Conscience
CONSCIENCE, as commonly understood, is the faculty within us that decides on the moral quality of our thoughts, words, and acts. It makes us conscious of the worth of our deeds and gives rise to a pleasurable feeling if they are good and to a painful one if they are evil.
Origin of the Notion
Three articulations of human experience appear to be at the basis of the Western notion of conscience: the Hebrew scriptures, the writings of Cicero, and the writings of Paul.
Hebrew Scriptures
In the Hebrew scriptures God is presented as someone who knows and evaluates our entire being. Psalm 139 develops the theme:
O Lord, thou has searched me and known me! Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up; thou discernest my thoughts from afar.… If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.… Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Ps. 139:1–2, 9–10, 23–24)
The pious psalmist is confident that the divine scrutiny will vindicate him.
