The Catholic Message Board

1 Kings 22:22-23 says thar the lord "Put a lying spirit" in the mouth of his prophets.

What on Earth does this mean, God is not the author of lies.

St. Thomas wrote:Gregory says (Hom. i super Ezech.): "It must be observed that sometimes the holy prophets, when consulted, utter certain things by their own spirit, through being much accustomed to prophesying, and think they are speaking by the prophetic spirit."

Apart from this general observation from St. Gregory the Great, which I think may answer the question you asked, it's interesting how the story in 1 Kings is in some ways similar to the story in Job, where there's a kind of consultation in heaven and God allows a spirit to do something awful for his own mysterious purposes.

It does say "the Lord put" a lying spirit in their mouths, but that might be similar to saying that God inspired David to make a census, while the corresponding text from Chronicles says David was inspired by the Devil. It might just be a reflection of the tendency of the author of Kings to attribute everything to God. It also says that King Saul was tormented by "an evil spirit sent by the Lord", looked at thousands of years later it seems Saul's problem was probably undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

Yes, Saul.
One of our sons turned his back on the faith from, he says, hearing that God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

That sounds like someone making a rather pathetic excuse. If someone wants an answer on that he doesn't have to look far or try very hard.

It's probably the same as when it says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God never hardens anyone's heart. Rather, Pharaoh’s hardened heart was a consequence of his own choice not to listen to God (cf. Ex. 7:13; 8:15): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?s ... sion=NABRE