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Pure Joy: Rediscover Your Conscience
Conscience is the Cinderella of the contemporary world. We hardly speak or think about our conscience. She is left behind while we get on with the party of life, untroubled by any serious self-examination. And yet conscience is a God-given part of being human, with tremendous potential for good - if it is cleansed and kept clean - or for harm - if it becomes hardened or calloused.
'This book is about the joy of a clear conscience in every day of living and in the day of death,' enthuses Christopher Ash.
'With a clear conscience, we can enjoy not just the stuff we think of as 'spiritual', but all sorts of things like sleep, sport, friendship and holidays. With a good conscience none of these things ever leaves a sour taste in our mouths.'
Christopher is eager to get all of us thinking about conscience 'I want you to take your conscience out of the cupboard, dust it down, bring it back into daily life and discover its power to do you good.'
'This book is about the joy of a clear conscience in every day of living and in the day of death,' enthuses Christopher Ash.
'With a clear conscience, we can enjoy not just the stuff we think of as 'spiritual', but all sorts of things like sleep, sport, friendship and holidays. With a good conscience none of these things ever leaves a sour taste in our mouths.'
Christopher is eager to get all of us thinking about conscience 'I want you to take your conscience out of the cupboard, dust it down, bring it back into daily life and discover its power to do you good.'
208 pages, Paperback
First published June 15, 2012
11 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Ash
54 books81 followersChristopher Ash works for the Proclamation Trust in London as director of the Cornhill Training Course. He is also writer in residence at Tyndale House in Cambridge, and is the author of several books, including Out of the Storm: Grappling with God in the Book of Job and Teaching Romans. He is married to Carolyn and they have three sons and one daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 16, 2019
In his book, Christopher Ash presents his readers with a robust and accessible theology of the conscience. He defines the conscience as an indispensable inner moral voice, "our self-awareness, particularly about right and wrong [which] enables us to distinguish between them." God made man in his own image, and the universal reality of the conscience is a remnant of that image of God in man. The apostle Paul writes that even the unbeliever's conscience bears witness to the work of God's law in their hearts (Romans 2:15).
However, our conscience can't always be trusted as a guide. We should seek to live with a peaceful conscience, but “not every quiet conscience is a good conscience.” This God-given guide is not always correct. It is a real voice, but it's also an unreliable voice: it may tell us we are innocent when we are guilty or it may tell us we are guilty when we are actually innocent. Conscience was designed to follow God's law, but man has fallen, and so humanity needs a better revelation of God’s law - an inerrant one - that can calibrate it. That’s why we need the written, infallible and inerrant Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. When we submit to the Scriptures, "this recalibration takes time to get deep inside us,” but it can bring “the over-sensitive conscience into freedom in Christ” and sharpen “the under-sensitive conscience into godliness.” God does this not only through our individual learning of the Scriptures, but also through discipleship in godly communities.
People with guilty consciences are restless, burdened, fearful, angry, resentful and anxious. A guilty conscience “foreshadows the terrible and total absence of friendship in hell.” The guilty conscience is not merely a result of internalized values from our parents and culture. It is a sign of alienation from God. Ash develops our understanding of the conscience: it is not only a guide, but also a courtroom. He explains the elements of a courtroom that are contained in the conscience: it keeps records and acts as witness, prosecutor, judge and executioner. In all of those aspects it was designed to follow the moral law of God.
Therefore, when we face our conscience we are facing a choice. Will we dive into worldly sorrow or will we embrace the godly sorrow that responds with repentance? Worldly sorrow hardens the conscience and desensitizes our sense of morality, but godly sorrow leads to repentance and life. In the work of salvation, the Holy Spirit “starts by making our guilty conscience hurt more, abominably more, than it had ever done before.” This painful awareness of sin and guilt “is necessary if the disease of the heart is to be healed.” Ash shows us what a conscience awakened by the Holy Spirit looks like with a deep exposition of David’s repentance in Psalm 51. David knows the depth and the direction of his sin, and his conscience exposes his person, not just his actions.
“Real Christianity awakens the conscience” and true Christian experience requires a sense of need for both forgiveness and new birth. Conscience is proof of our need for the gospel, it is reality’s bridge into our inner world exposing who we really are. In the declaration of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, everyone who believes receives Christ’s forgiveness (justification) and a new nature (regeneration).
Christopher Ash reminds us that from the preaching of the apostles in Acts to the Reformers and the Puritans, to great modern preachers like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “the great task of awakening people’s consciences is a mark of authentic Christian ministry.” Preaching students are taught about "the appeal to the conscience." In order to do that, the one who preaches must have his own conscience awakened and cleansed by the Word of God before he appeals to the consciences of others.
Ash does an outstanding job in this book handling the biblical data that addresses conscience. Rather than just looking at every use of the word “conscience,” he shows us just how richly present the concept is in every part of Scripture. For example, the conscience plays a decisive role in the story of Joseph. Reuben and Judah’s consciences tell them that they should not murder their brother, the consciences of the ten brothers haunt them when trouble meets them in Egypt and then again when their father dies and they are reminded of their guilt before Joseph. From the shame felt by Adam in Genesis 3 to Judas Iscariot’s despair in the Gospels, the Scriptures regularly confront us with issues of conscience.
