“The Conscience: Inner Land, a Guide into the Heart of the Gospel, Volume 2“ by Eberhard Arnold is a book about the healing and restoration of the troubled conscience.

The conscience, or the inner moral compass, is sensitive and can be corrupted pretty easily. Before we know it, we can be guided by an askew judgment. In this book, we learn that only through the forgiveness of Jesus can our conscience be made true.

This work along with the others in the series were packed in metal boxes and buried at night from the Nazis. The author was no fan of the Nazis and the discovery of his books and ideas could have been the end of his life. The works have a bit of a dated quality to them but I’ve enjoyed reading them.

A fascinating treatise on what sets the conscience apart from the soul, how original sin affects our moral sensibilities, and how union with Christ rehabilitates our moral conscience.

Eberhard Arnold, a German who helped begin The Bruderhauf community in 1920, gives readers his treatise on The Conscience in this part of his overall writings. It is not a book to be quickly read though it is a physically short one. Much Eberhard requires much thought.

The conscience within each of us is meant to serve as our moral guide, leading us towards good, and away from the tenets of evil. Per Eberhard, "The conscience wants to be the divine voice within us." Yet he recognizes that just as there are battles to gain our souls, there are also battles to rule our conscience and it is only when the Holy Spirit unites with our conscience that we can hope to live the life that God ordained for us. This unity with the Holy Spirit restores the conscience to the ability to keep us in the way of God.

Certainty in the fact that we are truly listening to our conscience that the Holy Spirit, and giving our all to live under God's rule in peace and love, also gives us the certainty to go against the rules of man, to defy the Fuhrers and seek out communities of fellow believers.

Another interesting read from a man who defied Naziism and helped found an international commune (The Brudenhauf) which still exists to this day.

My thanks to NetGalley and Plough Publications for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Like the previous book The Inner Land, I found The Conscience was harder to read than I expected. At times, I would look and wonder if I was reading the actual Bible or a devotional book. The content is substantial and requires intense thought to comprehend. As such, it is a book to be read slowly and meditated on. While a small book, do not expect to read it quickly. I suspect I will return to this title again and will re-read it many times in order to gain the fullness of its pages.

After having read and reviewed volume 1 of The Inner Life by Eberhard Arnold, I got offered volume 2, The Conscience. In this extensive Bible study meets thought exercise, Arnold explores the conscience as the part of our inner world, our soul and spirit that needs restoration through Jesus Christ's atonement and indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. Many have tried to empty their spirit, connect it to evil spirits, or become holy. The conscience is our moral compass with effects in daily life for good or bad results.

Directly exposing Adolf Hitler and his nazi regime, the author is clear about the single Leader one should follow. That bold statement resulted in a raid on his home and belongings one week after this volume was sent to Hitler. Arnold paid with his life, certain that everlasting life sanctified by the Lord would follow.

The Conscience is a call to action, emphasizing the importance of the worldwide Church, unified by God's Spirit.

In this short volume, a reissue of a previously published work, the great Anabaptist theologian Eberhard Arnold offers an in-depth but concise treatment of the conscience, it's role in the greater understanding of the grace of God, and effects of clinging to conscience when rightly understood.

Arnold starts with the theological paradox of the conflict and mutual support of both law and spirit in the role of the Christian's life. He sees conscience as a God-given call to live a more just life as well as a vehicle through which God calls us to repentance. He details the ways in which the conscience is unreliable without a life lived in tandem with God, teaching that only a life lived with and dedicated to Jesus Christ as Lord will purify the conscience and make it reliable. He sees conscience as only being able to find it's true bearings when a person experiences the life of spiritual rebirth.

Arnold then spends some time discussing how modern society has turned it's back on the role of the conscience, denigrating it as out of step with our search of self-fulfillment. He takes task most especially with the Freud and modern psychoanalysis. Some of this section might been seen as dated by readers, but it is worth keeping in mind both that this work is somewhat older and Arnold was not a professional psychologist.

This work will probably be pretty daunting to many readers who haven't ventured much beyond sermons in their reading of formal Christian theology. That said, it is not insurmountable to any who are willing to give it a try. Arnold is not overly abstract or complicated, but he does refer to theological issues which often don't make it into the sermonic life of the local congregations.

Arnold was a paragon of the Christian life well-lived. He was considered a sort of living saint by many in his day. He should be heard on what he has to say, even if the reader may not always agree with him. He does an excellent job of making his writing compatible with most Christian theological traditions. Certainly, any Protestant or Evangelical Christians will find what he was to say illuminating and insightful. In all probability, most Catholic, Orthodox, and Pentecostal Christians will as well.

This book identifies itself as a ‘call to action’. Although written in the early 20th Century, the points made by the author are extremely relevant today. The author states: “…The conscience is the spirit’s sensitive organ of response. It has the task of warning the character against degeneration and destruction, because the character is meant to preserve moral order….”

With the challenges being encountered today, this book may be seen as a timeless piece of literature to remind or instruct readers of what is needed in our relationships and decision-making.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book that was provided by the publisher through Net Galley. However, the thoughts and opinions presented here are my own