Customer Reviews

Knowing Right from Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the clearest account of moral conscience I have ever read. The funny thing is, that with all the examples, analogies and vignettes, it reads more like a mystery story than a textbook. I have long been a fan of Father Williams' writing, but this one takes the cake! I especially like his refutation of moral relativism, and his nuanced account of conscientious objection. I found myself nodding in agreement on every page.

Standing between roles as theologian and Catholic commentator qualifies Father Thomas Williams to write on human conscience's influence and effect. His recent National Review and National Catholic Register articles on Humanae Vitae's 40th anniversary and the "Catholic" Democratic platform referenced how the "still, small voice" influences human decision.

"Knowing Right From Wrong" suffers from some uneven writing tone, bogging down in a chapter on "conscienous objection" near its end. But Williams' book (subtitled "A Christian Guide to Conscience") teaches invaluable truth on conscience's care, feeding, training, and purpose.

True to his media saavy (he covered Pope John Paul II's passing and Pope Benedict XVI's US visit for CBS-TV), Williams stuffs his book with allegories to isolate conscience-ruled life from morally relative, sand-shifted substitutes. He references pop culture icons Cyndi Lauper and Billy Joel ("Sorry Cyndi, nobody just wants to have fun...life needs a purpose."), classic children's tales like "Pinocchio" and "The Snow Queen," films like "Fiddler On The Roof," and "The Godfather"'s infamous last 30 minutes to demonstrate how weakened conscience compartmentalizes and risks our lives and destinies.

Weighing pop culture and psychology against timeless truth, Williams heeds advice given seminal Catholic figure Fulton Sheen as his ministry started: "Keep current, understand what the modern world is thinking about;...then plunge deeply into ...the wisdom of the ancients and you will be able to refute its errors." For Williams this means asserting conscience's roots and necessity against influences from Socrates and Plato (who believed people would do good if they knew it), to still influential athiests Frederich Nietzsche and Sigmund Frued (who argued conscience's moral coaching withheld men from predestined pleasure and power they were to assert.)

To these Williams leverages Christian thinkers from CS Lewis to John Henry Newman to assert conscience's roots in St. Thomas Aquinas' "natural law" betrayed by original sin, restored by Christ, and fortified with prayer, Scripture, conscience examination (where Williams provides practical guidance), and simply "doing the right thing." ("The more we obey conscience, the stronger it gets...Good conscience and good behavior support each other.")

Williams ends each chapter wih questions for study and discussion ("Is it more important to be smart or to be good? Why?"), and personal reflection ("Have you ever been tempted to relativize your own moral conduct? Why? In what areas?"). These may be worth reading before starting each chapter, as they provide themes and reference points to keep information. (An index and fuller bibliography with recommended reading may also have helped.) Overall, "Knowing Right From Wrong" instructs, explains, and defends human conscience, itself guiding moral excellence and coaching trusting followers to Christ and salvation. Recommended.

Most people are unhappy because they have a great void in their lives: They miss God.
God is somebody that loves us always, He forgives us and gives us a second chance. And we must be worthy of Him. How? It is not easy, but we can found the answers in Father Thomas Williams's book. Knowing right from wrong is not too difficult, after all, but we need a guide. This book is a wonderful guide. As Father Thomas explains, we can recognize a wrong behaviour from the very beginning, and individuate the signs. In this way we can act immediately, as we do with an illness: If we treat it from the very beginning we have better chances to recover.
The search for excellence, trying to make the best of ourselves, being better with our family, more ethical in our work, more charitable with our friends... Readers will find all this and more in Father Thomas Williams's book.
It is a book that changed my life, it will change also yours.
Liana Marabini
(Monte-Carlo, Principality of Monaco)

Knowing Right from Wrong is written in everyday language, yet offers deep and powerful wisdom that one can use in every day life. I feel so much closer to Christ after just reading a quarter of the book. I love it. Get one for yourself and one for everyone you know.

I am dumb struck that I picked up this magnificent book in a bargain store. Father Williams' text is comprehensive, concise, easy-to-read, and packed with wisdom. Yet, even a masterpiece can have - what strike me as - a few blemishes.


