Conscience

Biblical Texts

The word "conscience" occurs about thirty times in the New Testament, mostly in the Pauline Epistles, Hebrews, and 1 Peter.

• Acts 23:1; 24:16: In his defense, Paul declares that he has served God in accordance with his conscience.
• Romans 2:15: Even Gentiles who do not have the law show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.
• 1 Corinthians 8:7–12; 10:25–29: In the matter of eating food offered to idols, believers are told to show consideration for a brother with a "weak conscience."
• 1 Timothy 1:5; 1:19; 4:2: A "good conscience" is contrasted with a conscience "seared with a hot iron," that is, branded as with a heated iron.
• Hebrews 9:14; 10:22: The blood of Christ is said to purge the conscience.
• 1 Peter 3:16; 3:21: Believers are urged to keep a good conscience, which is linked with baptism.

Terminology and Background

The Greek word syneidēsis combines "with" (syn) and "to know." It denotes the awareness by which one reflects on and knows one's own actions, and it was in use in the Greek-speaking world before the New Testament.

The Hebrew Old Testament has no exact equivalent; instead, the word "heart" (lev) fills this role. A representative example is the statement that "David's heart smote him" after he cut off the skirt of Saul's robe (1 Samuel 24:5).

Meaning in the Whole of Scripture

In the Old Testament, the heart carried the sense of self-awareness and self-reproach before God. The New Testament addresses this more explicitly under the term "conscience."

In the New Testament, conscience is an inner witness that judges between good and evil, but it is not an absolute standard. The conscience can be weak (1 Corinthians 8:7), defiled (Titus 1:15), or seared (1 Timothy 4:2).

Hebrews states that the Old Testament sacrifices could not make the worshiper perfect as pertaining to the conscience (Hebrews 9:9). By declaring that the blood of Christ purges the conscience, it connects the problem of conscience with atonement.

Interpretation and Issues

• The "Gentiles" of Romans 2:14–15: Commentators differ on whether the passage refers to unbelieving Gentiles in general or to Gentiles who have come to faith as Christians. On the former reading, the passage is frequently cited as a basis for common grace or natural law. The Roman Catholic tradition has treated conscience systematically in connection with natural law.
• The relationship between conscience and Scripture: Protestant tradition places conscience under the authority of Scripture. Martin Luther is reported to have said at the Diet of Worms that his conscience was captive to the Word of God. Chapter 20 of the Westminster Confession of Faith confesses that God alone is Lord of the conscience and that the conscience is therefore not bound by human doctrines contrary to His Word.
• The saying "the voice of conscience is the voice of God": Although this is commonly said, it is not a direct statement of the biblical text. Because Scripture teaches that conscience can err, many interpreters distinguish this saying from what the text itself teaches.

In the Korean Church

The "weak conscience" passages of 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 are often cited in discussions of practical matters on which denominations and individual church members reach differing judgments, such as food from ancestral rites and alcohol and tobacco.

In 2018 the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled that the provision of the Military Service Act making no allowance for alternative service was incompatible with the Constitution. With a Supreme Court ruling following soon after, conscientious objection to military service became a matter of public controversy. Because most of the objectors were members of Jehovah's Witnesses, opinions within the Korean church were also divided over the meaning of "conscience" and over alternative service.