(2) The authority of conscience. — However men differ in their theories as to the nature and origin of the moral faculty, there is general agreement as to the authority of the moral law which it en- joins. Few will be found to challenge Butler's famous assertion of the supremacy of conscience : ' Had it strength as it has right, had it power as it has manifest authority, it would absolutely govern the world' {Serm. ii.). And while ad- herents of the sensational school of ethics may dispute Kant's right to describe the imperative of morality as 'categorical' in its nature [Metaphysic of Ethics, p. 31), even they will not seek to qualify his apostrophe to duty (p. 120) or the exalted lan- guage in which he describes the solemn majesty of the Moral Law (p. 108). ^ For the NT authors conscience is supreme, and it is supreme because in its very nature it is an organ through which God speaks to reveal His will. In the case of the natural man it testifies to a Divine law which is written on the heart (Ro 2^') ; in the case of the Christian man this law of Nature is reinforced by a vital union with Jesus Christ (Gal 22") and by the assenting witness of the Holy Spirit (Ro 9'). The claim of right Avhich Butler makes on behalf of conscience is transformed for St. Paul into a law of power. The pure and loyal Christian con- science has might as it has right ; it not only legis- lates but governs. What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, is actually fulfilled in those who take Christ to be the com- panion of their conscience and who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.
In Acts we have many examples of the way in which conscience, in Butler's words, ' magisterially exerts itself ' in the case alike of bad men and of good. The suicide of Judas (P^ ; cf. Mt 27^^-). the heart-pricks of the men of Jerusalem under St. Peter's preaching (2^^), the claim of St. Peter and St. John that they must obey God rather than men (4^* 5"*), Saul's experience that it was hard to kick against the pricks (9*), Felix trembling as St. Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come (24^^) — all these are examples of the authority of conscience. And what in Acts we see practically exemplified is laid down in the Epistles as a matter of rule and doctrine. St. Paul enjoins submission to the civil authority (Ro IS'"^"), but vindicates its right to govern on the ground of the higher authority of conscience (v.'). The writer of Heb. represents the sin-convicting conscience as a sovereign power which impelled men to lay their gifts and sacrifices on the altar, but was never satisfied until Jesus Christ ' through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish
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nnto God' (He Q^- " W-^% St. Peter teaches that, in a matter of conscience before God, men must be willing to ' endure griefs, suffering wrong- fully' (1 P 2^"). Nor is it only the personal con- science whose dignity and supremacy must be ac- knowledged ; a like reverence is to be shown for the conscience of others. St. Paul sought to com- mend himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God (2 Co 4^ ; cf. 5")- He taught that the exercise of Christian liberty must be limited by regard for another's conscience (1 Co 10^^), and that even when that conscience is weak, it must not be wounded or bewildered or defiled (S^- ^"- ^^) lest the other's sense of moral responsibility should thereby be impaired.
The source of this magisterial authority of con- science is represented by the NT writers as lying altogether in the Divine will, of which conscience is the instrument. For St. Paul conscience is not an individualized reflexion of social opinion, nor a subtle compound of feelings evolved in the course of the long struggle for existence, nor yet a mysterious faculty that claims to regulate the life of man by virtue of some right inherent in its own nature. Its authority is that of a judge, who sits on the bench as the representative of a law that is higher than himself. Its function is to bear witness to the law of God (Ro 2^^ 9^, 2 Co P^) ; its commendation is a commendation in His sight (2 Co 4'^) ; its accusation is an anticipation of the day when He shall judge the secrets of men (Ro 2^'- ^®). Similarly for St. Peter a matter of conscience is a question of ' conscience toward God '(IP 2'^). Some commentators would render a-welS-qa-a deov in this verse by ' consciousness of God ' ; and the very ambiguity of the expression may suggest that in the Apostle's view conscience is really a God-consciousness in the sphere of morality, as faith is a God-consciousness in the sphere of religion.
(3) Varieties of conscience. — What has just been said as to the absolute and universal authority of conscience may seem difficult to reconcile with the distinctions made by the NT writers between consciences of very varied types. There are con- sciences that are weak and timid, and others that are strong and free (1 Co S''^-). A conscience may be ' void of offence ' (Ac 24'*), or it may be detiled and wounded (1 Co 8^- ^^, Tit 1">). It may be good (1 Ti P-i», He 1318, 1 P 3'«-2i), or it may be evil (He 10^2). It may be pure (1 Ti 3», 2 Ti P), or in need of cleansing (He 9'*). It may possess that clear moral sense which discerns intuitively both good and evil (He 5'^), or it may be ' seared with a hot iron ' (1 Ti 4^) and condemned to that judicial blindness to which nothing is pure (Tit 1'^). The explanation of the difficulties raised by such lan- guage lies in the fact already noted that 'con- science ' in the NT is used to denote not the power of moral vision only, but the moral judgment and the moral feelings. As the organ which discerns the Moral Law, conscience has the authority of that law itself ; its voice is the voice of God. It leaves us in no doubt as to the reality of moral distinctions ; it assures us that right is right and wrong is wrong, and that ' to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin ' ( Ja 4"). But for the application to particular cases of the general law of duty thus revealed, men must depend upon their moral judgments ; and moral judgments are liable to error just as other judg- ments are. It was a want of ' knowledge ' that led some in the Corinthian Church to shrink from eating meat that had been offered to an idol (1 Co 8^), and a consequent mistake of judgment when they came to the conclusion that such eating was wrong. Their consciences were weak because their moral judgments were weak. And as the result of their weakness in the decision of moral