What is the conscience?

[Scott Shahan]

I had a prof say in class today that the conscience can be "trained". I am not sure I believe that. How do you define what a conscience is. Does everyone have a conscience?

thanks,
Scott

 

[VictorBravo]

He's probably thinking of what I've seen happen while training dogs. After they have been taught obedience, they often will slink and look guilty if they haven't been obedient.

That sort of thing can indeed be taught. If you get punished enough times for doing something, you learn to stop doing it. But I think you are right that it may not be real conscience.

I'd venture to say that conscience is part of what Calvin talked about as the remaining and corrupted image of God. It can be influenced and improved by study, but is not renewed except by grace.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I think people can be desensitized to unethical behavior over time, depending on context (environment, etc).

It is good to note that underlying values for the most part stay the same, wherease the application of such values change. Person X might believe that murder is wrong, but they might think that person Y is really not a person, or of little moral worth. S on that basis, person X might act unethically towards person Y.

 

[Dagmire]

Con (with) science (knowledge). The conscience is the knowledge of what is good and what isn't that is a part of our makeup. It is instilled in us by God. We fight against it. We learn against it. We experience distress because of our bending out of the created order, then we create all manner of reasons why we are experiencing that distress.


The conscience can't be trained, but it can be dulled.

 

[BobVigneault]

Mr. Davis is absolutely correct and the scripture reference is

Roman 2:14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

The conscience is the sense (existential knowledge) of right and wrong that is part of the image of God that he has hard wired into us.

Romans 1, of course, speaks of how we 'dull' our conscience through unrighteousness -

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

 

[JTDyck]

The Bible has quite a bit to say about the conscience, some of which has already been well referenced from Romans.

I would add that the conscience is what we are to appeal to in the preaching of the gospel. Paul says that "we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." (2 Cor. 4:2) This is one of the things that distinguishes Reformed preaching from that of Arminians and Pelagians: we appeal to the conscience of the hearer, including the unbeliever, their sense of right and wrong, which, as has already been pointed out, is still alive in the unregenerate. Arminian preaching appeals to the will, which the Scriptures say is dead and cannot respond to the gospel unless it is changed by God when He makes us willing in the day of his power (Psalm 110:3). True Gospel preaching always appeals to the conscience.

The conscience can't be trained, but it can be dulled.

While it is certainly true that the conscience can be dulled, more specifically it can be defiled and even seared (Titus 1:15; 1 Tim. 4:2), I don't believe there is Scriptural support for the statement that it cannot be trained. On the contrary, it must be trained by the law of God to discern between good and evil. The conscience must be informed, and we must receive God's instruction with humility to acknowledge that we are sinners. The more we grow in grace and are familiar with God's Word, the more sinful we become in our own eyes and the greater our realization of how gracious God really is (and has been).

Notice in 1 Cor. 8 when Paul is speaking about eating meat offered to idols, that some are unable to eat because of a weak conscience. That conscience must not be wounded by those with a stronger conscience, but the two are essentially distinguished by a good understanding of the distinction between law and gospel.

 

[BobVigneault]

Thank you for that correction Pastor John. Great thoughts.

 

[JTDyck]

Thanks, Bob.

It really is quite an interesting topic. I find it most significant that when Ananias the high priest commanded Paul to be struck on the mouth, that it was in response to Paul's statement, "Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." He did not say that he had lived a perfect life, but the fact that he declared that he had a clear conscience before an all-seeing God was incredibly offensive to Ananias.

Living in a guilt-ridden world that tries to deny that it is guilty before God, I'm sure that that is still a sore spot with unbelievers.

What a treasure we have in all that Christ gives to us, especially a good conscience!

 

[Dagmire]

While it is certainly true that the conscience can be dulled, more specifically it can be defiled and even seared (Titus 1:15; 1 Tim. 4:2), I don't believe there is Scriptural support for the statement that it cannot be trained. On the contrary, it must be trained by the law of God to discern between good and evil. The conscience must be informed, and we must receive God's instruction with humility to acknowledge that we are sinners. The more we grow in grace and are familiar with God's Word, the more sinful we become in our own eyes and the greater our realization of how gracious God really is (and has been).

I was thinking about that when I said that it can't be trained. The way I was thinking of it, though, was like the conscience is there, intact, but is dirtied and marred by our wickedness. And such the conscience is uncovered and we are more aware of it through repentance.


That's just conjecture on my part, though.

 

[BobVigneault]

I follow you Ryan, in other words, your saying the conscience can be trained in that it can become more sensitive and receptive, but it cannot be trained in a remedial sense - it's is not operating up to the original specs and will not until glory.

