Controversy over decisions of conscience Thomas More
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/acr.1130Keywords:
Thomas More, conscience, King Henry VIII, Utopia, prison epistles, English ReformationAbstract
The article is an attempt to discover the mysterious conscience of Thomas More, his motives and intentions, which for many have been and are still completely incomprehensible, as well as to show the value of conscience in decision making. A specific consideration is the way in which Thomas More understands the inner voice of conscience, and as referring to the realm of political beliefs and principles according to which he lived. Was he more loser politician or saint statesman and a pattern of respect for the inviolable rules? Moreover, his example shows that faithfulness to God’s internal voice may become more precious than life. Without a doubt, the words and deeds of Thomas are a kind of mystery to of his conscience. He also recognizes his restraint in expressing what made the conscience of his own beliefs. Without a doubt, More felt the need to absolute obligation in doing so, and not a different decision, regardless of the consequences. In his social position and an office which he held, there was no place to be against the rules. The situation in which he found himself became a great challenge for him and successfully performed its duty. He faced death, clearly expressing the truth, bearing in his heart, that he was obliged in conscience to refuse to take the oath, because the authority of the Church is beyond the authority of the king.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2015 Wojciech Medwid
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 Unported License.
The author declares that he owns the copyright to the work (article) and that it is not limited in the scope covered by the above declaration and that the work (article) is an original work and does not infringe the copyright of other persons.
The author allows the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow to use the paper free of charge, non-exclusive and unlimited in time by, i.e.:
– keeping in records and reproduction of the copies of the work using printing, reprography, magnetic recording and digital technology;
– trade in the original or copies on which the work has been recorded (introduction to the market, lending or rental of the original or copies, public exhibition, display, as well as making the work available to the public in such a way that everyone can have access to it in a place and at a time chosen by them);
– inclusion of the work in a collective work;
– granting by the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow a Creative Commons Sub-licence Authorship Recognition-Non-commercial Use-No Subsidiaries 3.0 Poland
The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow makes the work available on the Magazine Platform of the university under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial Use-No Subsidiary Works 3.0 Poland license.
Thus, it entitles all interested parties to use the work under the following conditions:
- the author and the title of the work will be given,
- the place of publication (journal title and internet address of the originally published work) will be indicated,
- the work will be distributed in a non-commercial manner,
- no dependent works will be created.