What is the role of the conscience?

Question

Sun Myung Moon · Accepted Answer

The Role of Conscience in Human Life Conscience serves as an indispensable inner compass, inherently distinguishing right from wrong and impelling us toward our most authentic self. This intrinsic faculty, understood through the lens of biblical teachings and the Divine Principle, reveals both its profound power and its inherent limitations in humanity's journey toward restoration. The Biblical Foundation The Holy Bible universally affirms the presence and function of conscience within all humanity. The Apostle Paul articulates this profoundly in Romans 2:14-15: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another." This passage underscores that an internal moral compass, often referred to as a natural law or moral intuition, operates in every individual, regardless of their direct exposure to revealed law. Scripture further delineates various states of conscience. We encounter the "good conscience" (1 Timothy 1:5: "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned"), the "pure conscience" (2 Timothy 1:3: "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day"), and the aspiration for a "conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16: "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men"). Conversely, dire warnings are issued against a "defiled conscience" (Titus 1:15: "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled") and a conscience "seared with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:2: "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron"). This imagery vividly portrays a conscience that has become desensitized and unresponsive to moral truth through repeated wrongdoing or rejection of truth. Paul specifically links the integrity of conscience to the vibrancy of faith, stating in 1 Timothy 1:19: "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck." This makes clear that a healthy, responsive conscience is not merely a moral guide but a foundational element for sustaining one's spiritual life and relationship with God. When conscience is ignored or violated, it can lead to spiritual decay, akin to a ship lost at sea. Divine Principle's Clarification The Divine Principle elucidates conscience as a core aspect of our being designed to resonate with God’s will. It is part of the psychological value system, along with intellect and emotion, that measures truth, beauty, and goodness. Conscience guides our will, emotion, and intellect to seek these values in our object partners, centered on God's purpose of creation. God is the subject partner of original value, and these values arise from Him. Therefore, centering on God's purpose of creation allows us to establish the purpose of creation through our object partners. Conscience, in this context, helps us discern good from evil, where good is defined as pursuing God's purpose of creation and evil as pursuing self-centered desires. However, the Divine Principle also critically addresses conscience's fundamental limitation in the fallen world. While conscience always directs an individual toward what they perceive as good, this perception itself is subjective and can be flawed due to ignorance, misinformation, or the pervasive influence of the human fall. Consequently, people raised in diverse cultural, religious, or philosophical contexts may have consciences that point toward conflicting "goods" on specific issues. This is not because conscience itself is evil, but because the knowledge and understanding feeding it are imperfect. Our sense of values, including that guided by conscience, is formed through daily experiences and education. Without an absolute standard, values can become relative, leading to confusion and conflict. Therefore, the Divine Principle teaches that conscience alone is insufficient for achieving restoration. A fallen humanity requires the absolute standard of truth—specifically, God's principles—to educate and calibrate conscience, aligning our understanding of goodness with God's absolute standard and eternal principles. As our knowledge of God's truth expands, our conscience becomes an increasingly accurate and reliable guide. Furthermore, the Divine Principle highlights how conscience has been significantly weakened by the fall. Though it continues to function as God's remaining inner voice, it must contend with humanity's ingrained fallen nature—the accumulation of selfish desires, ignorance, and heredi

What is the role of the conscience?

The Biblical Foundation

Divine Principle's Clarification

Conscience and Restoration

Living the Principle

Sources and further reading