Answers from church history on today's questions
What Christian writers said, from about AD 348 to 1930.
48 passages · 17 writers · 7 centuries
Writers say Ananias and Sapphira sold their land and brought part of the price to the apostles while claiming it was the whole. Peter told Ananias he had not lied unto men but unto God, and Calvin, Henry, Owen, and Torrey infer from this that the Holy Ghost is God. Robertson says Satan, the father of lies, filled Ananias's heart with a lie, but Henry says Ananias conceived the sin in his own heart, and Tillotson says his covetousness came first. Barnes calls the deaths a judgment of God designed to show his abhorrence of the sin, Barnes and Maclaren connect them with the purity of the new church, and Calvin says the punishment shows how horrible a judgment remains for all hypocrites. Calvin and Chrysostom note that Sapphira was given a time to repent, and Latimer and Spurgeon draw warnings against lying from the story.
16 passages · 10 writers · 300s to 1900s
Latimer says Ananias and Sapphira kept back part of the money and brought the rest to Peter as the whole, and Ambrose says Ananias laid part of the price at the apostles' feet, pretending it was the whole. Henry says Ananias told a deliberate lie with a purpose to deceive. Robertson says Satan filled Ananias's heart with a lie, while Henry says Ananias conceived the thing in his own heart.
c. 348–351 · Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Catecheses ad illuminandos 1-18) 16.17
Peter was not with Ananias and Sapphira when they sold their possessions, but he was present by the Spirit; Why, he says, hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? There was no accuser; there was no witness; whence knew he what had happened? Whiles it remained was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?
c. 388–390 · Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy (De officiis) 3.11.74
What is clearer, however, on this point than the case of Ananias? He acted falsely as regards the price he got for his land, for he sold it and laid at the apostles’ feet part of the price, pretending it was the whole amount. For this he perished as guilty of fraud.
c. 400–401 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 12
Do you see that this is the charge brought against Ananias, that having made the money sacred, he afterwards secreted it? Couldest thou not, said Peter, after selling thy land, use the proceeds as thine own?
c. 400–401 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 12
The woman he would fain save, for the man had been the author of the sin: therefore he gives her time to clear herself, and opportunity for repentance, saying, “Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Holy Ghost? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then she fell down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost; and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
1552 · John Calvin, Commentary on Acts, part 1 (chapters 1-13) 5.7
Neither was Sapphira provoked by the sight of her husband to dissemble, (as it falleth out oftentimes,) that the fault could be ascribed to shamefacedness, but of her own accord, and being pricked forward by no other means, she seemeth to be no better than her husband. Moreover, their wickedness in lying was like, forasmuch as she may see by Peter’s interrogation that their guile was found out.
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
] Ananias told a lie, a deliberate lie, and with a purpose to deceive; he told Peter that he had sold a possession (house or lands) and this was the purchase-money. Perhaps he expressed himself in words that were capable of a double meaning, used some equivocations about it, which he thought might palliate the matter a little, and save him from the guilt of a downright lie: or perhaps he said nothing; but it was all one, he did as the rest did who brought the whole price, and would be thought to do so, and expected the praise those had that did so, and the same privilege and access to the common stock as they had; and therefore it was an implicit protestation that he brought the whole price, as they did; and this was a lie, for he kept back part. Note, Many are brought to gross lying by reigning pride, and affectation of the applause of men, particularly in works of charity to the poor.
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
Ananias and Sapphira pretended they could come up to the terms, that they might have the credit of being disciples, when really they could not, and so were a discredit to discipleship. Note, It is often of fatal consequence for people to go a greater length in profession than their inward principle will admit of. 2. That they were covetous of the wealth of the world, and distrustful of God and his providence: They sold their land, and perhaps then, in a pang of zeal, designed no other than to dedicate the whole of the purchase-money to pious uses, and made a vow, or at least conceived a full purpose, to do so; but, when the money was received, their heart failed them, and they kept back part of the price, (v. 2), because they loved the money, and thought it was too much to part with at once, and to trust in the apostles' hands, and because they knew not but they might want it themselves; though now all things were common, yet it would not be so long, and what should they do in a time of need, if they should leave themselves nothing to take to?
