Conscience- St. Augustine

Question 1

Augustine’s definition of conscience

Answer 1

• It is innate and God-given

- “man has in his heart a law inscribed by God”

Question 2

Since the ‘fall of Adam’…

Answer 2

• we can do no good
• we are dependent on the grace of God through his undeserved guidance and salvation and sees it as an inner sense of what is right and wrong
• we are pre-disposed to turn away from God as every human still bears the ‘original sin’ of Adam and Eve

Question 3

Conscience has…

Answer 3

the ability to make incorrect decisions if we do not accept God’s grace as we are flawed beings

Question 4

How to we reach a correct decision by using our conscience?

Answer 4

we accept God’s grace and rely on him to guide our conscience to make the correct decision

Question 5

Advantages

Answer 5

• Accounts for why conscience may make incorrect decisions, because we have been corrupted by original sin => we cannot use our conscience correctly unless we accept God’s grace

Question 6

Criticisms

Answer 6

• Those who claim to have accepted God’s grace could justify any action => question of self-delusion
• if your conscience goes against the teachings of the Church do you still obey it? cf. Newman/story of Abraham