may be natural or acquired. Natural conscience is the knowledge of good and evil, and was received at the fall An acquired conscience is a conscience brought up under a certain rule; such a conscience Paul had (Acts 23:1), which was a good one when persecuting the saints (when in relation to Judaism), but a bad one (when in the light of Christianity). Conscience, therefore, is never a safe guide, for it may vary according to the rule brought to bear upon it. This is often seen in children, who may easily be taught to regard many things that are wrong as right, and vise versa; great tare is, therefore, necessary not to make anything a matter of conscience that God does not. A conscience is spoken of as good (Acts 23:1); weak (1 Cor. 8:7); pare (2 Tim. 1:3); seared (1 Tim. 4:2).