How is my conscience the voice of God?

[sidetrack]

I remember in one of the religion classes I had in high school I learned that my conscience is the voice of God.I have trouble agrreing with that to this day becuase what I dont understand is if my conscience was the voice of God would’nt I always be doing good/moral stuff and would’nt I have more certainity when facing big significant choices?.I know that i have free will and I guess that when I abuse it that might “bury”(out of lack of a better word) the voice of God telling me to do good but if my conscience was the voice of God would’nt I develop quicker as a good human being having to go through less trial and error through life?.I would be pleased to know if someone can explain to me how the question i put in my title is possible.Thank you very much for answering good people.

 

[promethius]

I remember in one of the religion classes I had in high school I learned that my conscience is the voice of God.I have trouble agrreing with that to this day becuase what I dont understand is if my conscience was the voice of God would’nt I always be doing good/moral stuff and would’nt I have more certainity when facing big significant choices?.I know that i have free will and I guess that when I abuse it that might “bury”(out of lack of a better word) the voice of God telling me to do good but if my conscience was the voice of God would’nt I develop quicker as a good human being having to go through less trial and error through life?.I would be pleased to know if someone can explain to me how the question i put in my title is possible.Thank you very much for answering good people.

A conscience is something that God endows us with to seek out His Divine Law (moral commands). In a way, you might say that it is one way God speaks to us… by writing His commandments in our heart and giving us the conscience to understand right and wrong. However, when your conscience says to you “you shouldn’t do that”, it’s not EXACTLY the voice of God speaking directly to you… rather it is your conscience given to you by God telling you this.

And FOLLOWING one’s conscience is an act of the will. In other words, if we have a well formed conscience, then when we do wrong we are, as you say, burying our conscience in order to do what we know to be immoral.

Here is what the catechism has to say on the matter (and the catechism is always a good starting point for these types of questions): christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/moral.html

 

[JimG]

Your conscience is not the voice of God.

The conscience is a faculty of the intellect by which we judge the rightness or wrongness of an action or inaction.

Using our conscience–an intellectual faculty–we make a judgement as to whether something is right or wrong, and then act on that judgment (using our will.)

Conscience, to be useful, must be correctly formed. We form our conscience to be in accord with the teachings of Christ as handed down in the teachings of his Church.

An incorrectly formed conscience can lead us astray.

 

[tonyrey]

Your conscience is the voice of God in the sense that it is our God-given** ability **to distinguish good from evil. It is not infallible because we are neither perfect nor omniscient…

 

[Joe_Kelley]

   Many claim primacy of conscience quoting the Catechism***1782**** Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters." * But they err in their understanding of conscience. Conscience is a judge by which we determine if an action is in accord with the law; it not the maker of the law.  It is mandatory that one properly form ones conscience by providing it the proper laws.  We are not entitled to judge the law.   *…**if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge … *[James 4:12]  
       At the Easter Vigil those baptized elsewhere who wish to enter the Catholic Church will declare: **I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.**  We who are already in the Church must also profess this belief.  It does not say that the Church teachings fits my beliefs; it says that I accept the Church as the source of truth and will work to bring my belief into line with Her teachings.