What is a wrong conscience?

Answer 1

The Catholic conscience is defined as, '...the judgment of the practical reason which decides that a particular action is in conformity with or opposition to God's law.' If one is said to have an erroneous conscience, it may be with or without fault. If it is without his own fault, he does not sin by following it, such as making being mistaken on the day and committing an activity considered sinful on that day. However, in regards to the Commandments of God, no person of ordinary intelligence can be ignorant without his own fault. For example, it is assumed (everyone) knows murder is against the Commandments, therefore would be wrong, regardless of what lack of, or mistaken, knowledge the person has.

Answer 2

The Bible states that a person's conscience must be kept clean and that this would require work. An incorrect conscience would include times when our beliefs are not in harmony with God's like in the Apostle Paul's case when he persecuted Christians before Jesus revealed himself to him.(Acts 9:1-5) Paul thought he was doing the right thing, but it was not the right thing in God's eyes. The Bible also says that a person's conscience can become corrupted by consistently ignoring it in favor of desires and actions that are contrary to what God wants us to do. (Titus 1:15) Paul also mentioned that a person's conscience can become so twisted that it has been seared by a branding iron. (1 Tim. 4:1,2) This would imply a "scarring" of sorts, where there would be no sensitivity anymore where there should be. All these things point to the fact that a conscience must be kept clean by our thoughts and actions. Otherwise, we run the risk of developing a conscience that has been defiled or "numbed" to the point of being insensitive to wrong-doing.

Source Material: "Insight on the Scriptures" published by Jehovah's Witnesses

Answer 3

Conscience is the instinctive knowledge of right and wrong. Some attribute conscience to the Holy Spirit. Others attribute conscience to an inherited instinct that evolved to protect the tribe and ultimately the species, and which can be improved by training. There is evidence of behaviour in higher mammals, that we would attribute to conscience when observed in humans

Having an incorrect conscience means that the conscience is erroneous in its view of right and wrong. Incorrect conscience ought to be impossible if conscience comes from the Holy Spirit, but not so if conscience is an inherited instinct.

Answer 4

It's a conscience that doesn't quite understand right from wrong.