Evidence · Case 12 · Jehovah’s Witnesses
The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5, verses 3 to 4
One exhibit from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Peter tells Ananias he has lied to the Holy Spirit, then says, “You have not lied to men but to God.”
Sources
Objections & responses
- Witnesses reply that lying to God’s active force is lying to God because the force is God’s, as lying to a king’s edict is lying to the king. The verse identifies the Spirit with God; it doesn’t make the Spirit a person.
Acts 5 primarily establishes the Spirit’s deity, and personhood comes from the wider pattern; this verse should not be asked to carry more than it gives. The lying to a force point is suggestive rather than decisive on its own. Personification of wisdom or sin is a real biblical device, but it is occasional and poetic, whereas the Spirit speaks, decides, forbids, is lied to, intercedes, and is called another Advocate by Jesus (John 14:16) in parallel to himself, across narrative, letter, and liturgy. A consistent pattern of personal action across genres is what the argument rests on.