The Puritan Conscience
The Place and Function of Conscience in Puritan Theology and Life
Originally preached Dec. 26, 1962
Sermon Description
In this address delivered at the Puritan Conference, Dr. J.I. Packer examines the central place of conscience in Puritan thought and practice. Beginning with the Reformers' conviction that conscience is man's awareness of himself as standing in the presence of God — subject to God's Word, commanded and judged by God's law — Dr. Packer traces how the Puritans understood conscience as a rational faculty of self-knowledge in communion with God. Drawing on the writings of Sibbes, Fenner, Ames, Goodwin, Bunyan, and others, he shows how the Puritans personified conscience as God's deputy in the soul: a register, a witness, an accuser, a judge, and an executioner. This teaching, Dr. Packer argues, reflected the Puritans' view of Holy Scripture as a precise revelation sufficient for detailed holy living, their understanding of personal godliness as the life of a good conscience maintained through sight of the cross, and their conviction that faithful preaching must apply truth directly to the conscience. Dr. Packer then brings these principles to bear on the events of 1662, when nearly two thousand ministers were ejected from the Church of England under the Act of Uniformity. Focusing particularly on the case of Richard Baxter and his associates — men who had no objection in principle to episcopacy, liturgy, or a national church — Dr. Packer shows that the principles weighing upon their consciences were the fear of perjury in swearing unfeigned assent to the prayer book, the refusal to declare the Solemn League and Covenant unlawful, concern over the implications of reordination, and above all, the conviction that the ministers of God must not appear to discredit the truths they had publicly upheld. The address concludes with the challenge that such conscientiousness — evangelical, not legalistic; joyful, not morbid; costly, but precious — is a basic need in the Church at all times and a word the present generation needs to hear.
Scripture
Sermon Breakdown
- The Puritans maintained the Reformation emphasis on conscience, understanding it as man's awareness of himself standing before God, subject to God's Word, and judged by God's law.
- Conscience, in Puritan theology, is a rational faculty of self-knowledge gained by reflection in communion with God — a faculty of moral judgment operating through the form of a practical syllogism.
- The Puritans personified conscience vividly: Sibbes described it as God's court set up within man, containing a register, a witness, an accuser, a judge, and an executioner; Bunyan portrayed it as Mr. Recorder in the town of Mansoul; Brooks called it God's spy in our bosoms.
- The Puritan view of conscience reflected their doctrine of Holy Scripture as a full and precise revelation of God's unchanging will, sufficient for detailed and exact Christian living — not vague generalization, but thoroughgoing application of biblical principle.
- A good conscience, the Puritans taught, is one that was first made bad through conviction of sin, then brought through to the knowledge of pardon and peace in Christ, and thereafter maintained by daily seeking to know and obey God's will.
- Fenner described the blessing of a good conscience as the head of all comforts, a faculty that makes the believer taste sweetness in the Word, in prayer, in the Sabbath, in the ordinary gifts of creation, and even in afflictions and trials.
- The Puritans insisted that faithful preaching must apply truth directly to the conscience — the ideal preacher was one who would, in their vivid phrase, "rip up the conscience" and lead hearers through the knowledge of sin back to Christ.
- In 1662, the principles weighing upon the consciences of the ejected ministers included the fear of perjury in swearing unfeigned assent to the prayer book, the refusal to declare the Solemn League and Covenant unlawful, and concern that reordination would discredit non-episcopal orders across Reformed Christendom.
- The overmastering principle for the men who would not conform was that the ministers of God must not act in any way that appears to discredit the truths they had publicly upheld — consistency and faithfulness to principle were themselves matters of conscience before God.
- Dr. Packer concludes that such conscientiousness is positive and evangelical, not negative or legalistic; it is joyful, not morbid; precious, not unimportant; and it remains a basic need in the Church in every compromising age.
Sermon Q&A
Questions and Answers
What is the Puritan understanding of conscience according to Dr. Packer?
