Abstract
The objective of this paper is to examine the Pauline understanding of conscience, with the view of gaining an inspiration from it for the contemporary discussion on the foundations of the Christian ethics. The meaning Paul attaches to it depends on the context (mainly in Rom and 1 and 2 Cor), ranging from the personal to the communal one. Conscience holds the secrets of human hearts, evaluates concrete circumstances, and discerns right from wrong. It enjoys special relationship with the Holy Spirit, who gives it credibility. Paul’s teaching on conscience extends beyond the personal to the communal. One of the most important inspirations we can draw from him is the one concerning the proper relationship between various members of the ecclesia: those appointed to hold authority, and those supposed to submit to it. How should we balance the communal demands and personal freedom of every baptized member of the community? What is common and what is personal? Despite a multitude of cultural differences and real-life problems in the world of Saint Paul and our own, a careful lecture of his writings may stimulate our debates on the foundations of Christian ethics in a positive way and ensure that they do remain the theological ones.
Highlights
The moral and theological analysis of the Pauline meaning of conscience has to confront two difficulties
The first is posed by the central place which conscience occupies in contemporary theological and moral reflection, which may lead to a premature conclusion that it must have been so back in Saint
The second difficulty lies in the fact that there is nothing like a cohesive and well-thought-out teaching on conscience in his epistles
Summary
The moral and theological analysis of the Pauline meaning of conscience has to confront two difficulties. The first is posed by the central place which conscience occupies in contemporary theological and moral reflection, which may lead to a premature conclusion that it must have been so back in Saint. We may project our contemporary understanding of conscience back into Paul’s writings and see in them something that is not there at all. Out of thirty places in the New. Testament in which there appears the noun syneidesis (or the verb synoida), almost half are found in the genuine Pauline epistles Testament in which there appears the noun syneidesis (or the verb synoida), almost half are found in the genuine Pauline epistles Religions 2017, 8, 201 shall pursue the question of whether his writings may be considered an inspiration to moral theology today, and—if so—to what extent
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