Christopher Ash has given the church a gift in writing this book. He uses the Bible well, but also brings in many quotes from sources like Thomas Aquinas and the Reformers, the Puritans, Shakespeare, Plutarch, Philo and the confessional documents of the church. At the same time, almost every other page in the book has a short contemporary story that applies or illustrates the content of that section. This book shows that the message of the Bible is always deeply needed and supremely relevant for sinners.
However, our conscience can't always be trusted as a guide. We should seek to live with a peaceful conscience, but “not every quiet conscience is a good conscience.” This God-given guide is not always correct. It is a real voice, but it's also an unreliable voice: it may tell us we are innocent when we are guilty or it may tell us we are guilty when we are actually innocent. Conscience was designed to follow God's law, but man has fallen, and so humanity needs a better revelation of God’s law - an inerrant one - that can calibrate it. That’s why we need the written, infallible and inerrant Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. When we submit to the Scriptures, "this recalibration takes time to get deep inside us,” but it can bring “the over-sensitive conscience into freedom in Christ” and sharpen “the under-sensitive conscience into godliness.” God does this not only through our individual learning of the Scriptures, but also through discipleship in godly communities.
People with guilty consciences are restless, burdened, fearful, angry, resentful and anxious. A guilty conscience “foreshadows the terrible and total absence of friendship in hell.” The guilty conscience is not merely a result of internalized values from our parents and culture. It is a sign of alienation from God. Ash develops our understanding of the conscience: it is not only a guide, but also a courtroom. He explains the elements of a courtroom that are contained in the conscience: it keeps records and acts as witness, prosecutor, judge and executioner. In all of those aspects it was designed to follow the moral law of God.
Therefore, when we face our conscience we are facing a choice. Will we dive into worldly sorrow or will we embrace the godly sorrow that responds with repentance? Worldly sorrow hardens the conscience and desensitizes our sense of morality, but godly sorrow leads to repentance and life. In the work of salvation, the Holy Spirit “starts by making our guilty conscience hurt more, abominably more, than it had ever done before.” This painful awareness of sin and guilt “is necessary if the disease of the heart is to be healed.” Ash shows us what a conscience awakened by the Holy Spirit looks like with a deep exposition of David’s repentance in Psalm 51. David knows the depth and the direction of his sin, and his conscience exposes his person, not just his actions.
“Real Christianity awakens the conscience” and true Christian experience requires a sense of need for both forgiveness and new birth. Conscience is proof of our need for the gospel, it is reality’s bridge into our inner world exposing who we really are. In the declaration of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, everyone who believes receives Christ’s forgiveness (justification) and a new nature (regeneration).
Christopher Ash reminds us that from the preaching of the apostles in Acts to the Reformers and the Puritans, to great modern preachers like Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “the great task of awakening people’s consciences is a mark of authentic Christian ministry.” Preaching students are taught about "the appeal to the conscience." In order to do that, the one who preaches must have his own conscience awakened and cleansed by the Word of God before he appeals to the consciences of others.
Ash does an outstanding job in this book handling the biblical data that addresses conscience. Rather than just looking at every use of the word “conscience,” he shows us just how richly present the concept is in every part of Scripture. For example, the conscience plays a decisive role in the story of Joseph. Reuben and Judah’s consciences tell them that they should not murder their brother, the consciences of the ten brothers haunt them when trouble meets them in Egypt and then again when their father dies and they are reminded of their guilt before Joseph. From the shame felt by Adam in Genesis 3 to Judas Iscariot’s despair in the Gospels, the Scriptures regularly confront us with issues of conscience.
Christopher Ash has given the church a gift in writing this book. He uses the Bible well, but also brings in many quotes from sources like Thomas Aquinas and the Reformers, the Puritans, Shakespeare, Plutarch, Philo and the confessional documents of the church. At the same time, almost every other page in the book has a short contemporary story that applies or illustrates the content of that section. This book shows that the message of the Bible is always deeply needed and supremely relevant for sinners.
April 16, 2018
Protecting and cleansing the Christian conscience is a lost art in Christianity teaching and practice today. I remember about 7 years ago when I heard the first and only sermon on the conscience of a Christian and it was greatly convicting. This book did that and more as Ash gives a very thorough biblical balance of the conscience. Ash seems to want to be concise in his writing style and not unnecessarily draw out points he doesn’t need to. Christopher Ash is an easy writer to read. He’s clear and to the point. Highly recommend this book for every Christian to read and re-read. Bonus points for all the Puritan quotes.
April 4, 2015
Serious sermons and books on the conscience seemed to have disappeared with the Puritans. Perhaps the Puritans were a touch morbidly introspective and pietistic, but our reaction has swung the pendulum to the other end of the arc. We neglect or altogether ignore the conscience today. Our books on spiritual disciplines and practical sanctification scarcely mention it. Perhaps our books on practical sanctification are a bit thin too.
