General Editor: James Socias
The Didache Series

Our Moral Life in Christ:
A Complete Course on Moral Theology

Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Vocabulary by chapter


Chapter 4: The Moral Conscience

In light of this reading, let us ask ourselves the following: Introduction
  1. What is conscience?
  2. Conscience and truth
  3. The formation of conscience
  4. Means to the formation of conscience
    a. acceptance of moral teaching
    b. knowledge fothe Christian life and doctrine
    c. Prayer and meditation
    d. Personal examination
    e. Spiritual direction
  5. Divisions of conscience
  6. Acting always with right conscience
  7. The Bible's appeal to our conscience Arguments for the existence of conscience
    a. Sense experience
    b. rational discernment
    c. moral reflection
  8. Conscience and law
  9. Distortion and degradation of personal conscience
Vocabulary: antecedent judgment of conscience, autonomous morality, certain conscience, concomitant Judgment of conscience, conscience, consequent judgment of conscience, doubtful conscience, erroneous conscience, heteronomous morality, invincible ignorance, lax conscience, moral rectitude, scrupulous conscience, true conscience, vincible ignorance.

Questions
  1. Why is our conscience sacred?
  2. How does our conscience relate to the Catholic idea of freedom?
  3. What are the means to forming a right conscience?
  4. Why must conscience submit to the truth and natrual law?
  5. When does conscience function?
  6. What is a lax conscience?
  7. What is a true or correct conscience?
  8. What is an erroneous conscience?
  9. What is a scrupulous conscience?
  10. Contrast antecedent, concomitant and consequent judgments of conscience.
  11. Contrast vincible and invincible ignorance.
  12. What must a person do when his conscience is in doubt?
  13. In cases where one is obliged to act immediately, what are three rules that must be applied?
  14. Why does one have a serious obligation to form one's own conscience according to the teachings fo the Magisterium of the Catholic Church?
  15. List three arguments for the existence of conscience.
  16. How does St. Paul ascertain that conscienc becomes "witness" for man?
  17. What happens if conscience is overemphasized without regard to to the law?
  18. What is the relationship between conscience and law?
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