According to Dr. Packer, the Puritans understood conscience as a rational faculty of self-knowledge gained by reflection — knowledge of ourselves shared with God and imparted to us by God. It is a faculty of moral judgment that deals with all matters of right and wrong, duty, and guilt. The Puritans drew on Thomas Aquinas's definition, as mediated by Ames and Fenner, that conscience is man's judgment of himself according to God's judgment of him. Its operations take the form of a practical syllogism: a general truth from Scripture serves as the major premise, a particular truth about oneself as the minor premise, and the conclusion is a judgment about either one's duty or one's standing before God. In the realm of duty, conscience commands or prohibits; in judging one's condition, it either accuses and condemns or excuses and acquits.
How did the Puritans describe the function of conscience in vivid terms?
Dr. Packer draws on several striking images from the Puritan writers. Sibbes pictured conscience as a court God has set up within the soul, containing five offices: a register that keeps diaries of all one has done, a witness that testifies, an accuser corresponding to Romans 2, a judge that pronounces verdict, and an executioner that brings an immediate foretaste of future judgment. Bunyan, in his allegory The Holy War, portrays conscience as Mr. Recorder — a man well-read in the laws of his king, courageous and faithful to speak truth, whose terrible fits made the whole town of Mansoul shake. Brooks called conscience God's spy in our bosoms, and Fenner described it as a preacher joined in commission with the Holy Spirit, so that the Spirit and conscience are resisted or obeyed together, grieved or delighted together.
What did the Puritans mean by a "good conscience" and how is it maintained?
Dr. Packer explains that the Puritans described a good conscience as one that was first made bad — that is, awakened through conviction of sin — and then brought through into the knowledge of pardon and peace through faith in Christ. It is the conscience described in Hebrews 13:18: "We trust that we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly." This good conscience is maintained, Fenner taught, in three ways: first, by taking heed never to act contrary to conscience; second, by laboring to have the heart grounded in assurance of the love of God; and third, by the daily exercise of faith in applying the blood of Christ, seeking a fresh pardon each day and never sleeping one night without clearing the sins of the day. The Puritans insisted that this life of a good conscience is not gloomy or sour, but cheerful, joyful, and peaceful.
What principles of conscience led the Puritan ministers to refuse conformity in 1662?
Dr. Packer identifies four considerations that weighed upon the consciences of the ejected ministers, particularly the group associated with Richard Baxter. First, the Act of Uniformity required them to swear an oath of unfeigned assent and consent to everything contained in the prayer book, and they feared this amounted to perjury since they could not honestly affirm certain ceremonies and phrases. Second, the Act required them to abjure the Solemn League and Covenant as an unlawful oath, and many could not declare under oath that an undertaking to further Reformation in the three kingdoms was unlawful. Third, the requirement of episcopal reordination troubled them because it appeared to discredit all non-episcopal orders across Reformed Christendom. Fourth, and most decisively, they were convinced that conforming after publicly arguing against these very things would discredit the truths of God and make it appear that religion was merely a matter of convenience.
Why does Dr. Packer argue that the Puritan emphasis on conscience is timely for the modern Church?
Dr. Packer opens his address by observing that in the modern world, the historic emphasis on conscience has almost entirely disappeared. Outside the Church, conscience is in decay and being perverted among intellectuals. But even within the Church, he argues, consciences are blunted — evangelicals are not notably distinguished for righteousness of life, are not notably sensitive to moral issues, and their churches are not notably marked by the preaching of righteousness. He suggests that a strong infection of antinomianism has crept into evangelical thinking and practice. The Puritan teaching on conscience, Dr. Packer concludes, is therefore bracing precisely because it calls the Church back to a thoroughgoing, uncompromising faithfulness to truth and principle — a conscientiousness that is evangelical and joyful at its core, rooted in the gospel and the life of faith, and desperately needed in what he calls "these compromising days."
Puritan Conferences
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust's collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.