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
When he brought the money, and expected to be commended and encouraged, as others were, Peter took him to task about it, He, without any enquiry or examination of witnesses concerning it, charges him peremptorily with the crime, and aggravates it, and lays a load upon him for it, showing it to him in its own colour, v. 3, 4. The Spirit of God in Peter not only discovered the fact without any information (when perhaps no man in the world knew it but the man and his wife themselves), but likewise discerned the principle of reigning infidelity in the heart of Ananias, which was at the bottom of it, and therefore proceeded against him so suddenly. Had it been a sin of infirmity, through the surprise of a temptation, Peter would have taken Ananias aside, and have bidden him go home, and fetch the rest of the money, and repent of his folly in attempting to put this cheat upon them; but he knew that his heart was fully set in him to do this evil, and therefore allowed him not space to repent.
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
She was found guilty of sharing with her husband in his sin, by a question that Peter asked her (v. 8): Tell me whether you sold the land for so much? naming the sum which Ananias had brought and laid at the apostles' feet. "Was this all you received for the sale of the land, and had you no more for it?" "No," saith she, "we had no more, but that was every farthing we received."
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
All this guilt, thus aggravated, is charged upon him: Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Observe, Though Satan filled his heart to do it, yet he is said to have conceived it in his own heart, which shows that we cannot extenuate our sins by laying the fault of them upon the devil; he tempts, but he cannot force; it is of our own lusts that we are drawn away and enticed. The evil thing, whatever it is, that is said or done, the sinner has conceived it in his own heart; and therefore, if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. The close of the charge is very high, but very just: Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
1820 · John Tillotson, Works, Volume 5 115
Satan is said to have “filled the heart of Ananias, to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price” for which he had sold his estate; which expressions do seem to intimate to us, some more immediate power and influence which the devil had upon those persons: but then it is very observable, that this power is never ascribed to the devil, but in the case of great and horrid sins, and where men are beforehand notoriously depraved; and either by the actual commission of some former great sin, or by entertaining some very wicked design, have provoked God to permit the devil a nearer access to them. For Judas had first taken counsel how to betray Christ, before it is said the devil entered into him, to push him on to the execution of it. And Ananias’s covetousness had first tempted him to keep back part of his estate, before it is said the devil filled his heart to lie to the Holy Ghost; so that what power the devil hath over men, they first give it him; they consent to his outward temptations, before he can get within them.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Acts 5.2
And kept back - The word used here means properly "to separate, to part:" and then it means to "separate surreptitiously or clandestinely for our own use" a part of public property, as taxes, etc. It is used but three times in the New Testament, Act 5:3, and in Tit 2:10, where it is rendered "purloining." Here it means that they "secretly" kept back a part, while "professedly" devoting all to God. His wife also being privy to it - His wife "knowing it," and evidently concurring in it. And laid it at the apostles' feet - This was evidently an act professedly of devoting all to God. Compare Act 4:37; also Act 5:8-9. That this was his "profession," or "pretence," is further implied in the fact that Peter charges him with having "lied" unto God, Act 5:3-4.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Acts 5.3
As this was an act of "falsehood," or an attempt to deceive, it is with great propriety traced to the influence of Satan. The sin of Ananias consisted in his "yielding" to the temptation. Nowhere in the Bible are people supposed to be free from guilt from the mere fact that they have been "tempted" to commit it. God requires them to "resist" temptation; and if they "yield" to it, they must be punished.
1891 · G. T. Stokes, The Expositor's Bible: The Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1 Chapter XI
There is such a thing as acting as well as telling a falsehood. Ananias did not say that the money he brought was the whole price of his land; he simply allowed men to draw this conclusion for themselves, suggesting merely by his conduct that he was doing exactly the same as Barnabas. There was no science of casuistry in the apostolic Church, teaching how near to the borders of a lie a man may go without actually being guilty of lying. The lie of Ananias was a spiritual act, a piece of deception attempted in the abyss of the human soul, and perpetrated, or attempted rather, upon the Holy Spirit. How often men lie after the same example. They do not speak a lie, but they act a lie, throwing dust into the eyes of others as to their real motives and objects, as Ananias did here.
