Innate Morality

Well, as a few friends have noted, I haven't really posted anything for a while, so I figured I should try to write something. I've been out of school for more than half a month, had vacation, had my wisdom teeth out, and now I have Spanish in summer school. It's about 25 hours a week, not including personal studying time, which is a good amount of time. I'm not doing as well as I would like to just yet, so that's something I'm gonna be studying more as the weekend progresses. Yay for holidays!

Anyways, back before we left UCLA, one of our Bible Study sessions brought up something I found kinda interesting. I don't remember how it started, but we got to a point where we were talking about one's conscience and being good, which I'll define as having strong ethical character. Strong ethical character can be somewhat ambiguous itself, so in this sense I'll say it is something to the degree of following the ethical code/conduct established in the Bible. Yet, this is something that I don't even think is the best definition, because it might imply that only those that follow the Bible are of strong ethical character, but that's sorta what I want to write about.

Well, to state things to the point, I don't believe those that are Christians are the only ones that can have strong ethical character. In other words, I do believe that those that aren't Christians can also have strong ethical character, and it has something to do with innate moral character.

My answer is going to be directed towards a Christian audience, so I am going to try and base my answer off of Scripture, or at least my interpretation of it. Those that don't believe in the Bible may disagree with me, but like I said, this answer is supposed to be more towards a Christian audience.

To get to the point, I believe that everyone is born with an innate morally good character. There are some who follow this innate character, while sometimes one's view of what is morally good may become clouded and confused. Thus, some may stay true to this nature their whole lives, whereas others may become confused towards what is right and wrong. On a personal not, please do not think that I'm trying to attack people that may do something that is ethically questionable in the sense that it is hard to tell if it is right or wrong. I am trying to speak in very general terms and such and trying not to attack any specific issue/person.

Now, lots of Biblical terms may come to mind, such as conscience or the Holy Spirit, and his role in ethical character. I believe that these two are very related, but not exactly the same. For a Biblical reminder, the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles gathered during Pentecost. They were bestowed with Spiritual Gifts and what not, as seen in Acts. Yet, if I remember correctly from the Gospels, Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit later coming down to everyone that believes, or in other words everyone that does become a Christian. In other words, everyone now that is truly a Christian has the Holy Spirit inside of them. The Holy Spirit is important in terms of morality for, if I remember Scripture correctly, there are a few references to him as being a helper/keeper of moral character.

How does this differ from one's conscience? This is somewhat confusing, so I hope I can explain it well, but I believe one's conscience is the innate moral character I was referring to earlier. In other words, everyone is born with a conscience, and thus they are knowledgeable of what is right and wrong. One of the more interesting questions one may have is where one's conscience may come from. Due to this being a biblical answer, I believe that one's conscience is a part of the character of God that we are formed after. Genesis states that we are formed in God's image, which I believe we (our Bible Study) concluded was more than just an image in terms of seeing, but being, so to speak, which includes moral character. Thus, everyone has this innate character of God in them.

Why may this exactly be significant? Because I believe that it states that everyone has the capacity to be good (in terms of morality), even those that aren't Christian. If everyone is born with the innate moral character of God, then everybody does have the ability to be good. Of course, this is assuming that the moral character of God is good, but that is a part of being a Christian, so that is something I'll readily assume.

At this point, some of you may be wondering what the Holy Spirit's role is, then, if one's conscience is the innate moral character of God. Well, to answer simply, not everybody chooses to listen to their conscience, or their conscience becomes clouded/distorted as time progresses. The Holy Spirit acts as a refresher/cleaner of one's conscience, thus making one more inclined/able to listen to it. In other words, it makes one's conscience more powerful, so to speak. Even then, that doesn't sound like the right wording, so don't use my words for that...

This is somewhat confusing, so I'll try to make a nice concluding section for it. Basically, everyone is born with a conscience, which is something that I view as innate moral character. Thus, everyone has the ability/option to be good, whether or not they are actually Christians. Of course, this does not mean everyone does, but they have the ability to be good. Then, there are those that become Christians that receive the Holy Spirit, and thus their consciences are refreshed by the Holy Spirit, and thus they are more prone to follow it. This would somewhat explain why those that are Christian are typically seen as the ones with high ethical standards, but this also means that those that aren't Christian can have a strong ethical character as well. Thus, anybody can be good in terms of morality. This may be a simple point, but it is something that seems to be forgotten all too often for Christians... Oh well, food for thought! I'm not sure when I'll be writing again, but hopefully somewhat soon. But until then, farewell!