Midterm-slides (Conscience Innate in Humans)

Conscience in Christian Morality

1. Module 2: Lesson 1. The Meaning and Types to Conscience Lesson 2. Formation of Conscience

2. According to the Bible, conscience is understood as an internal witness or judgment system that helps individuals discern between right and wrong. It's a God-given capacity that reflects moral awareness and can either condemn or commend actions and thoughts.

3. The Bible portrays conscience as an inner faculty that testifies to the moral quality of one's actions and thoughts. It's like a judge within, either accusing or excusing a person.

4. In ethics, conscience is the internal sense of right and wrong that guides a person's actions and judgments. It's a complex faculty that involves awareness of moral principles, the capacity to evaluate actions, and feelings of guilt or satisfaction based on one's conduct.

5. Caricature: Activity

6. Conscience - Is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary, where there he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his heart.

7. - Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to love and to do what is good and avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment.

8. - Is a judgement of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act, that is going to perform, or is in the process of performing, or has already completed.

9. Moral conscience, present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil.

10. It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of his conscience. This interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination or introspection .

11. The dignity of human person implies and requires uprightness of moral conscience. This includes the perception of the principles of morality ( synderesis ), their application the given circumstances by practical discernment of reasons and goods, and finally judgment about concrete acts yet to be performed or already performed. Synderesis , also spelled synteresis , is a term from medieval philosophy, particularly associated with St. Thomas Aquinas, referring to the innate, habitual knowledge of fundamental moral principles. It's considered the capacity of the human mind to grasp basic ethical truths without needing to reason them out.

12. Innate Knowledge: Synderesis is not acquired through learning or experience, but is seen as an inherent part of human nature.

13. Conscience is understood as a kind of inner voice ( tanlag ) which guides us in our moral life- always summoning us to love the good and avoid evil.

14. Conscience can be: Correct conscience – corresponds to objective moral values and precepts Erroneous conscience – refers to one which mistakenly judges something – as morally good which is objectively evil, or – as morally evil which is objectively good.

15. Kinds of Conscience 1. Good/Pure/Clear Conscience: Definition: A conscience that is free from guilt and aligns with God's will. Biblical Examples: Paul speaks of having a conscience void of offense toward God and men (Acts 24:16). 2. Weak Conscience: Definition: A conscience that is not properly trained or informed about God's will. Biblical Examples: Paul discusses how some Christians in Rome struggled with certain foods or days, showing a weaker conscience (Romans 14).

16. Conscience 3. Defiled/Evil Conscience: Definition: A conscience that is corrupted by sin and can lead to actions that are not aligned with God's will. Biblical Examples: The Apostle Paul describes those who have a "seared" conscience (1 Timothy 4:2), where the conscience is no longer sensitive to sin. 4. Seared Conscience: Definition: A conscience that is hardened and no longer feels guilt for sin. Biblical Examples: 1 Timothy 4:2 speaks of false teachers with "seared" consciences.

17. 5. Informed vs. Uninformed Conscience: The Bible also emphasizes the importance of having an informed conscience, one that is shaped by God's word. A weak conscience can be strengthened by learning God's word and applying it to one's life.