What role does the Church (Catholic) play in the formation of conscience?
Essay outline:
When considering the nature and function of conscience there are four questions to keep in mind:
- What is conscience?
- Where does conscience come from?
- Is conscience innate or acquired?
- What is its function in ethical decision making?
Timeline
Augustine of Hippo 334-430
Thomas Aquinas 1224–1274
Joseph Butler 1692–1752
John Henry Newman 1801–1890
Sigmund Freud 1856–1939
Jean Piaget 1896-1980
Erich Fromm 1900–1980
Lawrence Kohlberg 1927–1987
Biblical teaching
It is assumed by some biblical writers and early Christian teachers that our conscience is God-given. This view is put clearly in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Other views of conscience
Father Vincent MacNamara – conscience is an awareness or attitude – seeing goodness and truth as important
Richard Gula – conscience is a way of seeing the world and responding through the choices we make
Daniel Maguire – conscience is discerning the best moral choice. This involves reason, but also shared experiences of the past and of culture, as well as our personal experiences.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
What role does the Church play in the formation of conscience?
Conscience is defined as personal awareness of ethical or moral aspect to own behaviours with an urge to prefer doing the right over the wrong. From Christianity perspective, conscience has an incomplete definition, but they view it as the best outcome of reasoning after consideration of all possible outcomes of an action. The Catholic Church defines conscience as a judgment of reasons whereby a person recognises the best quality of a concrete act that one is about to do in the process of doing or already done. Some people continue to agree that conscience is the reasoning voice inside a person that guides one on what to do and what not to do. Christians have the Bible as their guide. They follow the teachings and rely on it to always remain faithful to God. Whatever they perform, they expect their conscience to lead them to do what is right as per the teachings. Hence, this essay will discuss the role the church plays in the formation of conscience. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Development of conscience is a process through which children are taught on how to acquire proper attitudes and behaviours towards other people in society. The method teaches a child the best attitude and practices based on social and cultural norms (McKenna, 2019). Every child is expected to follow the guidelines and values taught by their parents, who portrays strong morals and values by being neither rigid nor laissez-faire. The best period for a person to develop a solid moral standard is while one is still a child, and thus why parents start to mold their children when they are still kids.
Children are taught to be responsible while they are still young. At this stage, parents teach them to do chores which make their life easier. Whenever a child complains about any form of duty that they are supposed to perform, they are reminded that it is part of life to work for them to earn a living (Brennan, 2017). Also, they are encouraged to start thinking about the outcome of every activity they may be planning to perform. As a result, a child starts to develop awareness of the consequence of every action and in the process gets to know what is good and bad. In the process of learning from parents, children develop what justice is, how to control temperance, be courageous and always be honest with every person and every action they take.
Therefore, it is evident that conscience is a principle, and a man of conscience is a man of good principle. Some people view their ideas as being right or wrong that even the bad action does not bring regret and at times they even approve those actions (Roche, 2017). Principles are not born with people, but they are developed. Consequently, those connected to children should endeavour to display good morals so that the children can learn from them while they are young to ensure that they grow in the right manner to fight the challenges they may come across and be victorious.
The church view conscience as the work of God and by following the suggestions of consciousness it gives the same significance as God’s values and laws. Pope John Paul II referred to conscience as an interior dialogue of a person with himself and with God as a witness (McKenna, 2019). God as a witness makes the call on a person to obey moral law and ensure that he witnesses the person’s faithful or unfaithful acts.
The teachings of Catholic traditions on the issue of conscience are very extensive. These teachings try to make it clear to all individuals that under no circumstance should a person violate their conscience. It is required that one should always follow even an erring conscience. Various scriptures support the Catholic understanding of conscience in the Bible. The book of Hebrews refers to conscience as typically understanding and a feeling of own heart or the voice of God in one’s soul and thus why the church has maintained those guidelines as the core to the idea of conscience.