1906 · Hugh Latimer, Sermons prayer.5
Amongst others which sold their goods there was one Ananias and Saphira his wife, two very subtile persons: they went and sold their goods too; but they played a wise part: they would not stand in danger of the losing of all their goods; therefore they agreed together, and took the one part from the money, and laid it up; with the other part they came to Peter, affirming that to be the whole money. For they thought in their hearts, like as all unfaithful men do, “We cannot tell how long this religion shall abide; it is good to be wise, and keep somewhat in store, whatsoever shall happen.”
1930–1933 · A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament: Acts 5.3
Satan the adversary is the father of lies (Joh 8:44 ). He had entered into Judas (Lu 22:3; Joh 13:27 ) and now he has filled the heart of Ananias with a lie. To lie to the Holy Spirit (ψευσασθαι σε το πνευμα το αγιον).
14 passages · 8 writers · 300s to 1900s
Calvin, Henry, Owen, and Torrey take Peter's words 'thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God' to show that the Holy Ghost is God. Barnes says that because a sin was charged against the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit has a personal existence.
380 · Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 34: On the Arrival of the Egyptians 14
With Luke be inspired as you study the Acts of the Apostles. Why do you range yourself with Ananias and Sapphira, those vain embezzlers (if indeed the theft of one’s own property be a vain thing) and that by appropriating, not silver nor any other cheap and worthless thing, like a wedge of gold, or a didrachma, as did of old a rapacious soldier; but stealing the Godhead Itself, and lying, not to men but to God, as you have heard. What? Will you not reverence even the authority of the Spirit Who breathes upon whom, and when, and as He wills?
1552 · John Calvin, Commentary on Acts, part 1 (chapters 1-13) 5.3
For there is no man whose heart is not pricked with the pricks of Satan, and all men are also many ways tempted, yea, these temptations pierce into their minds; but where Satan possesseth the heart, he reigneth in the whole man, having, as it were, expelled God. This is a sign of a reprobate, to be so addicted and given over to Satan, that the Spirit of God hath no place. That which followeth afterward concerning lying may have a double sense; either that he did falsely bear a show of the Spirit, or that he lied against the Spirit. And, indeed, it is word for word mentiri Spiritum; but forasmuch as the Greek word [ψευδεσθαι] is joined with a double accusative case and that doth better agree with the text [context,] I am rather of this mind, that Ananias is reprehended, because he did lie falsely to the Holy Ghost. Which he confirmeth shortly after, when he upbraideth this unto him, that he hath lied unto God, and not unto men.
1552 · John Calvin, Commentary on Acts, part 1 (chapters 1-13) 5.4
Furthermore, we must note, that he saith that he lieth to God who doth lie to the Holy Ghost. For the divinity of the Holy Ghost is manifestly proved by this form of speech.
1657 · John Owen, Of Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 3.8
Acts v. 3, Ananias is said to lie to the Holy Ghost, — not to God; which being taken essentially, would denote the whole Trinity, but peculiarly to the Holy Ghost. Him he was to have honoured peculiarly in that especial gift of his which he made profession of; — not doing it, he sinned peculiarly against him.
1674 · John Owen, Pneumatologia, or a Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit (Books I-V) 1.3
Acts v. 3, Ananias is said to “lie to the Holy Ghost.” This is repeated and interpreted, verse 4, “Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” The declaration of the person intended by the “Holy Ghost” is added for the aggravation of the sin, for he is “God.” The same person, the same object of the sin of Ananias, is expressed in both places; and, therefore, the Holy Ghost is God.
