87. Insofar as Someone Refrains from Every Form of False Witness as Being a Sin, So Far He Loves Truth
In the natural sense to bear false witness means not only to perjure oneself in court, but also to lie and slander. In the spiritual sense to bear false witness means to say and persuade that falsity is true, and evil good, and the converse. And in the highest sense to bear false witness means to blaspheme the Lord and the Word.
These are what it is to bear false witness in its three levels of meaning.
That they go together in a person swearing falsely, lying and slandering can be seen from what we demonstrated in The Doctrine Regarding the Sacred Scripture 5-7ff., and no. 57, 58, regarding the three levels of meaning of everything in the Word.
