Topic 4 Conscience Flashcards
What do Quaker’s believe about god and themselves/
- everyone has part of god within them
- all humans made with inner light to guide them in actions
- light = god working within them through Holy Spirit
What do Quaker’s believe about the importance of conscience?
- something of god in everybody (each human being is of unique worth). Why they value everyone equally + oppose anything that can do harm
- seek religious truth in INNER EXPERIENCE _ rely on conscience as basis of morality
- direct experience of god better than unnecessary rituals etc which are just obstructions between believer + god
- authority comes from conscience which comes from god
How does the Quaker view on conscience inform their religious practice?
- meetings = hour of silence (to listen to conscience)
- people speak if encouraged by holy spirt
- silence = valuable way for them to try to work out what god is saying to them thorugh conscience
Are quakers tolerant? Why?
- yup
- on most moral issues eg abortion, no set rules (allow each Quaker to seek god through conscience)
- some issues eg war + discrimination that quakers can never support
What did Aquinas think about reason and conscience?
- conscience = part of reason given to us by god (imago dei) to help make moral decisions
- aquinas = ppl natural inclination to do good but people mistake apparent goods for real goods (white lies)
- called idea of conscience synderesis (right reason)
- believed that ppl should educate their consciences so get better at recognising good (church can help)
What does the RCC believe about conscience?
- encouraged to use conscience to work out + apply precepts of natural law
- HOWEVER conscience should never allow a catholic to decide something that is opposed to natural law is morally right (faulty reasoning)
What do liberal believe about conscience?
- use conscience to decide what bits of bible to accept (eg teachings about stoning disobedient children or homosexuality might be rejected)
- liberals believe that conscience + deductive reason have authority + should be used to reject irrational things
What do fundamentalists believe?
- dont need to use conscience in relation to belief + practice cos bible tells us what to do
Why is conscience important to liberal Christians?
- guides them in interpretation of bible today
- helps them to know what to do in situations not in bible eg genetic engineering
Why would conscience be important to quakers?
— voice of god within so should always be folllowed
- promotes more flexible approach to decision making + increases greater tolerance of diff views
Why should conscience be important to Roman Catholics?
- supports natural law which is god’s moral code for world
Why should conscience not be used in matters of belief + practice?
(Augustine and fundamentalists)
- Augustine would argue…
- tainted cos of fall
- to rely on conscience = relying on unreliable source -> lead to bad actions
- can easily be swayed by emotion (should use it all inside other sources of authority eg church)
- fundamentalists = wrong to look to conscience as bible provides every instruction that humans require as bible = word of gos
