Exercising Christian

Conscience

O When your intelligence dont tell you

something aint right, your conscience

gives you a tap on the shoulder and
says Hold on. If it dont, youre a
snake. Elvis Presley, American rock 'n' roll
icon (1935-1977)
O Conscience is Gods presence in man.
Emmanuel Swedenborg, Swedish-American
spiritualist (1688-1772)
O Reason often makes mistakes but
conscience never does. Josh Billings
(Henry Wheeler Shaw), American writer and
humourist (1818-1885)

It is better to die
excommunicate
d than to
disobey your
conscience.

St. Thomas Aquinas

CONSCIENCE
O When considering the nature and

function of conscience there are four

questions to keep in mind:
1. What is conscience?
2. Where does conscience come
from?
3. Is conscience innate or acquired?
4. What is its function in ethical
decision making?

Conscience
What is conscience?
A moral faculty or feeling prompting

us to see that certain actions are

morally right or wrong.
Conscience can prompt people in
different directions.
We consider it to be a reliable guide
but it lacks consistency and can lead
people to perform terrible actions.

Biblical teaching
It is assumed by some biblical writers and

early Christian teachers that our conscience

is God-given. This view is put clearly in
Pauls letter to the Romans:
When Gentiles, who do not possess the

law, do instinctively what the law requires,

these, though not having the law, are a law
to themselves. They show that what the
law requires is written on their hearts
(Romans 2:14-15a)

Augustine
OConscience is the

voice of God
speaking to us

Aquinas
OAll people aim for what is

good and sin is falling short

of Gods ideals, but
sometimes even following
conscience we will get it
wrong.

Aquinas
Conscience for Aquinas has 2 essential
parts:
Synderesis the use of right reason by
which we learn basic moral principles and
understand that we have to do good and
avoid evil.
Conscientia the actual judgement or
decision we make that leads us to act.

Accept general
principles

Aquinas Reason
seeking Understanding

Apply these
principles

with the help of

conscience

to particular
situations

Butler
wrote that the most crucial thing which

distinguished women and men from the

animal world was the possession of the
faculty of reflection or conscience.
So being human involves being moral.
Conscience is a persons God-given guide

to right conduct and its demands must

therefore always be followed.

Butler
Conscience comes from God
and must be obeyed
Conscience will harmonise
self love and benevolence

Butler
the consequence of an action is not what

makes it right or wrong as that has already

happened
the purpose of conscience is to guide a
person into a way of life that will make them
happy
conscience will harmonise self-love and
benevolence this may take some sorting
out and so in moral dilemmas we may be
uncertain what to do
conscience controls human nature

Joseph
Butler
conscience
comes from
God

conscience
principle of
reflection
self-love and
benevolence
basic drives

Newman
O Conscience is the voice of God
O If, as is the case, we feel

responsibility, are ashamed, are

frightened, at transgressing the
voice of conscience, this
implies there is One to whom
we are responsible, before
whom we are ashamed, whose
claims upon us we fear.

Freud
O Conscience is most clearly

connected with the sense of guilt

that we feel when we go against our
conscience. Conscience then is
simply a construct of the mind.
O In religious people this would be in
response to perceptions of God.
O In non-religious people it would be
their responses to externally
imposed authority.

Freud
O The content of our consciences

are shaped by our experiences

O The superego internalises the

disapproval of others and

creates the guilty conscience

Piaget
O A childs moral sense develops and

the ability to reason morally depends

on cognitive development.

Piaget
Two stages of moral development:
O Heteronomous morality (between

the ages of 5 and 10 years) when the

conscience is still immature, rules
are not to be broken and punishment
is expected if a rule is broken. The
consequences of an action will show
if it is right or wrong.

Piaget
O Autonomous morality (10+) when

children develop their own rules and

understand how rules operate in and
help society. The move towards
autonomous morality occurs when
the child is less dependant on others
for moral authority.

Problems
For Christians conscience is often

regarded as the voice of God. However,

this raises some serious questions:
If we always knew that what our
conscience told us to do was Gods
command then we would never make
mistakes
However, we do make mistakes
If we cant hear God properly whose
fault is it?