Why do the ideas of conscience and bound conscience seem so unfamiliar?
For a variety of reasons the idea of conscience has not had a major place in moral reflection for many decades. But the term “conscience” is used often in the New Testament (Acts, Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, 1&2 Timothy, Hebrews and 1Peter), and is common in moral thought throughout most of Christian history. In the Lutheran church, as evident in Reformation writings and its central theological principles, the concept plays an important part in ethics and pastoral care. Indeed, the Reformation’s frequent attention to conscience highlights the pastoral underpinnings of all Lutheran theology and the Lutheran rejection of both papalism and its individualistic equivalent, “enthusiasms” in ethical judgments. (See Reflections on the Bound Conscience in Lutheran Theology by Timothy J.
