another response on authority/conscience

I had a couple of quick reactions to the useful discussion of authority/conscience.

First, the view that Steve mentions (as set forth by Father James Bretzke SJ) is precisely the view of conscience critiqued by Pope John Paul II in Veritatis Splendor (and critiqued by Pope Benedict in his numerous writings on conscience). In paragraph 32 of VS, JP II mentions that "certain currents of modern thought have gone so far as to exalt freedom to such an extent that it becomes an absolute, which would then be the source of values....The individual conscience is accorded the status of a supreme tribunal of moral judgment which hands down categorical and infallible decisions about good and evil. To the affirmation that one has a duty to follow one's conscience is unduly added the affirmation that one's moral judgment is true merely by the fact that it has its origins in the conscience. But in this way the inescapable claims of truth disappear, yielding their place to a criterion of sincerity, authenticity and 'being at peace with oneself,' so much so that some have come to adopt a radically subjectivistic conception of moral judgment."

This last point is quite important. Under the subjective understanding of conscience, the concepts of good and evil lose meaning. Under the subjective view, we are "infallible," and I realize that there is a attractiveness to that position. (I think that was the only time the idea of infallibility was used in the encyclical.) Our choices are beyond criticism (except in the rare cases when the choice is insincere).

Second, Pope John Paul tried in VS and other writings to counter the idea that adherence to a view of moral truth means that one is subject to the heteronomous commands of an arbitrary sovereign. In the Pope's view, the moral law is something that is built into our human nature. Living in the truth is the key to our genuine fulfillment and authentic freedom. Our adherence to the truth is our participation in the wisdom and providence of God.

Richard M.