Can Conscience and Moral Sense Produce True Virtue? | Jonathan Edwards

Deep Dive into The Nature of True Virtue by Jonathan Edwards - Of Natural Conscience, and the Moral SenseJonathan Edwards explores the concept of natural conscience, distinguishing it clearly from true virtue. Natural conscience primarily arises from a human disposition toward self-consistency and an aversion to contradicting oneself. It involves an innate tendency to project ourselves into the positions of others, making us uneasy when our treatment of them contradicts how we would wish to be treated in their place. This creates an internal sense of peace or trouble depending on our actions. Additionally, natural conscience encompasses a sense of desert, which is the recognition of a natural harmony or proportion between an action and its appropriate consequence, such as the link between injury and punishment or kindness and reward.Edwards argues that while natural conscience allows individuals to recognize the justice of moral laws, including God's judgment, it is not the same as true virtue. True virtue is a divine principle characterized by a genuine, disinterested love and benevolence toward being in general and a supreme love for God. Natural conscience, conversely, operates fundamentally from private self-love and a desire for internal consistency, without necessarily possessing any spiritual sense or virtuous taste.To prove that natural conscience is distinct from a genuinely virtuous inclination, Edwards points to the final judgment. On that day, sinners will experience a fully awakened conscience and will clearly recognize the perfect justice of their condemnation because they will perceive the natural agreement between their rebellion and their punishment. However, this fully realized conscience will not equate to repentance or a holy heart; instead, their internal wickedness will be at its peak. Thus, recognizing moral truth through natural conscience operates completely independently of possessing a benevolent temper that truly loves that moral truth.Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReformedExplainerSpotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1t5dz4vEgvHqUknYQfwpRI?si=e-tDRFR2Qf6By1sAcMdkdwhttps://buymeacoffee.com/edi2730