Cu. IIL] THE FIRST GENERAL EPISTLE OF PETER. 655
from the very economy and constitution of man, belongs to it. Had it strength as it had right; had it power as it had mani- fest authority, it would absolutely govern the world” (Sermons II. and IIL, ‘*On Human Nature ”).
Conscience is a faculty. The mind may “possess reason and distinguish between the true and the false, and yet be inca- pable of distinguishing between virtue and vice. We are en- titled, therefore, to hold that the drawing of moral distinctions is not comprehended in the simple exercise of the reason. The conscience, in short, is a different faculty of the mind from the mere understanding. We must hold it to be simple and un- resolyable till we fall in with a successful decomposition of it into its elements. In the absence of any such decomposition we hold that there are no simpler elements in the human mind which will yield us the ideas of the morally good and evil, of moral obligation and guilt, of merit and demerit. Compound and decompound all other ideas as you please, associate them together as you may, they will never give us the ideas referred to, so peculiar and full of meaning, without a faculty implanted in the mind for this very purpose ” (McCosh, “ Divine Govern- ment, Physical and Moral ”).
Conscience is a sentiment: i.e., it contains and implies con- scious emotions which arise on the discernment of an object as good or bad. The judgment formed by conscience awakens sensibility. When the judicial faculty pronounces a thing to be lovable, it awakens love. When it pronounces it to be noble or honorable, it awakens respect andadmiration. When it pro- nounces it to be cruel or vile, it awakens disgust and abhorrence.
In scripture we are to view conscience, as Bishop Ellicott re- marks, not in its abstract nature, but in its practical manifesta- tions. Hence it may be weak (1 Cor. viii. 7, 12), unauthoritative, and awakening only the feeblest emotion. It may be evdd or defiled (Heb. x. 22; Tit. i. 15), through consciousness of evil practice. It may be seared (1 Tim. iv. 2), branded by its own testimony to evil practice, hardened and insensible to the appeal
of good. On the other hand, it may be pure (2 Tim. i. 3), un- veiled, and giving honest and clear moral testimony. It may be void of offence (Acts xxiy. 16), unconscious of evil intent or act ;
656 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. IIT.
good, as here, or honorable (Heb. xiii. 18). The expression and the idea, in the full Christian sense, are foreign to the Old Tes- tament, where the testimony to the character of moral action and character is borne by external revelation rather than by the inward moral consciousness.
Falsely accuse (émnped{ovres). Compare Luke vi. 28; the only other passage where the word occurs, Matt. v. 44, being re- jected from the best texts. The word means Zo threaten abu- swely ; to act despitefully. Rev., revile.
17. lf the will of God be so (ef 9ér01 7d DéAnpa Tob Ocod). More literally, as Rev., preserving the play upon the word zwill, if the will of God should so will.
18. The just for the unjust. But the Greek without the article is more graphic : just for unjust.
In the flesh. The Greek omits the article. Read én flesh, the material form assumed in his incarnation.
In the spirit. Also without the article, zm spirit; not as A. V., by the Spirit, meaning the Holy Ghost, but referring to his spiritual, incorporeal life. The words connect themselves with the death-cry on the cross: “ Father, into thy hands I com- mend my spirit.” Huther observes, “ Flesh is that side of the man’s being by which he belongs to earth, is therefore a creature of earth, and accordingly perishable like everything earthy. Spirit, on the other hand, is that side of his being according to which he belongs to a supernal sphere of being, and is there- fore not merely a creature of earth, and is destined to an im- mortal existence.”