1674 · John Owen, Pneumatologia, or a Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit (Books I-V) 1.3
In like manner, Ananias is said to “lie to the Holy Ghost,” verse 3; and none is capable of lying unto any other but such an one as is capable of hearing and receiving a testimony, for a lie is a false testimony given unto that which is spoken or uttered in it. This he that is lied unto must be capable of judging and determining upon; which without personal properties of will and understanding none can be. And the Holy Ghost is here so declared to be a person as that he is declared to be one that is also divine; for so the apostle Peter declares in the exposition of the words, verse 4, “Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
] He told this lie to the Holy Ghost. It was not so much to the apostles as to the Holy Ghost in them that the money was brought, and that was said which was said, v. 4, Thou hast not lied unto men (not to men only, not to men chiefly, though the apostles be but men), but thou hast lied unto God. Hence it is justly inferred that the Holy Ghost is God; for he that lieth to the Holy Ghost lieth to God.
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
The phrase which we render lying to the Holy Ghost, pseusasthai se to pneuma to hagion, some read, to belie the Holy Ghost, which may be taken two ways: [1.] That he belied the Holy Ghost in himself; so Dr. Lightfoot takes it, and supposes that Ananias was not an ordinary believer, but a minister, and one that had received the gift of the Holy Ghost with the hundred and twenty (for mention is made of him immediately after Barnabas); yet he durst thus, by dissembling, belie and shame that gift. Or thus; Those who had sold their estates, and laid the money at the apostles' feet, did it by the special impulse of the Holy Ghost, enabling them to do an act so very great and generous; and Ananias pretended that he was moved by the Holy Ghost to do what he did, as others were; whereas it appeared by his baseness that he was not under the influence of the good Spirit at all; for, had it been his work, it would have been perfect. [2.] That he belied the Holy Ghost in the apostles, to whom he brought the money; he misrepresented the Spirit they were actuated by, either by a suspicion that they would not faithfully distribute what they were entrusted with (which was a base suggestion, as if they were false to the trust reposed in them), or by an assurance that they could not discover the fraud. He belied the Holy Ghost when by what he did he would have it thought that those who are endued with the gifts of the Holy Ghost might as easily be imposed upon as other men; like Gehazi, whom his master convicted of his error by that word, Went not my heart with thee?
1740 · Jonathan Edwards, Dishonesty; or, the Sin of Theft and of Injustice 4
Ananias and Sapphira were charged with lying to God, and doing an act of fraud towards God himself, in what they did: Acts v. 4. “Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Acts 5.3
We cannot "lie unto" an attribute, or against wisdom, or power, or goodness; nor can we "lie unto" an "influence," merely, of the Most High. Sin is committed against a "Being," not against an "attribute"; and as a sin is here charged on Ananias against "the Holy Spirit," it follows that the Holy Spirit has a "personal" existence, or that there is such a distinction in the divine essence that it may be proper to "specify" a sin as committed especially against him.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Acts 5.4
Thou hast not lied unto men - Unto people "only," or, it is not your "main" and "chief" offence that you have attempted to deceive people. It is true that Ananias "had" attempted to deceive the apostles, and it is true, also, that this was a crime; but still, the principal magnitude of the offence was that he had attempted to deceive "God." So small was his crime as committed against "men" that it was lost sight of by the apostles, and the great, crowning sin of attempting to deceive "God" was brought fully into view. Thus, David also saw his sin as committed against "God" to be so enormous that he lost sight of it as an offence to man, and said, "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight," Psa 51:4.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Acts 5.3
(3) Peter intended, doubtless, to designate an offence as committed particularly against the person, or influence, by which he and the other apostles were inspired. Ananias supposed that he could escape detection, and the offence was one, therefore, against the Inspirer of the apostles.
1872 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 18 (1872) 1035
What a solemn work the Lord did in the early church. That story of Ananias and Sapphira—it is often used most properly to illustrate the danger of lying; but that is not the point of the narrative. Ananias and Sapphira were members of the church at Jerusalem, and they lied not unto men, which would have been sin enough, but in lying to the church officers they lied unto God, and the result was their sudden death.
1910 · R. A. Torrey, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit 2
Thou hast not lied unto men but unto God.” In the first part of this passage we are told that Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit. When this is further explained, we are told it was not unto men but unto God that he had lied in lying to the Holy Spirit, i. e., the Holy Spirit to whom he lied is called God.