Conscience plays a key role in assisting people in making the right decision on matters to do with abortion, same-sex marriages as well as euthanasia. The Catholic Church has been changing its support on those matters and hence leaving believers to personally make their own decision based on what they believe is right or wrong (Roche, 2017). In the New Testament, St. Paul constantly reiterated to the people that he had a good conscience and they should be encouraged to act in that manner for them to acquire it too. Also, St. Augustine recommended that people should always seek a good conscience. The early church played a big role ensuring that Christians do not underestimate the effect of consciousness.
In Romans 10:17, St. Paul reminds Christians that “faith comes from what is heard.” The teachings show that the conscience of Christians is developed and shaped by their faith. According to the Bible, Faith is one of the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, and whose gentle power grows to maturity but remains to be a sanctifier, ruler and teacher of the Christians. In the church, the first teachers of the child’s faith are parents and grandparents including other church members who may be around as the child is growing. In a church environment, children are taught by catechists, local clergy and school teachers who are mandated to ensure that the child grows in the likeness of God (Olcott, 2018). To ensure that faith is genuine good, the Catholic Church ensures that the life of a child is sought and chosen in a manner that goes in line with the biblical teachings.
Roman and Greek philosophers also took part in assisting people in understanding conscience. They based their findings on the context of having a guilty feeling about something (Brady, 2017). As a result of maintaining a clear conscience, St. Thomas More was executed during reformation for his refusal to submit to the religious authority of English King Henry VIII. St. Thomas stated that his conscience could not have allowed him to do so. The church teaches us that our conscience comes from the Lord. The book of Genesis in support of the argument states that “Every single person is made in the image of God” (Gen 1:26-27). The Bible verse means that human beings are the image of God and God himself gives them certain characteristics. One of those things that God gave human beings is ‘moral code.’ Hence, I believe that conscience comes from God.
Additionally, people are supposed to maintain a clear conscience by always doing right and avoiding what is wrong, and this is supported by the scripture, “In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men” (Acts 24:16). Christians are reminded of how disciples of Jesus maintained a clear conscience without lying and always did what their conscience told them was right as the Christian should always do, “Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day”( Acts 23:1).
Catholic catechism teaches that with conscience men discovers a law inside them that they had not experienced before and which they must obey. They refer to conscience as an ever calling for doing what is good and not evil. The Catechism teaches Christians always to make use of their conscience which enables them to judge everything they say and do. The Catholic Church gives every person freedom of determining whether they have the right conscience or not. One of the rules that come with having a right conscience is that a person may never do evil to get the right result. People are supposed to carry this with them as their golden rule “whatever you wish men to do to you, do so to them” (Matt 7:12). Hence Christians are always taught to respect others and still wish them well.
Every person is supposed to develop their conscience which means training and education. Christianity teaches people to learn to talk to their hearts in order for it to develop the right morals. The fundamental of the Catholic Church is always to follow your conscience but at the same time ensure that one does not distort the meaning of that principle. I believe that by the church giving people freedom of following their conscience, we get the skill to develop and grow our ability to make the right decisions.
Catechism of the Catholic Church insists on human beings having the right to act right and freedom to make moral decisions. Vatican II document states that “one must not be forced to act in contrary to his conscience.” The statement confirms that the Catholic Church teaches believers to follow what they believe are right for them as well as ensuring that nothing prevents them from expressing or performing what they think is right even if it is on religious matters. Church members have been mandated to have a solution to complex issues of conscience. The official teachings of the church have made the members to acquire the needed courage to consult on their faith and conscience widely. In my opinion, the church moral teachings should be regarded as a valuable contribution. All Christians need to understand the requirement for one to succeed in the faith and fight against wrong decision making. Human life remains too costly and too valid, and hence as a Christian, they should never consider putting a foot wrong.
In conclusion, conscience continues to be a debate that many people find difficult to understand. However, different definitions are affected by personal faith. The Catholic Church contribution to the development of conscience continues to develop good morals in human beings. Using the Bible, the Church has managed to support their definition of the word conscience and what is expected of all people. Faith remains a key element in ensuring that believers can continue growing abilities to make the right choice in every action they take, in the process of taking or willing to take. I believe that it is necessary for Christians to start teaching their children good morals while they are still young so that they can develop a conscience at an early age. This can be achieved by keeping our consciences clear by following God, apply His Word and keeping our relationship with Him in good standing.