A good conscience is an educated conscience

October 28, 2010  David Murray   6 comments

Adam and Eve were created with perfect consciences, with perfect knowledge of right and wrong, with a clear inner voice encouraging them to do right and warning them to avoid wrong. Herman Bavinck did not believe Adam and Eve had a conscience before the fall. He said that conscience was “a proof of humanity’s fall, a witness to human guilt before the face of God” (Reformed Dogmatics, Vol 3, 173).

I humbly beg to differ. Conscience is not just a negative (telling us what is wrong and convicting us when we do it), but a positive (telling us what is right to do and approving what is done right). Romans 2:15 tells us that conscience not only accuses but defends; it not only tells us what is wrong but also what is right. And it does that not just retrospectively but prospectively as well. That’s what makes Adam and Eve’s sin even worse. They not only had God’s command, they also had clear and clean consciences. They had the outer voice of God’s command and the inner voice of conscience. And despite all that they rejected that knowledge and disobeyed that voice by sinning in the garden of Eden. This resulted in serious damage to their consciences, and ours.

Sin filled our consciences with guilt, shame, and fear, suppressing the volume of God’s inner voice; muffling it and mixing it up. While conscience is still present, even in the heathen (Rom. 2:15), its loss of reliable knowledge means its voice is dim, distant, and often confused.    

Due to the effect of sin on our consciences, and its subsequent fallibility, we need to have our consciences re-educated. Our lack of information and our misinformation must be replaced with divine information. And that only comes through God’s Word. Alphonse De Lamartine said: “A conscience without God is like a court without a judge.” That’s why, before claiming possession of a good conscience in Acts 24:16, Paul said in verse 14 that he believed “all things written in the law and the prophets.” He had a good conscience because he had an educated conscience.

There are many who claim to have a clear conscience, whereas what they really have is an uninformed conscience, or a badly educated conscience, often resulting in a brazenly insensitive conscience. A badly educated conscience though can also produce a paralyzingly oversensitive conscience (1 Cor. 8:7, 10, 12). People can think something is wrong when nothing is wrong. All consciences, insensitive and over-sensitive, need to be informed and filled with the Word of God.

Martin Luther started a revolution by educating his conscience with God’s Word. When the religious superpower of the day accused him of pitting his puny conscience against the might of the Church, he replied: “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other, so help me God.”

Tomorrow we will see that a good conscience is also an exercised conscience.

 

  • Colin Postma

    Dr. Murray,Though I would agree with the conclusions of this article, and firmly believe in educating our minds through God’s Word, yet I disagree with the statements of the first paragraph for the following reasons:1. On somewhat of a superficial note, Adam and Eve were never born, but created of God2. Adam and Eve were not created with perfect knowledge of right and wrong – since they first had to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil before this became a reality. In verse 17 of Genesis 2 the Lord says, ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’ And in verse 5 of Genesis 3 the serpent uses this point as a means of advertising the sin of eating the fruit of that tree, ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ This would imply that they did not know good and evil until they had eaten of the fruit of the tree. Or am I reading in to this wrong? Colin

  • David Murray

    Thanks for the interaction. Colin, I’ve changed my careless use of “born.” I’ll get back to you on the other point after my classes today.

  • David Murray

    Colin, I believe that Adam and Eve were created with perfect knowledge of right and wrong. As Adam was made in the image of God, he had the moral law of God written on his heart before the fall. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism put it: He was made in the image of God, with knowledge, righteousness and holiness… The command not to eat of the tree was in addition to the moral laws he already was aware of and which were buttressed by his conscience encouraging him to do good and warning him about evil. The Hebrew verb “to know” can mean “to be skillful at, to be able.” “Good and evil” can mean everything there is. The Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil therefore represents the ability to do everything. That’s why when the Devil tempted Eve to eat the tree he said, “You shall be as gods.” God was testing Adam and Eve’s submission to His sovereignty by forbidding that tree. That’s why their sin was so bad. It was not just eating a piece of fruit. It was a rejection of His sovereignty and a desire to take His place. Hope that might stimulate further thought.

  • Colin Postma

    First, I have re-read my first post and would like to apologize if it comes across rather judgmental and unloving. That was not the intention. I greatly appreciate the work you have been doing in this blog, which I read daily, and the hard work you do as a Teacher at the Seminary, and do not presume to know more or have studied more than you. Yet I do enjoy a good discussion on such topics, and desire in the process to learn more myself. Second, I have never studied Hebrew, but the Hebrew verb ‘to know’ would seem to mean not only ‘to be skillful at, to be able’ but has an action component too. ‘Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.’ Genesis 4:1. ‘Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.’ Genesis 3:7. Adam and Eve did not know that they were naked before the fall and their eyes being opened signals that they did not fully understand the depth of guilt and disobedience. Certainly they understood what disobedience to God was – ‘but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’ They fully understood that disobedience would reap serious repercussions, however I think they knew nothing of the ‘Knowledge of Good and Evil’ until they had actually partaken of the fruit, had felt the wrath of the Lord, their eyes had been opened and they realized the gravity of their situation, and took actions to cover themselves of the guilt and shame. For example – as a child playing in a garden, you can understand that their are plants, and that some of the plants are edible and some your Mother may have forbidden you to touch. However, you cannot know which the edible plants are, nor which the poisonous plants are, nor even know that there is a difference between the edible and poisonous plants until you have reached out your arm in disobedience and stuff one of the forbidden plants into your mouth, and come to realize and feel the consequences of your disobedience and you become sick.Though this example does not fit the scenario directly (my eating of a forbidden plant in disobedience doesn’t give a knowledge of good and evil since we are born with such knowledge) but certainly it relays my point that for our first parents who had never experienced sin and disobedience could not have a knowledge of good and evil until they had done so. ‘To end my argument what do you think of the following verse – “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Genesis 3:22. Again I don’t know the original language but the words ‘has become’ would indicate that the serpent was right when he told Adam and Eve that they would be like God knowing good and evil, and that Adam and Eve did not know good and evil before the fall into sin. Colin Postma

  • David Murray

    Colin, you make some very good points and raise some very good questions. Allow me to make a further study of this over the next few weeks and I’ll get back to you with a response.I enjoy the interaction too: iron sharpening iron.

  • Colin Postma

    Certainly.