1. "The Idea of Christian Conscience"
Father Williams quotes the venerable Jiminy Cricket of Pinnochio fame: "What are a conscience? I'll tell ya. A conscience is that still small voice people won't listen to" (p. 2). In other words, it is "that natural tendency that urges us with the force of a mandate to do good and avoid evil. This compelling interior inclination was not taught to us by anyone (though much of its content is learned...)" (p. 6).

Blemish Alert with regard to a comment about tattoos: "there is nothing intrinsically right or wrong about...body adornments" (p. 10). On this matter, comments in # 2297 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Second Edition seem pertinent: "Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations performed on innocent persons are against the moral law." Of course, this does not even address the message contained in the tattoo!


2. "What Conscience Does...and Doesn't Do"
God is infallible, but our conscience CAN be in error. We have responsibilities for our consciences being formed well and being used well.


3. "The Motivating Role of Conscience"
"If we are called not only to `play by the rules,' but to `score goals,' then our consciences will more closely resemble an inspiring conscience than a meticulous referee" (p. 25).


4. "What the Bible Tells Us About Conscience"
"Some degree of moral knowledge is available to all, through the natural law written on the human heart....For those who have the benefit of Divine Revelation, conscience testifies to the moral law as communicated through God's Word" (p. 32).

"Scripture leaves no doubt that judgment deals specifically with human conduct and free choices" (p. 37).

Blemish Alert with regard to a comment about difficult or complex choices: Though the last chapter of the book deals with difficult choices in a generally magnificent manner, someone casually leafing through this book might get a very different impression by certain wording on page 30 - someone could mistakenly get the impression that certain moral issues are up for grabs!

Second Blemish Alert: "Sometimes those with the greatest interest in changing others have the greatest need of changing themselves" (p.36). Absolutely true! Yet, some mistakenly take this as a reason for NOT doing good, because their intentions are not yet perfected.


5. "Putting on `The Mind of Christ'"
"Not for any good end will Jesus stoop to an evil means. How often we are tempted to obtain good things with bad methods. Tell a little lie, make a little concession, and how much better things will be!....the enemy of our souls rarely asks us to do `bad things.' He asks us to do good things in a bad way" (p. 50).

"It is no coincidence that Jesus deflected Satan's darts so handily after a long period of prayer and fasting" (p. 52).


6. "Modern Attempts to Explain Away Conscience"
In addition to alerting us to negative impacts of Freudian and Nietzchian thinking, Father Williams cites Dr. Paul Vitz, in commenting that "atheism arises disproportionately among those with problematic relationships with their fathers" (p. 64). I would just like to add that comments from John Peteet, M.D. are also noteworthy: "In a survey of 350 members of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism, they found that ½ of the younger atheists had lost one or both parents before the age of 20. A large # of this group also described themselves as unhappy in childhood & adolescence" (Putting Suffering into Perspective: Implications of the Patient's Worldview (J Psychother Pract Res, 10: 3, Summer 2001)


7. "Certainty, Humility, and Good Judgment"
"Despite the myth of moral diversity, anthropologists find a remarkable consistency in basic moral norms" (p. 78). Comments of Dr. John Haas seem particularly noteworthy: "the ancient Babylonian code, the Code of Hammurabi, [and] ....other ancient pagan religions, ...have rules against adultery, murder, theft, & bearing false witness."

I wish that Father Williams have spent some additional time, addressing specifics of the natural law. Because there truly are objective moral standards, Dr. Haas explains, we can "dialog with other peoples who may not share our...religious beliefs....basic moral teachings ...apply to everybody....we all share the same human nature." Be that said...

Father Williams offers incredibly challenging words to the clergy and others who counsel: "to tell someone simply `to follow your conscience' is to tell him nothing at all....A person seeking moral advice above all needs content for his or her moral decision making. What he needs is not just encouragement, but moral principles. The reason he came seeking counsel is because he is already following his conscience, which has impelled him to get better information....Jesus and the Church He founded is our final and sure point of reference for right and wrong....In his 1995 encyclical letter on the value of human life, Pope John Paul II issued a strong warning against...cultural conformism and its threats to Christianity and to human life itself....Sin not only effects our moral state; it also effects the way we perceive reality, especially moral reality" (pp. 83- 84, 89, 91, 93). As Father Corapi has famously noted, "Sin makes you stupid."


