Kasz216 said:
Read one line below that Manus. As long as it remained unsold, wasn't it your own? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? So how could you have thought of doing what you did? You didn't lie only to men, but also to God!" He was free to do with the money what he saw fit. The lie was that he said it was all of it... when it wasn't and he promised god it all. Logic + Biblical Scholars > Manus. |
That line, and every other part of the story, says absolutely nothing about Ananias having a choice in how much he donates.
If I sale a house for $100,000 and have to pay a 10% tax on it, I would owe $1,000. However, if I sent the government a check for $500, I would be lying because I did not pay the amount that was required. Nothing is said, the payment itself is simply the lie. This is exactly what happens in the Biblical story, Ananias is required to give all the money from the land he sold to the Apostle, but he only brought forth a portion of it. He was punished because he did not give all of it as he was required and everyone else in the community did.
