The Conscience
The Conscience (1)
God, from the beginning, placed the conscience in the human being so that he may distinguish between good and evil. The conscience existed before the written Law, and the first written Law was in the days of Moses the Prophet in 1400 B.C. But the conscience existed before the Law.
As evidence, when Cain killed his brother Abel, the Lord punished him and said to him: “Cursed are you from the earth which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand” (Gen. 4:9). And as evidence that when Joseph the Righteous was offered adultery by his master’s wife, he said: “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Gen. 39). From where did he know that this matter was great wickedness? He knew it from the conscience. Another evidence is that Jacob the Patriarch, when his mother tempted him to deceive his father and tell him “I am Esau your son,” and prepared this matter for him—he knew that deceit and lying bring a curse, not a blessing. He knew this from the conscience before there existed a Law saying “Do not lie.”
And the conscience has types: There is a wide conscience that “swallows camels,” justifying everything, not being sensitive toward wrongdoing, perhaps saying, “This is something simple.” And there is a narrow conscience (a scrupulous conscience) that imagines evil where there is no evil, and sees fault where there is no fault, or magnifies faults beyond their size. And beside these two types there is a good conscience that judges rightly, neither adding nor subtracting. And in this St. Paul the Apostle said, “At times I live with a good conscience before God.”
The conscience is broader in scope than the law and higher than it.
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The conscience can judge a wrong thought, rebuke it, and prevent it, whereas the law cannot judge a thought.
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The conscience also judges intention—what a person intends to do before he does it—whereas the law judges only the act, and has nothing to do with the intention of the person.
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The conscience also judges desire or lust, while the law cannot judge the desire of the heart; the law judges only the act that was committed, not what the human being intended to do.
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The conscience also judges the error of the senses: If a person looks with an evil look, it judges him; or if he hears things he should not hear—such as obscene jokes or low songs or anything corrupt—the conscience rebukes or prevents him.
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The conscience also enters a broader area: While the law judges committed wrongs, we see that the conscience has a much greater direction because it judges the failure to do good—such as failing to give help to a person in need, or failing to save someone who needs saving. The law does not judge any of this; it has nothing to do with the failure to do good—its domain is only the commission of evil.
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The law, in its accountability, requires evidence to prove its judgment. And how many people have been judged innocent by the law due to lack or insufficiency of evidence. But the conscience does not need material evidence because it knows the hidden things of the human being… Therefore we always address the consciences of people, that they may be more sensitive to doing good.
There are also errors for which the law does not hold a person accountable.
For example, smoking—there is no law that punishes smoking, but the conscience judges it. And also drinking alcohol. And the errors of the tongue are not judged by the law, such as mocking a certain person, or making him a subject of ridicule, or gossiping about people. All this is not judged by the law, but it is judged by the conscience, as well as nerves and irritability, vain pride, love of praise and honor—all this is not judged by the law but by the conscience.
The conscience rebukes and convicts a person of faults. Perhaps a person cannot bear the rebuke of his conscience. But people may disobey their consciences and face its rebuke and not care, or not face it at all! And it has been said that the conscience is a just judge, but often unable to execute its rulings. Yet the word “just” also needs discussion.
For the conscience can sometimes err.
For example, those who practice vengeance—one’s conscience tells him that he must kill the one who killed his father, otherwise he would be weak and a toy in people’s hands! And if he does not take revenge, his conscience troubles him. Or a brother whose sister has committed adultery—his conscience tells him that he must kill this sister to erase the family’s shame! And when he kills her, his conscience is at rest; but if he does not kill her, his conscience troubles him, while in doing so he kills her before she repents and thus destroys her on earth and in heaven.
This also happens in many situations we may describe as tribal: such as a person defending a relative no matter what his sin is, even if this contradicts his conscience. Or another defending his association, team, or organization no matter what—even if he contradicts his conscience, not caring about the Scripture: “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both an abomination to the Lord.” Another example where the conscience errs is a father who raises his children with violence—beating and insulting—while his conscience is at rest, telling him: “You must do this to raise your children.”
Many people have a good goal but a wrong method, and their conscience encourages them for the sake of the good goal, no matter how wrong the method is! In matters of marriage, for example, the husband disobeys his conscience thinking that when he imprisons his wife and prevents her from going here or there, or even for merely smiling at a joke said by someone—even if it would make a stone laugh—he tells his wife: “If you laugh, it means you are attracted to the one who said it” (and this is injustice). And he practices harshness in treatment, harshness in allowing entry or exit, or in interactions or visits. But such a person’s conscience encourages him in what he does.
Here we ask: What are the factors that influence the conscience?
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The first factor is knowledge. For there are sins that may be called sins of ignorance, committed by a person not knowing they are sins. But when he learns they are wrong, he begins to abandon them. Thus knowledge can develop the conscience and increase its sensitivity. And so is teaching as well—according to what a person learns, this affects his conscience. A child—according to what he is told is right or appropriate or wrong—his childish conscience moves accordingly. And teaching becomes more serious when it comes from a spiritual guide or father of confession. The father or guide can change and transform the consciences of his disciples. Therefore Scripture says: “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.” How many have been lost due to the guidance of their teachers, guides, or those they consider role models.
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Among the things that influence the conscience also is the nature of the mind.
There is a mind that examines every idea presented to it to see where truth lies. And there is a simple mind that accepts all things with submission without knowing. This type may have an erring conscience unintentionally. But the more the mind is intelligent and wise, the more the conscience can discern good seriously and know evil clearly. -
Among the sources that influence the conscience are the commandments of the Lord—blessed be His name. Religion nourishes the conscience and tells it where good and evil lie, what is fitting and what is not fitting, as the Lord said in the end of Deuteronomy: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil… blessing and curse… therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deut. 30). In the opposite sense the Lord said: “O Israel, your guides mislead you.”
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Sometimes the environment or the general direction of society affects the conscience. Many people are carried away by the general current and excuse themselves saying, “Everyone is like this! Are we the ones who will be different?” Here the conscience is not founded on fixed principles but flows with the current, as the poet said:
“Like a feather blown by the wind, flying—
Never settling, ever restless.”
The general current pulls him right or left without his awareness. -
But among the most important things that influence the conscience is the self. For example, personal desires—the conscience tries to justify every desire for it. And if a person is upset with someone, the conscience tries to justify this annoyance. In this case, the self rules, ideals disappear, commandments are forgotten, and the conscience remains confused.
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Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year 38 – Issues 3 & 4 (5–2–2010)
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