Conscience Hath Many Tongues. - book review

Jayne Hoose, editor, Conscience in World Religions. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, and Herefordshire, U.K.: Gracewing, 1990. ix+199pp. $15.00 (paper).

This book contains papers about conscience. The first part is Christian, the second covers Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. The first paper (Costigane) is: "A History of the Western Idea of Conscience." Conscientia (Latin) from Greek syneidesis means reason and remorse. In Aristotle syneidesis matures with nous and phronesis. In St. Paul, conscience concerns justification and awareness of others' consciences. St. Jerome names the conscience which can never be lost as synderesis, and conscience which can be lost through disregard as syneidesis, a source of fundamental principles. (Recent authors have questioned interpreting Jerome as intending the distinction in this way -- Douglas Langston, Conscience and Other Virtues (2001).) Aquinas gives a syllogism: synderesis in the major premise, reasoning in the minor, and conscience as the conclusion. Martin Luther regarded conscience (Gewissen) as adherence to the word of God in scripture. For Newman conscience provides knowledge of wrongdoing and responsibility, and awareness of God as sovereign and judge. Conscience is a personal guide (Kierkegaard, Barth) and basic to destiny (Thomas More versus Henry VIII, Franz Jagerstatter versus Hitler). Community also has a role since conscience is not solely individual.

The second paper (Leal) is: "Against Conscience: a Protestant View." The author argues conscience has been given a "far more elevated role in Christian moral thinking than it actually deserves." Not all our moral judgments are presented to the will by conscience. Faith is submission to a call. God causes individual good actions sanctifying, rather than overriding, the will. Evil choice would be given no consideration in the conscience of the holy person. There may be multiple sources for the so-called principles of synderesis: personal, cultural, and absolute.

Skepticism about the absolute nature or possibility of knowing moral principles is widespread. Does the Genesis account of Adam and Eve mean salvation is restoration of the original relationship between God and man? A return to their status before knowledge of good and evil? As the voice of God, conscience must be obeyed. But conscience in an individual is not always unambiguously the voice of God. Discriminating right and wrong lies in a refusal to look elsewhere than to God's self-revelation to determine the best way to respond. What matters is unity with Christ. This makes conscience ecclesiological allowing a role for authority.

The third paper (Hoose) is: "Conscience in the Roman Catholic Tradition." Hoose states the Catholic view is not monolithic from the magisterium and natural law. Scripture, philosophers and theologians past and present, and psychology are involved. In scripture reciprocity of conscience is found, not just individualistic judgment. St. Paul does not make conscience ultimate. Natural law may have tended to make the "order of nature" dominant, but contemporary theology sees nature as not necessarily fixed. Recta ratio can include experience, history, change and development. Vatican II declared the individual as h having God's law inscribed on his heart. Christians search for truth in obeying their consciences. Gaudium et Spes emphasizes both the freedom of the individual, and also reciprocity within community. Veritatis Splendor sees natural law as the light of understanding infused by God, but then depicts Jesus as teaching commands. Natural law is thus a code. Magisterium then becomes contentious about the exte nt to which it imposes a particular system of thought. Theologians disagree on the meaning of reciprocity. Psychological dynamics affect freedom but at a primitive level. Conscience, however, matures in the context of a person's life. The changes instituted at Vatican II seem less discernible in recent Church documents.

The fourth paper (Thomas) is: "Conscience in Orthodox Thought." Syneidesis is used in scriptures and Byzantine theology and political philosophy. Orthodoxy sees scripture and the "Fathers and Mothers of the Church" as foundational. The Philokalia is the best source about conscience. Conscience is part of nipsis or watchfulness and involves discernment of oneself and of obstacles to union with Christ. It is not determination of right and wrong, but does lead to repentance (metanoia). Conscience comes from natural knowledge, scripture, and baptism. Conscience is a moral sense that, according to Chrysostom, is able even outside Christianity to see the good. Even after the Fall, nature is not utterly darkened and blinded.

The fifth paper (Gorsky) is: "Conscience in Jewish Tradition." The Hebrew Bible has no word for conscience. It is a prompting of the heart but innately untrustworthy. A heart inclined to follow God's law within us is God's gift. Rabbinic Judaism speaks of two inner drives: good evil. The Bible, in contrast, only speaks of heart as undifferentiated. In the Middle Ages it was argued that good inclination comes from understanding. Our natural drives can be directed to the love of God. Maimonides rejected the natural moral law in favor of revelation. The Hebrew Bible has no word for nature in this sense. The world and humanity are intelligible only as created by God and sustained by God. Right action is inspired by apprehension of the divine will. This is conscience. Rabbinic rulings have traditionally been seen as something to be followed over one's individual conscience. Contemporary disagreements exist.