Primacy of Conscience Means Your Conscience, Not Other People

“Primacy of Conscience” does not mean that you can go Freestyle (Doing Your own thing) and it is not meant that you find a new way outside of the Church but rather it is to find our path within the Church.  

It appears to me that many people have gotten this confused.  They take the idea that your conscience is supposed to have primacy over the doctrines of the Church.  This is not only wrong, it has it backwards.  Your conscience should not have primacy over the Church or its teachings unless those teachings of the Church are against the teachings of the Church itself. 

In other words, the authors of this have twisted the concept that you have primacy over your conscience (individually) into that an individual would have primacy over the collective Church.  Considering the Church was established by Jesus and has dealt with almost 2,000 years of heresies already let us try to put some information out on this one.  

Three Analogies 

First, the recording group- The Temptations, recorded a hit single in 1970 entitled, Ball of Confusion.  Look at the lyrics and see what they say to you about this and other events that are currently happening around the world today.  Sound familiar to anyone?

Ball of Confusion

People moving out, 

People moving in, 

Why, because of the color of their skin, 

Run, run, run, but you just can't hide. 

An eye for an eye, 

Tooth for a tooth, 

Vote for me and I'll set you free, 

Rap on, brother, rap on. 

Well, the only person talking about loving thy brother is the preacher, 

And it seems nobody's interested in learning, but the teacher, 

Segregation, demonstration, integration, determination, aggravation, humiliation, 

Obligation to our nation. 

Ball of confusion, 

That's what the world is today, hey. 

The sale of pills is at an all time high, 

Young folks walk with their heads in the sky, 

The cities aflame in the summertime, 

And oh the beat goes on. 

Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul-shooting rockets to the moon, 

Kids growing up too soon, 

Politicians say, "More taxes will solve everything," 

The band played on. 

So, round and around and around we go, 

Where the world's headed, nobody knows 

Oh, Great Googamooga, 

Can't you hear me talking to you, 

Just a ball of confusion, 

That's what the world is today, hey. 

Fear in the air, tension everywhere, 

Unemployment rising fast, 

The Beatles new record's a gas, 

And the only safe place to live, 

Is on an Indian reservation, 

The band played on. 

Eve of destruction, tax deduction, 

City inspectors, bill collectors, mod clothes in demand, 

Population out of hand, suicide, too many bills, 

Hippies moving to the hills, 

People all over the world are shouting, "End the war!", 

And the band played on. 

Great Googamooga, 

Can't you hear me talking to you, 

Just a Ball Of Confusion,

If you look at the words or even watch the video 

Forty one years ago and it still could be talked about today.  Maybe this idea that the individual is supreme could take a great deal of credit for this and cause such a ball of confusion. Maybe we could add these words on the 2021 remix of the hit. 

Just think no universal truth

You can pick and choose what you want to believe or not

Just a Ball of Confusion

Second,  A great analogy would be that you are driving a car on Interstate 10 headed west to El Paso, Texas. You can be in the right lane or the left lane and still head west. However when you pull off the road at Van Horn and head east you are no longer headed in the same direction and will not make it to El Paso. This is important because it explains everything. You have some choices headed in the right direction but once you get outside of these you are headed in the wrong direction.  Some may say you are still on the same highway. You are right but are you headed in the right direction? God gave free agency to choose what is right. When you have made the correct choice (The Church) do not head in the wrong  direction.  We can not nor should not just do our own thing against the will of the Church.  

Third, is the analogy of the Jews after the death of Alexander the Great and fallout of living under the Greeks.   The death of Alexander the Great of Greece in 323 BCE led to the breakup of the Greek empire as three of his generals fought for supremacy and divided the Middle East among themselves. Ptolemy secured control of Egypt and the Land of Israel. Seleucus grabbed Syria and Asia Minor, and Antigonus took Greece.

The land of Israel was thus sandwiched between two of the rivals, and for the next 125 years, the Seleucids and the Ptolemies battled for control of this land.  The Selecucids ended up winning in 198 BC when Antiochus III defeated the Egyptians and incorporated Israel into their empire. At first, King Antiochus III allowed the Jews to practice their religion.  Upon his death and with a great many defeats by the Romans, King Antiochus IV (Son of King Antiochus III) began to clamp down on the Jews.  The Jews rebelled, and the King then tried to take away their religion completely.  Many of the religious practices were outlawed and Jews were forced to take up Pagan practices.  This included: defiling of the Temple, eating of pigs, erecting a altar to Zeus, not allowing circumcision, working on the Sabbath, and the sacrifice of pigs. 

Though many Jews had been seduced by the King, the extreme measure against them helped to unite the Jews like never before. When a Greek official tried to force a priest named Matthias to make a sacrifice to a pagan god, Matthias murdered that man.  Matthias and  five sons led the revolt against the Greeks. The family of Mattahais became known as the Maccabees, from the Hebrew/Aramic name for hammer because they struck hammer blows against their enemy.  Without this family stepping up the Jews would no longer have a religion.  Their people would have been converted to pagan beliefs.  This is the primacy of conscience.  This is what you should do when leaders guide you the wrong way.