(On having a good conscience) That it be properly enlightened to know what is right and wrong, or that it be not under the dominion of ignorance, superstition, or fanaticism, prompting us to do what would be a violation of the Divine law… Without the first of these -- clear views of that which is right and wrong -- conscience becomes an unsafe guide, for it merely prompts us to do what we esteem to be right, and if our views of what is right and wrong are erroneous, we may be prompted to do what may be a direct violation of the law of God…Conscience is not revelation, nor does it answer the purpose of a revelation. It communicates no new truth to the soul , and is a safe guide only so far as the mind has been properly enlightened to see what is truth and duty. Its office is to prompt us to the performance of duty, not to determine what is right.
Albert Barnes
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