 

[KMK]

In John 8 the Pharisees did not stone the adulterous woman. Why? Because they were convicted in their conscience. Why did their conscience convict them? Becaue they knew the Law of God including its penalties. There is no doubt a conscience in all. The only way it can be trained for the better is through knowledge of the Word of God. I wonder if it can be trained for the worse, however. As Bob pointed out, it is written on the hearts of men. Is it possible for man to 'unwrite' something that God has written on his heart? It sure would appear that some men have less of a conscience than others but perhaps they are just better at denying their conscience. Rom 1:32 "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." It appears that they still know what they are doing is wrong, but they take pleasure in going against their conscience.

Sorry, just thinking out loud....

 

[JTDyck]

I wonder if it can be trained for the worse, however. As Bob pointed out, it is written on the hearts of men. Is it possible for man to 'unwrite' something that God has written on his heart? It sure would appear that some men have less of a conscience than others but perhaps they are just better at denying their conscience. Rom 1:32

Yes, isn't this what is taught in the Scriptures when Paul says

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. (Titus 1:15)

The wicked have their consciences defiled, and when they persist in that defilement (notice the connection between mind and conscience), they become seared:

Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron. (1 Timothy 4:2).

This is a dreadful state to be given up to. No tenderness toward the things of the Lord at all, no conviction of sin, but always self-justifying and self-approving. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift of deliverance in Christ.

 

[Dagmire]

I still don't like using the word "train" in regard to the conscience. In my mind, the conscience is absolute, because it is the Lord's truth written within us. To me, saying that the conscience can be trained is like saying that God's truth can be altered.

I like to think of the conscience as a tablet with words written on it. Then our sin is like some sludge that we sling all over the tablet. It gets more and more difficult to read the more sludge we put on it, but it is still there, intact.

Then repentance is like cleaning the sludge off, so that we can more easily read the words. We are more easily convicted by our conscience, because there isn't such a thick layer of wickedness blocking our view of it.



I might be overanalyzing the terms, though.

 

[BobVigneault]

I might be overanalyzing the terms, though.

This is the Puritan Board, we have never been guilty of underanalyzing anything so overanalyze please, otherwise you may draw attention.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

How do you define what a conscience is. Does everyone have a conscience?

thanks,
Scott

William Ames, Conscience With the Power and Cases Thereof, 1.1:

The conscience of man (for I doe not intend to treat of the conscience of angels) is a mans judgment of himself, according to the judgment of God of him.

William Perkins, Works, 1.518:

And hence one reason of the name conscience. Scire, to know, is of one man by himself: and conscire is, when two at the least know some one secret thing; either of them knowing it together with the other. Therefore the name..., or Conscience, is that thing that combines two together, and makes them partners in the knowledge of one and the same secret. Now man and man, or man and Angel cannot be combined; because they cannot know the secret of any man unless it be revealed to them: it remaines therefore that this combination is onely betweene man and God. God knows perfectly all things of man though they never be so hid and concealed: and man by a gift given him of God; knowes togither with God, the same things of himselfe: and this gift is called Conscience.

 

[Iconoclast]

acts24:16

Paul speaks most often of the conscience. I had just used this verse in a different post but I really like the verse so I will use it once again,from Acts 24;14-16 14`And I confess this to thee, that, according to the way that they call a sect, so serve I the God of the fathers, believing all things that in the law and the prophets have been written,

15having hope toward God, which they themselves also wait for, [that] there is about to be a rising again of the dead, both of righteous and unrighteous;

16and in this I do exercise myself, to have a conscience void of offence toward God and men always.

The law and the prophets in a regenerate man educate his conscience and help to restore the man as an image bearer of God.
In contrast the natural man continues to willingly supress this truth and the conscience that accuses him.

 

[JTDyck]

The law and the prophets in a regenerate man educate his conscience and help to restore the man as an image bearer of God.
In contrast the natural man continues to willingly supress this truth and the conscience that accuses him.

Well put. I was going to use the word "educate" also, or perhaps "inform" the conscience. It needs to be directed by the Scriptures. Even in the unregenerate, they serve as a schoolmaster to bring him to Christ by convicting him of his sin.

Without an informed or educated conscience, we are only left with Jiminy Cricket theology (or worse yet, Marvin Gaye theology): "Always let your conscience be your guide". It didn't work for Walt Disney or Marvin Gaye.

We tell our children what is right and wrong because they need to be educated or informed. There are some things that produce a guilty conscience, but they do require some fine-tuning.