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The Central Importance of Conscience for Christian Psychology

Andrew M. Colman’s Dictionary of Psychology (Oxford it is necessary to constantly verify whether in one’s moral
University Press, 2006) does not feature the term “consci- decisions one is guided by the voice of God, or perhaps
ence”. This fact is symptomatic of contemporary popular by that of other people, or by one’s egoism (Acts 4:19).
and academic psychology, where the issues of axiology, According to Christian psychology, conscience is a place
religion, and morality are marginalized or absent. If the of encounter between man and God, who is concerned
existence and functioning of conscience is addressed at with removing the heart of stone (an illformed consci-
all, it is usually discussed in the context of personality, ence) and giving man a heart of flesh (a sensitive consci-
that is, psychological life, but no mention is made of the ence): “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
relationship between conscience and the spiritual sphere. and I will give you a heart of flesh” (Ez. 36:27). In this
A notable exception in this regard is V. E. Frankl’s theory, context, Christian psychology offers an opportunity to
in which conscience, similarly to religiousness, is associ- understand the nature and role of conscience in an inte-
ated with the spiritual, noetic sphere, rather than in the grative way, as it opposes the reductionist approaches li-
psychological sphere. miting conscience only to the sphere of psychological life.
There is some disagreement among philosophers, theo- As an innate disposition, rooted in the spiritual sphere
logians, and ethicists as to the understanding of consci- and manifesting itself in the psychological sphere, con-
ence, its origin (genesis), structure (constitution), and science is shaped in terms of form and content during
role (function). For Thomas Aquinas, conscience is an one’s life. Thus, it is also possible to form an erroneous
act of reason – an integral part of human existence sanc- conscience. In the initial period of life, the responsibility
tioning one’s responsibility for one’s own doings before for the formation of conscience rests with the immediate
oneself and God. I. Kant placed conscience in the domain environment of the child; however, adults ought to mo-
of practical reason. According to him, man discovers the nitor their conscience themselves to make sure it is not
norms of morality by virtue of his reason. É. Durkheim deformed. Disorders of the structure and functions of
understands conscience as a product of social life. Theo- conscience include immature (infantile) conscience, cap-
logians claim it represents the voice of God. tive conscience, hypocritical conscience, and scrupulous
Psychologists analyze conscience as a psychic disposition. conscience.
In explaining moral acts, psychoanalysis refers to the in- Responsibility for acting in accordance with one’s con-
stance of superego, formed by the environment in which science rests with the person, who is obliged to follow
a child was reared until the fifth year of its life. Freud his conscience and to make good any damage resulting
practically reduces conscience to the structure of supere- from actions undertaken in violation of one’s conscience
go. C. G. Jung treats it as the voice of the archetype – the (expiation). A crucial characteristic of conscience is its
core of one’s personality. A. Adler stresses that conscience sensitivity. An adequate level of this characteristic (balan-
is a defense mechanism and an instance controlling man ced between oversensitivity and insensitivity) is a prere-
in relation to the realm of values. E. Fromm analyzes con- quisite for the correct discernment of the moral value of
science as the voice of an internalized external authority. actions and the intentions behind them.
G. Allport perceives conscience as a key factor of perso- In summary, one could argue that conscience is a place of
nality development and makes a distinction between the meeting between the realm of the spirit and the realm of
immature conscience of coercion and the mature con- matter – between the voice of God and the experiences
science of responsibility. These concepts are reductionist of man shaped by the world in which he lives. Due to
and do not take into account the spiritual sphere in which this, conscience is one of the central points of psychology
conscience exists and functions. based on Christian anthropology. Thus, it is essential that
In Christian tradition, conscience is the voice of God in the voice of conscience be treated with due attention and
man, and as such it belongs to the spiritual sphere and care, especially in the process of psychotherapy.
is a tool that allows one to distinguish what is good and
morally sound from what is bad and unsound. This spiri- Romuald Jaworski, Poland,
tual instance influences the sphere of human experiences dr. hab., psychologist, psy-
and is revealed in one’s psychological life in cognitive and chotherapist, supervisor, ca-
evaluating acts. The function of conscience is to identify tholic priest, professor at the
the value of the object of one’s strivings (cognitive as- Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
pect) and the evaluation of this object (evaluative aspect). University in Warsaw, pre-
Evaluation leads to certain emotional states (a sense of sident of the Association
obligation, guilt, remorse, pride, satisfaction). Man dis- of Christian Psychologists
cerns the value of an act in the context of the measure (ACP) in Poland. He is the
God equipped him with (natural law). Obviously, one’s author of several books and
ability to understand values as well as to correctly eva- articles in the field of psy-
luate intentions may be partly hindered by one’s current chology of religion and pas-
spiritual, psychological, or physical condition. Therefore, toral psychology.
romualdjaworski@wp.pl

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