conscience

conscience sense of moral awareness or of right and wrong. The concept has been variously explained by moralists and philosophers. In the history of ethics , the conscience has been looked upon as the will of a divine power expressing itself in man's judgments, an innate sense of right and wrong resulting from man's unity with the universe, an inherited intuitive sense evolved in the long history of the human race, and a set of values derived from the experience of the individual. Psychologists also differ in their analyses of the nature of conscience. It is variously believed to be an expression of values differing from other expressions of value only in the subject matter involved, a feeling of guilt for known or unknown actions done or not done, the manifestation of a special set of values introjected from the example and instruction of parents and teachers, and the value structure that essentially defines the personality of the individual. As a practical matter, the consciences of different people within a society or from different societies may vary widely.

Conscience: see ETHICS (CHRISTIANITY).

conscience The modern understanding of conscience as a faculty by which past actions or dispositions are assessed or future actions evaluated, leading to experiences of guilt or of innocence, is not that of the Bible—though that is not to say that the Bible is unaware of these feelings (cf. 1 Sam. 24: 5).

In the NT human beings are regarded as morally responsible and ‘conscience’ is the painful reaction felt when one's ordered human nature is violated. Conscience therefore is something from which a Christian should be free (Rom. 13: 5); it comes into operation after a wrong deed has been initiated. If there is no such reaction (‘conscience’), then either the deed is not wrong, or habit or environment has so corrupted the subject that ‘conscience’ fails to be activated. ‘Because of conscience’ (Rom. 13: 5) means ‘to avoid the pains of conscience’.

This conscience could lead to excessive scruples on the one hand, or be so insensitive on the other that weaker Christians are hurt (1 Cor. 10: 28).