The act of dissembling. It has been distinguished from simulation thus: Simulation is making a thing appear which does not exist; dissimulation is keeping that which exists from appearing. Moralists have observed that all dissimulation is not hypocrisy. A vicious man, who endeavours to throw a veil over his bad conduct, that he may escape the notice of men, is not in the strictest sense of the word a hypocrite, since a man is no more obliged to proclaim his secret vices than any other of his secrets. The hypocrite is one who dissembles for a bad end, and hides the snare that he may be more sure of his prey; and, not content with a negative virtue, or not show of positive virtue, and appears the man he is not.
See HYPOCRIST.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
Read More