar. Estimating that they are performing a service to God, they indiscreetly express with their voice the truth that they know. It is even possible for them to sin mortally in the expression of the truth, and consequently to diminish their merits where they thought they were accumulating them. For I read in the Holy Scriptures that some have sinned mortally by the expression of the truth. For to no one, even one who understands little, should it be a matter of doubt that Doeg the Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen, who reported the truth to Saul regarding how he had seen David in the city of Nob sacrificing before Ahimelech, and from that expression of truth followed the deaths of many priests, namely eighty-five, and the deaths of the entire population of that same city (1 Kings 22). And many similar examples can be found in the scriptures and in human actions. Similarly, we find it judged that the denunciation of truth was forbidden by Christ in the evangelical majesty, when demons cast out from men were restrained by Him from speaking about the Son of Man, not certainly of anything other than the truth. Similarly, He Himself forbade those healed by Him from telling this to anyone, even though it was the truth and even pertinent to glory. Indeed, even Christ Himself hid the truth and did not wish it to be published, saying, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now, etc." And when they asked to know the truth, He did not wish to reveal it, saying, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father has placed in His own authority." And the angel did not wish to judge the truth for Daniel, who desired to know more than what had been revealed to him, but said, "Go, Daniel, for the words are closed and sealed" (Daniel 12). And the Apostle hides the wisdom of God from disciples who were still immature and did not want to take coarser food, giving them milk to drink and not food (1 Corinthians 3). Behold, the first sinned by telling the truth; Christ hid the truth and forbade the truth to be spoken. Who could not see what great ambiguity can arise from the expression of truth in daily human actions, regarding which anyone can justly hesitate: when, to whom, and how one ought to express the truth? From this motive, I will attempt to undertake a small labor, if, according to the crudeness of my talent and my known ignorance, I might bring something of this knotty ambiguity to light, or perhaps for the purpose of a clearer intellect, to that end, that my reader might be able to distinguish between the vicious and the virtuous expression of truth, and which of these he ought to choose to avoid sin, so that, by not taking one for another, he does not walk the path of error.

Basil. Flach. Hain 9336.
1474 rubric.