18 passages · 10 writers · 300s to 1900s
Henry says the punishment of Ananias was designed to maintain the honour of the Holy Ghost, and Barnes says it was a judgment of God meant to show his abhorrence of the sin. Calvin says the visible punishment of the two declared how horrible a judgment remains for all hypocrites who mock God and his Church. Latimer says to take heed of falsehood and beware of lies, and Spurgeon says it is always a most dangerous thing to lie to God.
c. 386–397 · John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Timothy (In epistulam i ad Timotheum homiliae 1-18) 5
Why then did Peter punish Ananias? Because whilst he was tempting the Holy Ghost, he was still an unbeliever. That the unbelieving therefore might learn that they could not escape, they themselves inflicted punishment upon them; but those who had learnt this, yet afterwards turned aside, they delivered to Satan; showing that they were sustained not by their own power, but by their care for them; and as many as were lifted up into arrogance were delivered to him. For as kings with their own hands slay their enemies, but deliver their subjects to executioners for punishment, so it is in this case.
c. 420–424 · John Cassian, Institutes (De institutis coenobiorum) 7.25
Lastly, the chief of the apostles, taught by these instances, and knowing that one who has any avarice cannot bridle it, and that it cannot be put an end to by a large or small sum of money, but only by the virtue of renunciation of everything, punished with death Ananias and Sapphira, who were mentioned before, because they had kept back something out of their property, that that death which Judas had voluntarily met with for the sin of betraying the Lord, they might also undergo for their lying avarice.
c. 426–429 · John Cassian, Conferences (Conlationes) 6.11
We find, it is true, that even for lighter faults some men have received the same sentence of death in this world, as that with which those men were punished who, as we said before, were the authors of a blasphemous falling away: as happened in the case of the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath, and in that of Ananias and Sapphira, who through the sin of unbelief kept back some portion of their goods: not that the guilt of their sins was equal, but because they were the first found out in a new kind of transgression, and so it was right that as they had given to others an example of sin, so also they should give them an example of punishment and of fear, that anyone, who should attempt to copy them, might know that (even if his punishment were postponed in this life) he would be punished in the same way that they were at the trial of the judgment hereafter.
1552 · John Calvin, Commentary on Acts, part 1 (chapters 1-13) 5.5
After which sort we shall afterward see Elymas, the sorcerer, stricken with blindness by Paul, (Acts 13:8.) Therefore, Peter did nothing which was impertinent to his function, when he did in time shoot that dart which the Holy Ghost had given him. And whereas some think that this was too cruel a punishment, this cometh to pass, because, weighing Ananias’ sin in their own and not in God’s balance, they count that but a light offense which was a most great and grievous crime, being full of such heinous offenses as I have already declared. Other some do think that this was nothing so, because they see many hypocrites escape scot free daily, which do no less mock God than did Ananias; yea, because they themselves being most gross contemners of God, are yet notwithstanding unpunished for their wickedness. But as God hath poured out visible graces upon his Church in the beginning, to the end we may know that he will be present with us by the secret power of his Spirit, yea, he showed that openly by external signs, which we feel inwardly by the experiment of faith; so he declared by the visible punishment of two, how horrible a judgment remaineth for all hypocrites, which shall mock God and his Church.
1552 · John Calvin, Commentary on Acts, part 1 (chapters 1-13) 5.1
But we must specially in this place have respect unto the drift of the Holy Ghost. For in this history he meant to declare, first, how acceptable singleness of heart is to God, and what an abomination hypocrisy is in his sight; secondly, how greatly he alloweth [approves] the holy and pure policy and government of his Church. For this is the principal point, the punishment wherewith punished Ananias and his wife. As the greatness thereof did at that time terrify them all, so it is unto us a testimony that God cannot abide this unfaithfulness, when as bearing a show of holiness where there is none, we do mock him contemptibly. For if, having weighed all the circumstances, we be desirous to know the sum, Luke condemneth no other fault in Ananias than this, that he meant to deceive God and the Church with a feigned offering. Yet there were more evils packed under this dissimulation: the contempt of God, whom he feareth not, though he knew his wickedness; sacrilegious defrauding, because he keepeth back part of that which he professeth to be holy to God; perverse vanity and ambition, because he vaunteth himself in the presence of men, without having any respect unto God’s judgment; want of faith, because he would never have gone this way to work, unless he had mistrusted God; the corrupting of a godly and holy order; furthermore, the hypocrisy itself was a great offense of itself.
