Una visión cristiana de la conciencia

Abstract

The doctrine of Conscience occupies a central place in the life and works of John Henry Newman. It is a doctrine which constantly appears in his writings, which had already been exposed in nuce in his Anglican years, and which gradually undergoes a harmonious and enriching development, free from contradictions and ruptures. Conscience, for Newman, is that interior and irreducible sense which the human spirit possesses in order to capture ethical and religious values. It manifests itself in practical judgments which either order or prohibit. What Newman tells us about Conscience is a result of his own personal meditation concerning this point; it is therefore a teaching that has been matured over a large number of years, and so is rich in interior lucidity, profoundness and docility. It is a doctrine which was shaped with the help of God, who has to be sought and heralded by the same. 80th subjectivity and transcendence are to be found in man's Conscience. This is a fact that always will be recognized by all Christians and, indeed, all men of good will. In spite of the refraction which it undergoes upon entering into the interior and intimate domain of every individual, Natural Law informs the individual Conscience surrounding the law and manners of God. Newman personalism accuses a strong theocentrical character. He points out, forcefully, the fact that God and man's Conscience are not competitors; on the contrary, the true life of the Conscience can be preserved by God only. Newman, an excellent interpreter of Occidental sensibility, does not reject a true Christian vis ion of God, man, and the world. «Freedom of Conscience» and -free examination. in fact claim a riqht to do without Conscience. They constitute the battle cry of a radical anthropological postulate which is full of fatal consequences. Newman's doctrine, on the other hand, can be coordinated with that of any private judgment that maintains a wide margin of legitimate and necessary exercise with regard to the religious order. Newman disqualifies freedom of examination and reccommends, rather, personal activities and initiatives which seek truth and are always ready to build, with the help of God, the seeker's own personal destiny. Conscience is not, then, a screen placed between God and personal reality. It is called upon to unite the divine and human realms and not to separate these two domains. It is therefore a vehicle of Grace, not a pretext to resist God. Newman has anticipated many topics, making him a pioneer with regard to the sensibility which is manifested in sorne aspects of Vatican Council 11. He formulated, at the same time, sorne principies that help us understand the functions of the Magisterium of the Church whenever it interprets Natural Law. He puts forth, in a word, solid reasons in favour of a dialogue between the Church and Christians on the one hand, and civil legislation on the other, with reference to topics such as the defense of life, indiividual rights, religion, and the marriage bond.