speaks of faith as the Christian conscience. Cmi science, accordingly, is involved in man'? moral history. It suffers in his sin and alienation from (;od, becoming clouded in its insight, feeble in its testimony, anil may even come to be jjrievously pervertea in its judgments. It gains in hu restora- tion through grace, its knowledge is clarified, its judgment strengthened. The deepest characteristic of sin is a liberty, which is, in truth, the bondage of man's will or person.ality. The deepest characteristic of grace is a service, which is perfect freedom. Man, in yielding himself to God, accepts a law, which is the law of his o«ti being. He is therefore free, self-determining, and self-realizing; a person as (!od is a person, realizin<' the fulness of personal life in harmony with God. Con.scicnce shares in this subjection ' which is also emancipation.' Th ■ NT ever3'where claims for conscience this indi^- pendence of action, this immediacy and certainty of Its deliverances, undetermined by a formal code or the voice of a spiritual director (Ro 141- »• ''■'■Oj Col 2'", Ja 1''"*). Toward this point, therefore, the growt h of conscience must be directed under the guidance of special education. This education is twofold.
1. Social. — The highest good for man ahvay-ii involves the relation of man to man. ' Through society,' saj's Professor Green, ' is personality actnalized.' Hence it follows ' that the human spirit can only realize itself, or fulfil its idea, in persons ; and that it can only do so tlirouL;h society, since society is the condition of the development of a personality ' {Prolegomena, pp. 200, 201). Conscience, therefore, being per.sonalitv in its relation to right, is also socially conditioned. There is no such thing as a merely individual conscience. Even when seemingly most individual, as when a reformer rises to protest against the injustice of some institution, its testimony is still on behalf of a good for man, which this institution, founded, no doubt, to further it, now fails to express and practically oppo.ses. It is plain, therefore, that ' no individual can make a conscience for himself. He always needs a society to make it for him' (Prolegomena, p. 351). Conscience is born and cradled in the home, trained and exercised in the Church, in civil society, and the State. The enormous importance of this social education of conscience is thus evident. The ethical functions of parent, teacher, pastor, employer, statesman, are seen to be the highest and most sacred. Umler their influence, the conscience of the individual receives its revelation of duty, and its preparation for the exercise of its legislative and judicial vocation.
2. Individual. — Man cannot be merely passive in education. All true education is self education. The education of conscience, in particular, must be the work of the individual, consciously fitting himself for the service in which freedom and life for him lie. The means at his disposal are mainly three.
(a) The institutions of society, the sacred rights of life, honour, property, reputation, with all tue de- tailed obligations to which these give rise. Only through the most careful obedience to these element- ary conditions of moral life can conscience be kept clear and strong. Negligence here, even in name of high spirituality, has always produced a terrible Nemesis, and those who have claimed emancipation in name of religion have sunk beneath the load of that mere morality they affected to despise. Hence the NT ethic is remarkable for its abundance of commonplace, and has the homeliest directions to give to children, servants, citizens, to fulfil the duties of their station, while it frequently recalls those who are thrilling with consciousness of new light and life to the rudiments of morality, truth, honesty, purity, industry, etc. The attempt
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to be religious at tlie expense of morality is very ancient and is still very prevalent, and requires continually the prophetic rebuke (Mic C°').
(i) The literature in which the conscience of humanity has given utterance to itself. Tlie whole field of liistory, biography, and fiction is ojiened up for the education of conscience. By diligent study, conscience grows informed, and becomes more sure of itself. Alon" with such general literature we may class the Bible. It reouires no a priori doctrine of inspiration to establisn the supremacy of biblical ethic. Here we have a revelation of right, wliich has never been seriously questioned, and has com- manded the unaffected approval even of unbelievers. The Bible is the touchstone of conscience. Con- science can only be maintained in truth and vigour, according as it is continually refreshed by earnest study of the unveiling of the ideal con- tained in Scripture and principally in the character of Jesus Christ.
(c) Communion with God. Here we are on the borderland of ethic and religion. The education of books becomes the education of li^nng intercourse. The conscience whose sole sources of information have been natural laws, or the records of literature, fails of the highest light, breaks down in critical instances, and is, besides, gloomy stern and hopeless. The conscience which rises through obedience to mor.al law and study of ethic into fellowship with Him who is Righteousness and Truth, becomes clear and full in its testimony, a reliable guide in the perplexities of life. Or course this result is not reached by a leap. It implies a process carried on through life. The growth of conscience will have its periods of weakness, onesidedness, acrid fan- aticism, morbid tenderness, all of which must be most patiently borne ^^^th, not only by observers, but by the individual himself. Conscience will even pronounce judgments that are needless, foolish, or actually erroneous. The utmost care must be taken not to wound conscience at such times. Specially must it not be overborne by those who rejoice in higher light and claim a larger liberty. Their higlier duty, indeed, may be to deny themselves a liberty which is their right (1 Co g7-i3 io-3-s3^ Ro 15'- 2). The stage of weakness is, however, in itself an effect of sin, and to continue in it is added sin. Strength and truth of conscience are the aim to be consciously striven after (He 5"). The testimony of conscience is meant to be part of our assurance toward God (2 Co 1'-, 1 P 321).