You must complete ALL of TASK FOUR in the homework
booklet – your teacher will give you a completion date.
Complete page 60 of your SPAG BOOKLET – this must come
with you to EVERY LESSON THOUGH (don’t leave it at home).
To use media
clips, case
studies,
picture clues
and an exam
question to
understand
more about
Christians and
the conscience.
Grade C
All will be able to describe
what a conscience is.
Grade B
Most will be able to explain
the different Christian
views of the conscience and
how it can help them make
a moral decision.
Grade A/A*
Some will be able to evaluate
and express an opinion on
the conscience as a source
of moral authority.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbw_BxDwdjk
Explain what you think a conscience is…
What problems might arise from letting your
conscience guide your actions?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOZ
zNOkcEgM&feature/related
Use the picture clues to help you jot down some ideas on
page 3 of your worksheet booklet ideas...
A way for people
(religious and
non-religious) to
JUDGE their
moral actions
It makes us feel
GUILTY if we do
things that are
wrong.
A kind of
guardian
prompting a
person to do
what is right.
An INNER part of a
person where a sense of
right and wrong is
developed.
Grade C
All will be
able to
describe
what a
conscience
is.
Use your
mini
whiteboards
to fill in the
blanks.
•Christians believe EVERY HUMAN has a conscience
•Christians believe that GOD speaks to Christians. The conscience is like
GOD’S voice in our head telling us what to do.
•Christians should NEVER act against their conscience.
St Paul and St Thomas Aquinas taught that Christians should use their
conscience as the final part of moral decision making.
You should consider the Bible and the Church but your conscience should
finalise any decision you make.
Why do you think they said this?
Teachings of the Church and Bible do not
come directly from God and need
interpreting.
However, the conscience is God speaking
directly to individuals and should be
followed.
Who would disagree with this
and why?
Read through Ned’s view
on the conscience…
HIGHLIGHT any key
information.
Use this information to
complete PAGE 55 of
your REVISION
WORKBOOK – this is not
against the clock but a
way of ensuring you have
fully understood your
notes and can formulate
them into an exam
answer.
As a Christian, I consider that my
conscience is the most important guide
when I make moral decisions. My
conscience has been formed by the
teaching I have received from my
Christian parents, my vicar and at my
Christian school.
My conscience is also the way I can think
about what God would want me to do. I
can listen to my conscience, it is an inner
voice, which guides me to decide what
decision I would feel comfortable with.
I use my conscience because I
also think about the possible
consequences of my decisions and
how my conscience would make me
feel in the different outcomes.
My conscience would make me
feel bad if I made the wrong
decision.
My conscience can be used when other
sources of advice cannot, like for
example, if my decision was very personal
and I would not be able to find the
answer in the bible and would not feel
comfortable asking my vicar for help.
Grade B
Most will be able
to explain the
different
Christian views
of the
conscience and
how it can help
them make a
moral decision.
If a Christian thought that they
had heard the voice of God
commanding them to kill a brutal
dictator, they would see in the
Bible that it is wrong to murder.
However, the dictator may be
murdering thousands or even
millions of innocent people.
To decide what to do that
Christian would use their
conscience, which would probably
tell them that murder was wrong,
no matter what the outcome.
This happened in real life, when
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian,
joined the plot to assassinate
Hitler. The plot failed and
Bonhoeffer was executed.
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=49Dxvic_pbs
The Bible teaches that
murder is morally wrong,
‘thou shall not kill’, but
Bonhoeffer followed his
conscience and plotted to
assassinate Hitler.
Was this RIGHT?
Do you think a Christian’s
conscience should be
their main source of moral
authority?
If everyone followed their conscience we would
have no agreement in society on what is right.
Do you agree?
Many Christians believe that if they follow the Bible and the
teaching of the church then they should not go wrong and do
NOT need the conscience to be the final word.
Some have been mistaken about the
voice of God. Peter Sutcliffe became
known as the Yorkshire Ripper. He
claimed that God told him to kill
prostitutes.
Some fundamental Christians
have claimed God had told them
to kill doctors who carry out
abortions and blow up abortion
clinics.
http://www.youtube.com/v/3HcOocNOpSw
What arguments arise from
this case study against
acting on the advice of
your conscience?
Some people believe that
conscience is imperfect
and does not always work
properly. They say it is a
useful tool to help people
decide right from wrong,
but that is not always a
perfect guide.
Do you agree?
Grade A/A*
Some will be
able to
evaluate and
express an
opinion on the
conscience as a
source of moral
authority.