8. "The Difference Between Knowing What Is Right and Doing It"
Original sin explains why we can know what is right and still do what is wrong. And "when we don't live according to what we believe, we end up believing according to the way we live" (p. 99).


9. "Real Freedom and Its Counterfeits"
"Our free choices determine the sort of person we are" (p. 110).

"The beauty of fidelity is precisely this - that a mature individual commits himself without knowing all the consequences of his pledge. The faithful person proves his worth by hanging tough even in trying times" (p. 112).

"We depend on God's grace to be truly free. His grace is not an `extra' - it is essential to our ability to choose well" (p.113).

"Freedom is the empowerment that comes through discipline....freedom requires us to be masters of ourselves, determined to fight and overcome the different forms of selfishness and individualism that threaten our maturity as persons" (p. 114, 115).


10. "Good Conscience and Christian Joy"
"Since goodness often means saying no to our immediate desires, we find it hard to believe that this is the road to happiness....As much as popular culture insists to the contrary, sin doesn't make us happy and God isn't a spoilsport. Immorality leaves deep human sorrow in its wake and leaves people's lives in absolute shambles....The moral code God lays out for us is a road map to a happy life....ignorance of moral truth is no blessing. Ignorance may excuse us from guilt, but it won't save us from the consequences of immoral action, any more than not seeing an oncoming vehicle saves us from the effects of the accident.... Everything about the Incarnation speaks of joy and reemption. This Christian joy is not a liberation from morality, but from sin" (pp. 118 - 126).


11. "The Wearing Down of Moral Sense"
To a great extent, this chapter could be summarized with Father Corapi's famous quote: "Sin makes you stupid."


12. "Human Maturity and Conscience Formation"
Father Williams advises us that "internalization of one's moral compass...entails growth in self-mastery" (p. 153). This is a wonderful chapter with profound, timeless guidance.


13. "The Hows and Whys of Examining Your Conscience"
While certainly not just for Catholic, "examination of conscience provides furnishes an invaluable tool to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or confession. The better we understand what we have done and what it means to our relationship with Christ, the better we will express our sorrow and truly seek His forgiveness" (p. 170).


14. "Conscientious Objection and Personal Responsibility"
When faced with a conflict with God's Law, we must always follow God's Law: "conscientious objection is a moral imperative for people of goodwill" (p. 191).


15. "Moral Dilemmas and How to Resolve Them"
Father Williams has wonderful and insightful comments about "dilemma-based morality," "anguish-based ethics," and the need to adhere to Church teaching. Tragically, this book ends on a low note....

Serious Blemish Alert: Father Williams maintains that "the Church has yet to make an official pronouncement" (p. 209), with regard to the adoption of embryos. In fairness to Father Williams, he may have been writing, prior to the Vatican's Dignitas Personae, of late 2008, which I belive clearly addresses this very question: "The proposal that these embryos could be put at the disposal of infertile couples as a treatment for infertility is not ethically acceptable for the same reasons which make artificial heterologous procreation illicit as well as any form of surrogate motherhood; this practice would also lead to other problems of a medical, psychological and legal nature. It has also been proposed, solely in order to allow human beings to be born who are otherwise condemned to destruction, that there could be a form of `prenatal adoption'. This proposal, praiseworthy with regard to the intention of respecting and defending human life, presents however various problems not dissimilar to those mentioned above." While Father Tad Pacholzcyk of the National Catholic Bioethics Center has indicated that the question is not fully settled, that Vatican statement seems very clear to me on NOT allowing so-called "snow-flake" adoptions.

"Knowing Right From Wrong" is a beautifully written and informative non-fiction work about conscience. Unfortunately, I can't really recommend it because we're supposed to live by the Word of God and His leadership and guidance. Although I don't think this makes the conscience completely obsolete, I don't believe it should get as much attention as it does in this book. Still, Thomas D. Williams, LC, ThD has penned some very poignant moments from his own memories that make this a thoughtful read. This work also includes questions for reflection and study at the end of each chapter.