1552 · John Calvin, Commentary on Acts, part 1 (chapters 1-13) 5.8
We see that God doth not by and by punish her, but first he trieth the matter thoroughly, lest he should send vengeance upon any save the obstinate, and those which will not be pardoned. For although Sapphira did know that the matter was hidden, she ought to have been stricken with this question of Peter, no otherwise than if she had been cited to appear before the judgment-seat of God. She hath a time granted her to repent; yea, this is, as it were, a pleasant inviting unto repentance. But she, in holding on so carelessly, doth declare that she was incurable, because she is touched with no fear of God.
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
As there are those whom the gospel justifies, so there are those whom it condemns. This punishment of Ananias may seem severe, but we are sure it was just. (1.) It was designed to maintain the honour of the Holy Ghost as now lately poured out upon the apostles, in order to the setting up of the gospel kingdom. It was a great affront which Ananias put upon the Holy Ghost, as if he could be imposed upon: and it had a direct tendency to invalidate the apostles' testimony; for, if they could not by the Spirit discover this fraud, how could they by this Spirit discover the deep things of God, which they were to reveal to the children of men?
c. 1714 · Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 5.1-11
Some put the question concerning the eternal state of Ananias and Sapphira, and incline to think that the destruction of the flesh was that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. And I should go in with that charitable opinion if there had been any space given them to repent, as there was to the incestuous Corinthian. But secret things belong not to us. It is said, She fell down at Peter's feet; there, where she should have laid the whole price and did not, she was herself laid, as it were to make up the deficiency. The young men that had the care of funerals coming in found her dead; and it is not said, They wound her up, as they did Ananias, but, They carried her out as she was, and buried her by her husband; and probably an inscription was set over their graves, intimating that they were joint-monuments of divine wrath against those that lie to the Holy Ghost.
1740 · Jonathan Edwards, Dishonesty; or, the Sin of Theft and of Injustice 4
So those persons who purposely put bad money into contributions, know that what they put in would not be accepted if they should offer to pay their public taxes. Yea, they know that their neighbours would not accept it at their hands; and therefore they are willing to save themselves, by putting it off to God. This practice has also very much of the nature of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira. What they offered was by way of contribution for charitable uses. The brethren sold what they had, and brought it into a common stock, and put all under the care of deacons, that the poor might every one be supplied. Ananias and Sapphira brought a part of their possessions, and put it into the common stock; and their sin was, that they put it in for more than it really was. It was but a part of what they had, and they put it in, and would have it accepted, as if it had been all. So those among us, of whom I am speaking, put off what they put into the charitable stock, for more than it is.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Acts 5.9
If it be asked here "why" Ananias and Sapphira were punished in this severe and awful manner, an answer may be found in the following considerations: (1) This was an atrocious crime - a deep and dreadful act of iniquity. It was committed knowingly, and without excuse, Act 5:4. It was important that sudden and exemplary punishment should follow it, because the society of Christians was just then organized, and it was designed that it should be a "pure" society, and should be regarded as a body of holy men. Much depended on making an "impression" on the people that sin could not be allowed in this new community, but would be detected and punished.
1834 · Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible: Acts 5.5
It is evidently to be regarded as a "judgment" of God for the sin of Ananias and his wife. It was not the act of Peter, but of God, and was clearly designed to show his abhorrence of this sin.
