84. God's Law; Conscience

1. Conscience is often called the voice of God within us. It bids us do what is right and avoid what is wrong. Cain, who lived long before the Ten Commandments were given to Moses, knew by his conscience that it was wicked to kill his brother. 2. When one is tempted to steal, one seems to hear a warning voice saying, "Do not steal. Theft is an offence against God,'' That is conscience.

Besides believing what God has revealed, what else must we do to be saved?

— Besides believing what God has revealed, we must keep His law.

"But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matt. 19:17).

1. The law of God is contained in both natural and revealed law. Natural law is imprinted by God in the hearts and minds of all men. It teaches the most important rules of morality: homage due to God, treatment of others as we expect others to treat us, the evil of wilful injury to oneself, the virtue of truth and honesty. Thus natural law is a definite expression of God's will, requiring obedience.

For example, a child, or a pagan, who has never heard of Ten Commandments, feels guilty when he has done something wrong. He has an instinctive knowledge of the law of nature written by God in his heart, telling him what is right and what wrong.

2. Besides the natural law, there is the revealed law, chiefly composed of the Ten Commandments and the two precepts of charity. The revealed law is only a repetition and amplification of the natural law.

The Ten Commandments, which were given to the Jews through Moses, were not revoked by Jesus Christ; on the contrary they were amplified and fulfilled. "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). "And by this we can be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says that he knows him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3-4).

3. God's law — that divine reason and will of God — is perceived by men through the light of the intellect, by the voice of their conscience.

What is conscience?

— Conscience is the manifestation of God's will that is made to men by the voice of reason, by the dictates of their intellect.

1. Conscience is often called the "voice of reason" or "voice of God", because it bids us do right and avoid wrong. Cain, who lived a long time before Moses, knew that he had committed evil in slaying Abel. Even today, in pagan countries which have never heard of the commandments, men know right from wrong by their conscience. By it, they know God; it bids them obey.

As St. Paul, speaking of the non-Jews who did not know the Jewish law. said: "The Gentiles, who have no law, do by nature what the Law prescribes. They show the work of the law written in their hearts. Their conscience bears witness to them" (Rom. 2:14-15).

2. If we always obey the dictates of our conscience, we shall never offend God. It is a guide that He expects us to follow. It arises from knowledge of the law, whether natural or revealed. Before any action, conscience speaks either in favor or against. After the action, according as we have followed or disregarded it, conscience fills us with peace or disquiet.

If a person is tempted to steal, he seems to hear an inward voice saying: "Do not steal. You know it is wrong to steal." This inward voice is conscience. Conscience tells us that God is our Lawgiver,— our Judge, Reward, and Avenger.

When is conscience erroneous?

— Conscience is erroneous when we think that something right is wrong, or that something wrong is right.

1. An erroneous conscience arises from ignorance or a faulty knowledge of the law. As long as a person who has an erroneous conscience knows no better, he is not responsible for the evil he may do by following it. An erroneous conscience is a false one.

For example, a child tells a lie in order to save his younger brother from punishment. He thinks his duty to protect his little brother is superior to the telling of the truth. He has an erroneous conscience, and in this case commits no sin. However, everyone is required to strive for a correct knowledge of the law by studying his religion. In that way, he will form a correct or right conscience.

2. If a person with an erroneous conscience believes something right is wrong, and nevertheless does it, he is guilty of sin, because he has violated his conscience, and therefore willed to do wrong.

A man may believe that God prohibits gambling in a lottery. If he nevertheless participates, he sins, because he has violated his conscience.

3. One has a doubtful conscience when one does not know whether something is right or wrong. We should not act if we have a doubtful conscience about something, but wait till we can clear the matter up.

If one has a doubtful conscience, but yet must do something and cannot wait, he should say to himself that if he knew it was wrong, then he would not do it. Then even if he makes up his mind and does it, and it is really wrong, he is not guilty of sin.

What is a scrupulous conscience?

— A scrupulous conscience is a sick conscience that sees sin where there is none.

1. A scrupulous person looks on temptations as sins. We must not encourage a scrupulous conscience. It is a mark of lack of confidence in the goodness of God.

When a scrupulous person is tempted, he worries himself sick, believing he has committed sin, even when he has not yielded to the temptation one whit, even when he has actually abhorred it.

2. The opposite of a scrupulous conscience is an unscrupulous or lax conscience. One with such a lax conscience convinces himself that man is too weak to resist sin, and so all sin is negligible. "To err is human" is his constant motto.

A lax conscience is careless; it makes light of ordinary sins, and looks upon grave sins as negligible. After some time a lax conscience increases in laxness until the person loses practically all sense of wrong. Thus he becomes a habitual sinner. We then say that he has no conscience.

What is a delicate or tender conscience?

— A delicate or tender conscience is one which impels us to avoid anything in the slightest degree evil.

We should be most careful to keep our conscience delicate. It is a terrible thing for one to live as if he had no conscience. It is a tender conscience that escapes such things as self-reproach, shame, remorse, dismay, and fear, because it is ever before God, Who gives it peace and hope.

A tender conscience is the conscience of the saints. It is the conscience that good Christians should cultivate. Then they will not do anything the least displeasing to God.