CONSCIENCE AND ITS PLACE
By Prof. J. A. L. DERBY
In Three Parts: “Conscience;” “Cause of Unbelief;” “Thinketh No Evil.” THE word “conscience” does not appear in the Old Testament; it is found thirty times in the New. The former fact illustrates how God can do His work in man, or any other work, for that matter, by means for which man has no name, or different names. There can be no question, especially when we read such records as the thirty-eighth and fifty-first Psalms, that conscience was quite as active under the old dispensation as under the new. This conclusion is likewise reenforced by a study of the basis of conscience. Conscience is universal, and, therefore, has a universal foundation. A brief consideration of this strange power of the mind may not be useless. Conscience Is Primarily a Feeling.
It is uniform thruout the human race. But what do we mean by uniform?—That it tells all men what actions or thoughts are right in themselves—objectively? Not at all. One man bows down to an idol, or subjects himself to a penance; the Hindu mother throws her child to crocodiles; the suttee burns herself on her husband’s pyre; the devotee of Juggernaut is crushed beneath the wheels of his car; the devout Catholic prays to the virgin Mary: all are results of conscience, or may be. On the other hand, the consciences of others lead them to abhor all the actions just mentioned. Yet the function of conscience was and is uniform in all. It is the same in one particular, and one only—it commands to do right. But what is right it does not and can not of itself determine. Why?—Because it is a feeling and not intellect. It gets its information from the latter. It makes its decisions in accordance with what by the aid of our evidence we judge to be right or wrong. What we think to be right may be diametrically contrary to the will of God, as the actions noted above, yet conscience will command us to do them if they constitute all the light we have. If we know no better, this powerful monitor gives us no alternative. Thus we are brought to the important question, Is It Right to Disregard Conscience?
Must the heathen perform his barbarous and often cruel rites? He has no guide but conscience, and this says, “Do it or sin.” As surely as conscience is the highest monitor he knows, so surely must sin lie at his door unless he obey. What? Offer human sacrifice, perhaps, or sin?—Ay, so great is his need of Gospel light. This is not a mere logical dilemma; it is the teaching of Scripture. Let us study the whole matter as the Bible reveals it. is the essence of all God has commanded. Matt. 22:34-40. In this scripture love to God and love to man are not two different things; they are simply two different manifestations of the same thing. The reduction to a single principle is further made in the Golden Rule: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” Here love to man is made the sole test. The reason is that no one can love his fellow men unless he does love God. Love of God is immortal in love of man. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” 1 John 4:20. “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” Rom. 13:10. But what is love?—It is self-surrender for the service of universal well-being. This is what it is, tho the few that follow its law have ever defined it. Definition is practically quite unnecessary. Now it is certain that even the heathen have the light of this law. To this Paul refers in Rom. 2:14, 15: “For when the Gentiles, which have not the [written] law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the [written] law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.” Of course the heathen know not the details of this law. They do not, for instance, know that the observance of the seventh day is required by it. All they have is the intent of the law—its principle or essence—love, in the sense of an impulse toward justice and kindness. Thus God has “left not Himself without a witness.” In other words, God has placed in every man a sense of the eternal fitness of what reason approves. Conscience Enforces Reason.
