INTEGRITY AND FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE IN THE HEBREW BIBLE: JOB, AND THE PRICE OF INTEGRITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6387707Keywords:
Integrity, Conscience, Freedom of Conscience, Job’s integrity, Blamelessness, WholesomenessAbstract
Freedom of conscience is as basic to humanity as the right to life itself. This is not because an outside human agent grants it, but because it is an integral part of what it means to be a human being, a whole person. Without such freedom of conscience, one cannot function as integer, as a whole, or as truthful to oneself. The Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) speaks of integrity as wholeness, and within this created reality, a man such as Job was able to exercise his freedom of conscience and cling to his integrity even in the Creator’s court of law, let alone before his well-meaning yet misguided friends. However, fallen man’s conscience needs training by revelation: in Job’s case, via direct action by God; and, after the completion of the biblical canon – as in our case - via the inspired Scriptures, so that man may be complete, enabled to act rightly.
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