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Book Review of 'Pure Joy: Rediscover your Conscience'

by Zoe Moore  
1/23/2013 / Book Reviews

I have to admit I was nervous about reading a book about my conscience. Would I be left feeling guilty? Would this book stop me having fun?? I'll be honest, at times this was an uncomfortable read. All the excuses we may use to ignore, explain away, or stifle 'our inner voice' were systematically unpicked and exposed. But the book is called 'Pure Joy' with good reason. As Christopher Ash says in the introduction, "a good conscience makes everything taste sweeter. With a good conscience we can enjoy, not just the stuff we think of as spiritual, but all sorts of things such as sleep, sport, friendship and holidays." This is great news! All in all, I found this book to be promoting a richer Christian life a closer and more joyful walking with the Lord.

Defining conscience
Christopher Ash starts by exploring the definition of conscience and helping us understand it biblically. It operates as an internal alarm from God and as such is a good gift to all humanity.
"Conscience is the point where the objective truths of right and wrong connect with the subjective realities of our experience, a God-given bridge between us and reality. The reality is that there is a living God who has given objective standards of right and wrong, and who will in the end punish all wrongdoing. Conscience persuades our hearts that this is true."
Questions are anticipated and carefully addressed. Is our inner voice always right? Why is it unreliable guide but also dangerous to ignore? What if we're not sure what is right and wrong? How can we educate our conscience?

Life under a guilty conscience
The section of the book on the symptoms of a troubled conscience was really thought-provoking. Ash runs through the traits and power of a guilty conscience: it never forgets, it makes us want to hide from the world, it damages our relationships, it makes us isolated, fearful and anxious, it is a painful, lonely burden, it makes us restless, resentful, angry people, it turns towards false religion, it leads to despair. Such a list of damage rang true and persuaded me that this is a very important subject; it is one we can't afford to ignore. But it also struck me that it is a life-changing and life-affirming subject to address! Imagine how much better our work, our worship, our church life, our friendships and relationships, as well as holidays and time off, would be if our feelings of guilt are not swept under the carpet but thoroughly and comprehensively dealt with in Christ. "[A] good conscience makes everything taste sweeter..."

On the run
The chapter I found most compelling was that on 'The Hardened Conscience'. Various strategies are discussed for silencing our conscience: moral effort, escapism, blaming others, rejecting the Bible, self-righteousness, focusing on external forms of godliness, and repeatedly ignoring calls to repentance. And the danger is very real! Ash takes us through the Bible's warnings from Pharaoh and King Zedekiah, to Herod, the Corinthian Christians, even Judas Iscariot. We mustn't settle for a phase of our Christian life where we're coasting a bit and excusing away sin, not feeling the call to repentance anymore. Ash is sensitive, too, to the Christian who is feeling fragile in assurance, pointing us to the restoration of Simon Peter and reminding us of the strength of God's grace.

The most important chapter in the book
The chapter which follows is headed: "This is the most important chapter in the book. Whatever you do, do not miss it out!" It is called 'The Cleansed Conscience' and it is a wonderful relief to have the work of Jesus on the cross pressed home to us. The chapter addresses the objective truth of our forgiveness because of the blood of Christ shed for us, alongside the life-changing nature of feeling the truth of forgiveness in our hearts. I think this may be why this is a timely and relevant book for our culture. Of course it is important not to view our relationship with God entirely through lens of our emotions (God's truth is much more stable than me!) but this shouldn't be at the expense of an internal Christian life. An encouragement to consider our conscience is an encouragement to spend alone with the Lord, to bring all our decisions and dilemmas before him, not just our friends, to walk with him in the joy of personal obedience.

The structure of 'Pure Joy' is very straightforward to navigate. The chapters are not long and each one is broken down with easy-to-follow headings. At the end of each chapter there are questions for personal study or discussion. While the subject matter is serious, the book itself is easy to read; I read most of it while travelling on the tube, but I'm planning to re-read it with more chance for reflection. At the end of the book there is a very brief 'Afterword: Why I wrote this book'; I found this useful and it may even be helpful to read this when starting the book.

Zoe Moore is a Christian writer who has previously trained theologically and served on church staff teams.

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