1878 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 24 (1878) 1444
One thing I have noticed in watching over a large Church is that some who have seemed too good to live, have turned out much too bad for us to want them to live very long. Such have been so pure, so white, so spotless, so stainless, so precise, so exact, so velvet-mouthed, so oily, so full of sugar, so hyper-holy in their hypocrisy that it seemed cruel to feel inward qualms when you were near them. Yet under a thin layer of this hollow pretension they have been so deficient in all spiritual life and reality and sincerity, that when we found them out, we could not help feeling a burning indignation in our own soul that men could go so far in lying unto the Holy Spirit! One does not wonder that Ananias and Sapphira fell dead, or that the fig tree was blasted that had so many leaves and no fruit!
1888 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 34 (1888) 2054
The man vowed that if he recovered from sickness he would fear God. He was sick and a saint he would be. But when he got well, ah, how much of a saint was he? You know the old Proverb. I need not quote it further. Yes, many have lied unto God. Hear it. They have not lied unto men but lied unto God in this matter till now their life is a continued provoking of God by broken promises and disregarded covenants. Ah me, this blackens a life. What? Has your whole life become an elaborate lie? Are you every moment acting falsely? Are you every hour violating vows and promises made to your God? O Man, what will become of you when the God of Ananias and Sapphira comes to deal with you?
1891 · G. T. Stokes, The Expositor's Bible: The Acts of the Apostles, vol. 1 Chapter XI
The Holy Ghost vindicated His authority therefore, because, as it must be observed, it was not St. Peter sentenced Ananias to death. No one may have been more surprised than St. Peter himself at the consequences which followed his stern rebuke. St. Peter merely declared his sin, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God;" and then it is expressly said, "Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost." It was a stern action indeed; but then all God's judgments have a stern side. Ananias and Sapphira were cut off in their sins, but men are every day summoned into eternity in precisely the same state and the same way, and the only difference is that in the case of Ananias we see the sin which provoked the punishment and then we see the punishment immediately following. Men object to this narrative simply because they have a one-sided conception of Christianity such as this period of the world's history delights in. They would make it a religion of pure unmitigated love; they would eliminate from it every trace of sternness, and would thus leave it a poor weak flabby thing, without backbone or earnestness, and utterly unlike all other dispensations of the Lord, which have their stern sides and aspects as well as their loving.
1901 · Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, Volume 47 (1901) 2747
It lies also in this, that it is always a most dangerous thing to lie to God. Ananias and Sapphira were not bound to give any money to the Apostles when they did—and they certainly were not bound to give all that they had—but they came and said they had given all they received for their land. And because they lied to God, they were struck dead then and there.
1906 · Hugh Latimer, Sermons prayer.5
For though God punish thee not by and by, as he did this Ananias, yet he shall find thee; surely he will not forget thee. Therefore learn here to take heed of falsehood, and beware of lies. For this Ananias, this willful Ananias, I say, because of this willful lie, went to hell with his wife, and there shall be punished world without end. Where you see what a thing it is to make a lie. This Ananias needed not to sell his lands, he had no such commandment: but seeing he did so, and then came and brought but half the price, making a pretence as though he had brought all, for that he was punished so grievously.
1907–1908 · Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Acts 4.32
The judgment on Sapphira was not inflicted by Peter. He foretold it by his prophetic power, but it was the hand of God which vindicated the purity of the infant Church. The terrible severity of the punishment can only be understood by remembering the importance of preserving the young community from corruption at the very beginning. Unless the vermin are cleared from the springing plant, it will not grow. As Achan’s death warned Israel at the beginning of their entrance into the promised land, so Ananias and Sapphira perished, that all generations of the Church might fear to pretend to self-surrender while cherishing its opposite, and might feel that they have to give account to One who knows the secrets of the heart, and counts nothing as given if anything is surreptitiously kept back.
1907–1908 · Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Acts 4.32
The death of Ananias was not inflicted by Peter, ‘Hearing these words’ he ‘fell down and’ died. Surely that expression suggests that the stern words had struck at his life, and that his death was the result of the agitation of shame and guilt which they excited. That does not at all conflict with regarding his death as a punitive divine act.
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