The Vanishing Conscience: Drawing the Line in a No-Fault, Guilt-Free World
Overview
In a world obsessed with self-esteem and moral tolerance, talk of sin and guilt is taboo-even within the church. If you are concerned about today's trend of shifting blame and denying guilt, you'll find The Vanishing Conscience a fascinating read. This timeless work is a powerful indictment against worldly attitudes toward sin and guilt, and a potent reminder of how to deal with sin's presence in our lives.
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Top Highlights
“As believers, then, our duty with regard to sin is not to try to purge all society’s ills, but to apply ourselves diligently to the work of our own sanctification. The sin we need to be most concerned with is the sin in our own lives. Only as the church becomes holy can it begin to have a true, powerful effect on the outside world—and it won’t be an external effect, but a changing of hearts.” (Page 13)
“The weakness of the church is not that we’re too uninvolved in the politics or administration of our society, but that we too easily absorb the false values of an unbelieving world. The problem is not too little activism, but too much assimilation.” (Page 12)
“No one, after all, is supposed to feel guilty. Guilt is not conducive to dignity and self-esteem. Society encourages sin, but it will not tolerate the guilt sin produces.” (Page 19)
“The Hebrew word for conscience is leb, usually translated ‘heart’ in the Old Testament. The conscience is so much at the core of the human soul that the Hebrew mind did not draw a distinction between conscience and the rest of the inner person. Thus when Moses recorded that Pharaoh ‘hardened his heart’ (Exod. 8:15), he was saying that Pharaoh had steeled his conscience against God’s will. When Scripture speaks of a tender heart (cf. 2 Chr. 34:27), it refers to a sensitive conscience. The ‘upright in heart’ (Ps. 7:10) are those with pure consciences. And when David prayed, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’ (Ps. 51:10), he was seeking to have his life and his conscience cleansed.” (Pages 37–38)
