CHURCH HISTORY

Church History



Church History

Introduction

Although systematic treatment of the subject is rare in the Fathers, the notion of conscience gained importance during the patristic period. Augustine's view is significantly different: natural law theory chastened by its repudiation of the moral optimism of Pelagianism and although he can speak of the golden rule as "inscribed in the conscience" and a confirmation of divine judgments rather than in relative detachment from the divine presence.

Medieval discussions of conscience mainly focus on two terms: synteresis and conscientious. Jerome identifies the eagle in Ezekiel's vision with what he calls synteresis. If this capacity retained after the fall, Jerome asserts that some wicked persons did not retain what he called conscientious. Commentators solved the contradiction by distinguishing synteresis as the ultimate ground of moral knowledge from conscientious as the application of principles.

The distinction dealt with between synteresis and conscience explains how the issue of knowing whether conscience is always an obligation. Synteresis cannot create an error in conscience. To disobey even a mistaken conscience is to act against synteresis. Conscience is increasingly viewed as a guide in the moral realm rather than the seat of guilt. Although it operates in relative independence and not under God's sudden impulse, conscience should not be construed subjectively.

Patristic Period

How did the early Church respond to Gnosticism and other early heresies that threatened the purity of her faith?

Gnosticism

The theological designation 'Gnosticism' derives from the Greek word gnosis ('knowledge'). It was coined in the eighteenth century, to refer to certain religious movements from the first two or three centuries whose doctrines supposedly centered on the importance of special 'knowledge'. The most well-attested of these movements were Christian, but some evidence suggests that similar movements may have existed independently of, and perhaps even prior to, early Christianity.

Sometimes this inferior creator portrayed like an incompetent and cruel tyrant. He selfishly arrogates to power and authority while only vaguely understanding that true divinity transcends him. Whatever their specific characterizations of the creator, these various strategies for removing from the true God direct responsibility for the creation of the material universe generally seem directed at a common target: the issue of theodicy, reconciling absolute divine perfection with moral and physical deficiencies in the vast ecosystem. Closely associated with this concern, there are often efforts to resolve hermeneutical difficulties posed by various 'problem passages' in scripture: anthropomorphic or anthropopathy language about God; grammatical plurals that seem incongruous with monotheism; behavior deemed inconsistent with divine perfection, etc. The distinction between God and cosmic creator has prompted the assertion that characteristic of 'Gnosticism' was an 'anti-cosmic dualism' encouraging complete isolation from society.

An additional feature is the tendency to stress a special kinship between humanity and divinity, conventionally expressed by an assertion that humanity bears within itself a spiritual principle or essence that derives from the realm of true divinity and that destined to return there after release from the flesh. These speculations are often clearly indebted to Platonic traditions about the descent and ascent of the soul, but most of ...