It is the feeling that the reasonable is right. It is a sense of oughtness, which arises in connection with what our best judgment affirms to be proper in thought, word, or action. In our dealings with our fellow men it comes in a dumb appeal to put ourselves in our neighbor’s place and see how we should like the treatment we accord him. It is not strange, therefore, that Confucius, or any other thoughtful pagan philosopher, should discover the golden rule. It is this living up to one’s light that Paul is talking about in Romans 14. The chapter is too long to be discussed here in detail, but all who have puzzled over it will be glad for this suggestion, and will turn and read it anew. Charity on the part of those that are broadly informed toward those that are less enlightened is the essence of the chapter. All any man can do is to live in accordance with the evidence he has. To do otherwise is to throw the whole mental and spiritual life into anarchy. What, then, when we feel that the evidence is not complete? “He that doubteth is damned if he eat.” Conscience must always have the benefit of the doubt. He that doubteth is condemned if he do any doubtful thing. This chapter is especially interesting because of its unique implied definition of faith. “He that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith; for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Here “faith” can mean nothing but full, free, and perfect conviction, in view of all the information, evidence, light, attainable. The question is not, Can the thing be proved to be wrong? but, Are you clearly convinced that it is right? Conviction is an affair of evidence, which no doubt may be even a divinely-given impression. But religion of impression is too likely to be religion of emotion, and is an exceedingly dangerous sort. But conviction, of whatever sort, is an affair of evidence; evidence is an affair of reason and judgment; reason and judgment are an affair of honesty of heart, love of truth, sincerity of purpose. There is no escape from the conclusion that a man must, from the moral standpoint, do what his conscience demands, even tho it be murder. To state it with the bold, blunt addition of this last clause quite shocks one’s first ideas; but if we content ourselves with the “glittering generality” of the first clause, omitting the specific illustration, we shall command undivided assent. Still the illustration in no way changes the principle. “Whatsoever is not of faith [any failure to live up to one’s light] is sin.” Let us notice this principle in connection with Paul’s experience. Paul was simply following his “good conscience” when he consented unto the death of the early Christians, giving his vote in favor of it, and holding the raiment of those that stoned the first martyr. There has been much misunderstanding of the apostle’s case. It has been thought that the words addressed to him at the time of the celestial vision on the way to Damascus referred to Paul’s conscience: “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” The simple fact is, this has no reference to Paul’s conscience at all. Years after this we hear him saying, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” This was not an oratorical or rhetorical trick. It was the plain truth. Paul never allowed himself to have a bad conscience even when he “persecuted this way unto the death.” He was always perfectly honest and sincere. But he was so encased in his shell of bigotry that God Himself could crack it only with a revelation. “‘To kick against the goad’ (Revised Version) does not imply, or remotely suggest the presence in his mind of compunction or inward opposition to the work in which he was engaged. It was a proverbial expression, signifying that he was embarked in a futile enterprise, one that would not avail to crush the cause of Christ, but would, the longer he persevered in it, harm himself the more. The metaphor was taken from the conflict7of oxen with the driver behind them, and their vain attempt to resist him by kicking against the goad.”—G. P. Fisher, “Manual of Christian Evidences,” p. 100. Paul lived always up to all his light, for he labored always to have a “conscience void of offense.” His murdering of Christians was pardoned, “because,” as he declares, “I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” 1 Tim. 1:13. It may be that such works as Paul wrought are included in the kind mentioned in 1 Cor. 3:15: “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” But to decide that is not the present purpose. Now while it is certain one is morally obliged to follow his light,—which depends on his information,—no matter what it requires, there is the further certainty that God will not long leave in ignorance of His will one who is honestly living up to his opportunities. Let a man live in densest heathenism, slavishly offering service to his fetish, if he honestly strive to live up to the best he knows, God has pledged Himself to see to it that such a one shall be led into a knowledge of Christian truth. 2 Chron. 16:9. The fact probably is, however, that with no other incentive than an ill-informed conscience, the motives for right-doing are too weak to be the actuating motive of very many of the heathen. The real inspiration of heathen rites seems to be fear. Heb. 2:14, 15. We are not, therefore, relieved of our responsibility toward the heathen. A proper understanding of the subject of conscience accentuates that responsibility. How happy and how thankful to us an honest-hearted pagan would be if we were the means of delivering him from the bondage of his superstitions! But, after all, what is the difference between such a one, living up to the best he knows, and a civilized Christian? Just a difference in information, merely a question of degree. Who knows but in God’s sight we are as imperfect as is the heathen in ours? And yet both may be equally accepted. “To his own master he standeth or falleth; yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand,” notwithstanding his lack of information and his “weak” conscience. Thus summarizing, we conclude: - That conscience must always be obeyed.
- That actions we think right will depend upon our information.
- That we feel we ought to do things which are in reality wrong.
- That a dishonest (wicked) heart is responsible for an unenlightened conscience.
- That, in view of all this, there is laid upon us the most solemn responsibility to grow, not only in grace but in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as exhorted by the apostle Peter, in the last verse of his second epistle.
- That the word of God should be our constant study and meditation.
- That since conscience must work with such material as it has, and the heathen have practically no proper material, we are under obligation to supply them with the motives, inspiration, enlightenment, and help, afforded by the Bible.