[Pearls Episode 137: Answering atheism Tuesday.]
We hope you’re finding little ways to grow in poverty of spirit.
As we complete our reflection on the parable of the Dishonest Servant, we turn to this statement by Jesus, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.”
Have you heard this sort of phrase, “it doesn’t matter what a politician does in their private life…”
Oh? Really?
Not according to Plato, Aquinas, John Henry Newman, or John Adams for that matter. And this isn’t just about politicians, but all of us.
With the exception of people with mental disorders (split personality, etc) – we are a single, unified person. We have only one conscience, formed by one intellect.
Here’s what the anonymous author of the Cloud of Unknowning says, “Spiritually, the eye of your soul is your intellect; your conscience is your face in spiritual terms.” Our conscience is our face – it reveals who we are. That’s because our conscience is the faculty by which we act in concrete situations. Do I do this or that? Our conscience is the decider of this or that. But our conscience is formed by our intellect.
It is also true that our conscience is where we hear that “little voice” from God. St. John Henry Newman calls this the “aboriginal vicar of Christ” (try to work that into a bumper sticker!) – which is a fancy way of saying, “little voice from God.” But St. John Henry, identifying how our ego can override that “little voice” goes on to say, “in this age, with a large portion of the public, it is the very right and freedom of conscience to dispense with conscience, to ignore a Lawgiver and Judge, to be independent of unseen obligations.”
Fulton Sheen puts it this way, “There are two kinds of consciences: There is the one God gave us, and there is also the one we may have made for ourselves.” We may have made. Those are chilling words because Bishop Sheen shows that we don’t really form our false conscience – it is made in the image of the spirit of the world. Imagine Tik-Tok and Fakebook forming our conscience.
This is why it matters what we do in little things. Each little choice that we is adding to the formation of our conscience. The question is whether we’re forming our conscience in the image of God, or the image of the world? “to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” (Titus 1:15)
Here’s the bottom line, the true, God-given conscience only takes hold of us if we seek it out and give ourself over to it – allowing that “little voice” to become large. That is the meaning of “working out our salvation” so that “it is no longer I that live…”
And what happens if we don’t do that? Well, then who knows what voice is guiding us? What are the implications for our ability to make free and virtuous choices? What are the implications for our moral culpability if we commit crimes? What are the implications for maintaining a society of liberties, rights and obligations? It’s not for nothing that humanist atheists like Sam Harris are attempting to conjure up how to have a functioning society where no one is responsible for the crimes they commit. Sam Harris is anticipating a society of self-made consciences.
John Adams famously proclaimed, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
John Adams preceded St. John Henry Newman and the teaching of conscience as the Vicar of Christ. Funny thing, because it seems Mr. Adams had just that in mind when he wrote of the need for a “moral and religious people.”
We’re pretty sure Mr. Adams would agree whole-heartedly that, “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.”
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith – Interior Life