Nature of the Conscience
The Distant Collegian and I have been discussing the following question from the WorldView quiz I posted a while back:
Our ethical nature is pre-programmed.
In the comments to that post I argued that the correct answer is agreed because of the following passage of Romans:
Rom. 2:14-15 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and thier thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.
Thus, the moral nature is something that is built into us, it is pre-programmed or innate, as the Distant Collegian remarked below:
We're not computers, we're not machines. We have a nature, yes, it's just not mechanical or computerial. If you hold that human nature, as a general rule, is not analogous to a computer program, I don't know why you'd make an exception in the case of our innate ethical understanding. I wasn't willing to compromise on this linguistic point, so I put a strongly disagree. - Distant Collegian
I believe he is correct in two respects:
1 - Our conscience develops through either searing it by ignoring it or developing it by the study of God's Word, the Mind of Christ.
2 - Our actions are NOT pre-determined by our conscience as the actions of a computer program are pre-determined by the code which composes it.
However, I would argue that Paul in Romans is saying that we have a pre-programmed, that is, built in conscience from God that is not our own choosing or making, but it part of our nature. The nature of this conscience is innate, pre-programmed. However, we have the power to develop or ignore it by the choices we make. The pre-programming only indicates our sense of right and wrong, not our adherence to that innate sense of morality. In the verse, Paul is not saying that all Gentiles do the things of the Law because of their conscience. What he says is that their ability to choose to obey certain principles of the Law despite their ignorance of the Law Proper demonstrates that a certain knowledge of the Law, that is, God's moral standard, is built into, pre-programmed, and innate to our nature.
Our ethical nature is pre-programmed.
In the comments to that post I argued that the correct answer is agreed because of the following passage of Romans:
Rom. 2:14-15 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and thier thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.
Thus, the moral nature is something that is built into us, it is pre-programmed or innate, as the Distant Collegian remarked below:
We're not computers, we're not machines. We have a nature, yes, it's just not mechanical or computerial. If you hold that human nature, as a general rule, is not analogous to a computer program, I don't know why you'd make an exception in the case of our innate ethical understanding. I wasn't willing to compromise on this linguistic point, so I put a strongly disagree. - Distant Collegian
I believe he is correct in two respects:
1 - Our conscience develops through either searing it by ignoring it or developing it by the study of God's Word, the Mind of Christ.
2 - Our actions are NOT pre-determined by our conscience as the actions of a computer program are pre-determined by the code which composes it.
However, I would argue that Paul in Romans is saying that we have a pre-programmed, that is, built in conscience from God that is not our own choosing or making, but it part of our nature. The nature of this conscience is innate, pre-programmed. However, we have the power to develop or ignore it by the choices we make. The pre-programming only indicates our sense of right and wrong, not our adherence to that innate sense of morality. In the verse, Paul is not saying that all Gentiles do the things of the Law because of their conscience. What he says is that their ability to choose to obey certain principles of the Law despite their ignorance of the Law Proper demonstrates that a certain knowledge of the Law, that is, God's moral standard, is built into, pre-programmed, and innate to our nature.