THE ART OF TURNING:
From sin to Christ for a joyfully clear conscience
By Kevin deYoung
10Publishing. 40 pages. £1.00
ISBN 978 1 911 272 212
It can be read in no time, but this book’s five chapters are crammed with good things. It looks at the neglected subject of conscience.
It begins topically enough with the door of the Castle Church, Wittenberg. We are taken four years further on to Worms and Luther's stand before Emperor Charles V. He famously said there that his conscience was captive to the Word of God, raising the question for all of us as to whether ours are too.
Chapter 2 steps backwards to the Scriptures themselves, especially to 2 Corinthians 1.12 and other places where Paul talks about conscience. Paul, like Luther, treasured his conscience and so should we.
In Chapter 3 we come to a definition: the moral faculty within human beings that assesses what is good and what is bad. We should recognise the role conscience plays both for the prosecution and the defence. The chapter closes with an almost irresistible reference to Pinocchio.
Chapter 4 deals with misfiring consciences. It keeps to four examples – the evil, the seared, the defiled and the weak conscience. It deals with these very cogently. The closing chapter is all about the way to a clear conscience. It calls for repentance, faith and for Christians to live the life they were meant to live. Conscience should be our friend.
The only slight criticism would be that it may appear to give a higher position to conscience than the NT warrants. One would have appreciated more emphasis on the importance of love. In such a brief book, however, it is difficult to avoid some measure of imbalance. Everyone should read it.
