Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CONSCIENCE

That quality of human consciousness that allows one to be aware of moral and immoral categories of thought and behavior.

Hebrew has no specific word for conscience, although some modern translations so render Heb. lēḇ, “heart” (e.g., 1 Sam. 25:31). A possible reason for this lack is the Hebrew writers’ perspective that one’s moral awareness is not an autonomous psychological category of personhood; rather, moral awareness is a willingness to obey the commands of Yahweh God (Deut. 30:14; Eccl. 12:13b). In Hebrew thought, one’s moral identity finds its meaning in relation to the moral nature of Yahweh’s commands to the community of faith, not individual self-reflection or introspection (e.g., Ps. 1:1-3; 16:7-8; 24:4[MT 5]; 40:8[9]; 119:11. Respect for the Lord is the beginning of moral wisdom (Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10; Sir. 1:11-30).

In Wis. 17:11, a text that has importance for an understanding of several NT appearances of the term, “conscience” refers to an evil moral conscience. Such a usage implies a Hellenistic understanding of the autonomous nature of the human moral decision-making process. Whereas in the OT one’s moral decisions are responses to Yahweh’s will and word, in Wis. 17:11 one’s autonomous bad moral decisions result in a bad moral character. And, these moral decisions — whether good or bad — are not united necessarily to Yahweh’s will.

Paul’s use of “conscience” (Gk. syneídēsis) in 1 Cor. 8:7-13; 10:25-30 is significant for understanding the evolution of the term’s meaning in post-Pauline literature and in Western culture. Discussing whether a Christian believer should eat meat offered to idols, Paul uses “conscience” as a practical equivalence to “self-imposed duties,” “scruples,” or even “perceptual awareness.” The origin of conscience, therefore, would vary according to the ideology of the believer, and Paul does not limit the term to a bad conscience alone.

Elsewhere Paul elevates the term to the level of one’s self-awareness of one’s thoughts, knowledge, and acts in relation to the lordship of Christ (Rom. 2:15; 9:1; 2 Cor. 1:12; 4:2; 5:11). NT uses of the term in non-Pauline literature mimic Paul’s application of the term to a Christian’s self-aware moral perspective (e.g., Acts 23:1; 1 Tim. 1:5, 19; 2 Tim. 1:3; Tit. 1:15; Heb. 10:22; 13:18; 1 Pet. 3:16, 21). The relation of moral self-awareness (i.e., consciousness) to the resurrected Christ is an ideological identification that had far-reaching implications for a Western worldview.

Bibliography. C. A. Pierce, Conscience in the New Testament. SBT 15 (London, 1955); K. Stendahl, “The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West,” HTR 56 (1963): 199-215.

Bennie R. Crockett, Jr.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CONSCIENCE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)