Page 28 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 10

Personal Agency and Conscience ment can go more or less awry, and so contrary
Humans were created by God to become per- to God’s design plan, leading to a disordered
sonal agents-in-community, a creaturely image conscience.
of the Trinity (Johnson, 2007; 2017), and a
healthy conscience is a critical part of one’s per- Disorders of the Conscience
sonal agency, which likewise emerges during This leads us back again to Scripture, which in-
the course of development. Personal agents- dicates that the conscience can get disordered,
in-community are characterized by a sufficient becoming “evil” (Heb 10:23), “defiled” (Tit 1:
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degree of rational-linguistic capacity, an aware- 15), or “seared” (1Ti 4:2), so that it comes to
ness of others’ minds and their agency, the abi- correspond poorly to God’s law (which we have
lity to determine one’s actions, responsibility for seen is his ethicospiritual design plan for human
those actions, and a sense of moral validation life). Today, such damage is seen in the extreme
when one is living according to God’s design in those with antisocial personality disorder,
plan (evidenced by a “good,” “clear” conscience, who seem to have little capacity for empathy
as we saw above) (Johnson, 2007; 2017). Moreo- and moral awareness, in spite of normal co-
ver, as personal agency matures in adolescence gnitive abilities. To the degree that individuals
and early adulthood, humans make decisions and cultures have developed and accepted ways
and begin to shape their own development in of living that differ from God’s revealed will in
ways for which they are held responsible. Part Scripture, we may appropriately judge that their
of this accountability involves the shaping of consciences have become evil, defiled, or seared
one’s own conscience. So, while the conscience (e.g., burning wives in the funeral pyre of their
is intended by God to serve as a guide for one’s husbands).
actions, one’s actions can also shape the form Less antithetical to God’s purposes is the dis-
of one’s conscience, sometimes in deleterious tortion of a “weak” conscience (1Co 8:7, 10,
ways. Therefore, the formation of one’s consci- 12; or being “weak in faith;” Ro 14:1), in which
ence is an important part of the task of beco- one feels that one has violated God’s law, when
ming a mature self before God (Kierkegaard, one actually has not, for example, eating meat
1849/1980). offered to idols (1Co 8) or doing anything per-
ceived as religiously “unclean” (Ro 14:14), wh-
ether eating meat, rather than vegetables (14:2)
The Formation of the Conscience in a Fallen or not observing certain holy days (14:5). Such
World examples are instructive. With regard to Chri-
Human life as we know it, however, is fallen stians eating meat used in non-Christian reli-
and characterized by many kinds of deviation gious ceremonies, Paul taught that it was not
from God’s design plan. Genes and physiolo- spiritually contaminated by that association.
gical processes can malfunction, for example, Rather, the meat still belongs to God, and it can
and parents can provide poor attachment and be eaten by Christians with thanksgiving. The
socialization experiences for their children. “weak” person (1Co 8:11), unfortunately, is fal-
Depending on what exactly goes wrong, such sely persuaded that such actions are religiously
aberrations can impact the development of the reprehensible, so their moral awareness is not
conscience, leading to the lack of the develop- yet conformed to God’s will in this matter. Ne-
ment of a coherent self, poor internalization of vertheless, Paul’s pastoral response to churches
moral standards, and a deficient sense of social that have such members is to encourage the
obligation that enable one to act in ways that are strong to respect the weak and not act in ways
consistent with one’s identity and moral under-
standing (PDM Task Force, 2006). Eventually,
as personal agency emerges, people come to 4 This last phrase is reminiscent of the Old Testament
shape the development of their own conscience Hebrew description of the psychological condition which
through their personal sins. There are many is translated in English as the “hardening” of one’s mind,
ways, therefore, in which conscience develop- spirit, or heart (Ex 8-11;Dt 2:30; 1Sa 6:6; 2Co 36:13; Dan
5:20; see also 2Co 3:14).
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