Conscience

1
Conscience

• What is conscience?

2
Is Conscience properly understood as

• An Inner voice
• A Feeling
• A Gut-reaction
• Societal standards
• Left over habits from childhood
• None of the above

3

• Etymology of the word conscience-
• from Latin - cum scientia
• with knowledge
• to know with

or
4
Definition-

• a practical judgment of reason
• an evaluation of whether or not a particular act
  is good or evil

5

• Does everyone have a conscience?
• -- Analogy of muscle --
• If Scott spent 23 hours a day eating, sleeping,
  watching TV
• would he have any leg muscle?
• YES

6

• If you have a will and an intellect
• then you have a conscience.
• Do we all have the same level of conscience?
• A conscience can be
• developed or undeveloped.

7
Formation of Conscience
A lifelong task
Brainstorm a list
8

• Children are born without the knowledge of good
  evil.
• How do we acquire them?

9
Formation of Conscience
A lifelong task

• Other People
• Personal Experience
• Personal Reflection

10
Formation of a Christian Conscience

• knowledge of Christian doctrine
• acceptance of Church teaching
• prayer
• examination of conscience
• spiritual direction

11

• The formation of conscience is a lifelong task.

12
Must you always follow your conscience?

• Can your conscience be wrong?

Are you culpable when you follow your conscience
yet do something wrong?
blameworthy
13
Example

• In order to feed his starving family, Bryan
  stole bread from the store.
• Is that moral or not?
• What if he was following his conscience?
• (Is that relevant?)

14
Two extremes to avoid

• Legalism
• following the law to the exclusion of all else
• Should you always follow the Ten Commandments?
• Moral Subjectivism
• disregarding any external standards or laws
• Are there moral principles that always apply?

15
The Bible Appeals to the Conscience of Mankind

• Does the term conscience actually appear in
  Scripture?
• Yes approximately 30 times
• 1Timothy 42
• Such teachings come through hypocritical liars,
  whose consciences have been seared as with a hot
  iron.

16
Romans 2

• 6 God will repay everyone according to his works
  
• 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are
  just in the sight of God rather, those who
  observe the law will be justified.
• 14 For when the Gentiles who do not have the law
  by nature observe the prescriptions of the law,
  they are a law for themselves even though they do
  not have the law.
• 15 They show that the demands of the law are
  written in their hearts, while their conscience
  also bears witness

17
1 Corinthians 812-13

• When you sin in this way against your brothers
  and wound their consciences, weak as they are,
  you are sinning against Christ.
• Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I
  will never eat meat again, so that I may not
  cause my brother to sin.

18

• 2 Corinthians 112
• For our boast is this, the testimony of our
  conscience that we have conducted ourselves in
  the world, and especially toward you, with the
  simplicity and sincerity of God, (and) not by
  human wisdom but by the grace of God.
• Romans 135
• Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the
  authorities, not only because of possible
  punishment but also because of conscience.

19

• 1 Timothy 18-19
• I entrust this charge to you, Timothy, my child,
  in accordance with the prophetic words once
  spoken about you. Through them may you fight a
  good fight
• by having faith and a good conscience. Some, by
  rejecting conscience, have made a shipwreck of
  their faith,
• Hebrews 1022
• let us approach with a sincere heart and in
  absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean
  from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in
  pure water.

20
Other passages

• 1Corinthians 44
• My conscience is clear, but that does not make me
  innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
• Acts 2416
• So I strive always to keep my conscience clear
  before God and man
• Example of David (2 Samuel 121-7)

21

• Must you always follow your conscience?

22
Catechism of the Catholic Church

• We must not be forced to act contrary to our
  conscience.

CCC 1782
A human being must always obey the certain
judgment of his conscience.
CCC 1790
What does that mean? What does it not mean?
What if we dont?
23
If we have a doubtful conscience, should we still
act?

• No, if we can wait clarify the situation and
  our conscience.
• If the situation requires us to act,
• then yes.
• (following basic rules of behavior that apply in
  every case)

24
Are there rules of behavior thatare universal?
(that apply in every case?)
Read CCC 1789 -

• The Golden Rule
• The Greatest Commandment
• Never do evil so that good may come from it

25

• Conscience is not an
  infallible guide.

26
Conscience is not free from the possibility of
error.
An erroneous conscience is due to either
Invincible ignorance
or
Vincible ignorance
27
Invincible ignorance- could not have been
overcome
No culpability
Vincible ignorance- could have been overcome
Culpability
28
vincible invincible

• Examples

29
Divisions of Conscience
Antecedent
Precedes action
Concomitant
Accompanies action
Consequent
Follows the action
30

• Scrupulous Conscience
• when you too quickly judge things to be evil
• Lax Conscience
• when you too quickly judge things to be good

31
Example of Martin Luther King

• Letter from Birmingham Jail
• When?
• Where?
• Why?

1963 Birmingham, Alabama In response to a
letter Written by 8 clergymen Who called MLKs
actions Unwise Untimely
32
What was the problem?

• Extreme segregation
• where?
• education, jobs, housing
• What was MLK doing?
• Demonstrations, sit-ins, protests breaking the
  law

33
Why Unwise Untimely?

• Unwise MLKs actions precipitate violence
• Untimely There was an election coming
• They should be more patient

34
Why protest break the law?

• p. 3
• Nonviolent Direct Action seeks to
• create a crisis
• and foster tension
• So that the community is forced to confront the
  issue.

35
Examples from history

• Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego
• Early Christians in Rome
• The Boston Tea Party
• Those fighting within Nazi Germany
• or within communist regimes

36

• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
• everywhere
• Do you agree? Explain context.
• Apply it to another situation.
• Groups tend to be more immoral than
• individuals
• Do you agree? Explain context.
• Apply it to another situation.

37
Does MLK advocate evading the law?

• No
• Read page 7
• When confronted with an unjust law King advocates
  that you
• Break the law
• Accept the consequences
• --but never evade the law--

38
What is the biggest stumbling block?

• The moderate
• Why?
• Page 7

39
Extremism

• Is it good, bad, or in-between?

40

• So the question is not whether we will be
• extremists,
• but what kind of extremists we will be.
• Read page 10
• The world is in need of
• certain kinds of extremists.

41
Barry Goldwater

• Extremism in the defense of liberty is
• no vice.
• And moderation in the pursuit of justice is
• no virtue.