Christopher Ash has done us a good service in picking up this topic and writing on it today. Throughout he strikes a good balance of biblical and practical aspects of the conscience. The first part of the book is tough. Several times he recommends going ahead to the seventh chapter if you find yourself despairing. Hang in there and see it through and you will be helped. He does a good job in the first part of showing how the conscience is both unreliable and indispensable. This is a seeming contradiction but it is actually a paradox.
Chapters 5 to 7 are the real meat of this book and more than worth the price to acquire it and the time to read it. He brings us wonderfully to our hope in Christ and helps us see how to have and maintain a clear conscience. He also touches on how to recalibrate our conscience according to the word of God in the final part of the book.
Overall I think this a helpful book. It doesn't address every problem, nor solve every problem it addresses. It does speak into what has been a void in Christian study for some time. It is very readable and relevant. I took issue with some things here and there but not enough to detract from its usefulness nor to dissuade me from recommending it.
Christopher Ash has done us a good service in picking up this topic and writing on it today. Throughout he strikes a good balance of biblical and practical aspects of the conscience. The first part of the book is tough. Several times he recommends going ahead to the seventh chapter if you find yourself despairing. Hang in there and see it through and you will be helped. He does a good job in the first part of showing how the conscience is both unreliable and indispensable. This is a seeming contradiction but it is actually a paradox.
Chapters 5 to 7 are the real meat of this book and more than worth the price to acquire it and the time to read it. He brings us wonderfully to our hope in Christ and helps us see how to have and maintain a clear conscience. He also touches on how to recalibrate our conscience according to the word of God in the final part of the book.
Overall I think this a helpful book. It doesn't address every problem, nor solve every problem it addresses. It does speak into what has been a void in Christian study for some time. It is very readable and relevant. I took issue with some things here and there but not enough to detract from its usefulness nor to dissuade me from recommending it.
January 1, 2021
A gem of a book, Pure Joy helps you understand the rarely written topic of conscience. Ash provides biblical insights on various aspects of conscience in this short book, peppering them with contemporary examples, ancient wisdom from the Puritans, as well as substantial Bible quotes. Ash writes with depth, conviction, and addresses the topic of conscience winsomely.
By themselves, Chapters 7 to 9 make buying the book a very wise decision.
While it is a fact that Jesus died from our sins, there is special joy in bringing our sins daily to Him for repentance. To know and feel that His blood has covered our sins. And we can live with a clean slate each day, with a clear conscience.
Heb 10:14: “for by a single offering, he (Jesus) has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Heb 13:18 “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.”
By themselves, Chapters 7 to 9 make buying the book a very wise decision.
While it is a fact that Jesus died from our sins, there is special joy in bringing our sins daily to Him for repentance. To know and feel that His blood has covered our sins. And we can live with a clean slate each day, with a clear conscience.
Heb 10:14: “for by a single offering, he (Jesus) has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Heb 13:18 “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.”
January 11, 2019
“Deep genuineness and authenticity come from a heart that is single and pure, not divided and mixed; from a conscience that is good, cleansed and clean rather than guilty; and from faith that is real. This is the root and origin of all true love towards God and people. A good conscience is possible only where there is genuine faith, for it is only the blood of Christ that can cleanse the conscience.” (p.166)
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this book and decided to read it. It was a quick read while also being very thought provoking, challenging and encouraging. I will be thinking about it for a long time and it has already prompted multiple conversations on the topic of conscience!
5 stars - so good! Will probably read it again someday and I have already recommended it to multiple people.
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this book and decided to read it. It was a quick read while also being very thought provoking, challenging and encouraging. I will be thinking about it for a long time and it has already prompted multiple conversations on the topic of conscience!
5 stars - so good! Will probably read it again someday and I have already recommended it to multiple people.
October 13, 2019
I found this book to be extremely helpful. Although he doesn't phrase it like this, I think Ash is saying that our conscience is our internal (and sometimes suspect) barometer of our sin. We need to ensure that barometer is as closely aligned to God's as possible by aligning it with scripture. By doing so, we are able to examine our conscience regularly and seriously, and repeatedly repent of our sins.
Every chapter is well written and well structured. When put together I did sometimes "feel" that the book was a bit long which is odd as 190 pages is actually quite short. Maybe the material could have been covered more concisely. Or maybe I just struggled with the concepts
A minor issue on an excellent book
Every chapter is well written and well structured. When put together I did sometimes "feel" that the book was a bit long which is odd as 190 pages is actually quite short. Maybe the material could have been covered more concisely. Or maybe I just struggled with the concepts
A minor issue on an excellent book
June 11, 2025
How beautiful it is that through Christ we can enjoy a clear conscience! This book was helpful for clarifying what a conscience is and what it means for a Christian and what we should be doing in light of that. He uses several scriptural references to make his points. However, I do have two problems with this book:
1. The examples he used felt very cheesy at times. As in, he either oversimplified situations or it just felt like something that would never happen in real life.
2. He described Bathsheba as being "seduced". Bathsheba was not seduced, she was raped, and I am very bothered that he used the language he did on that section.
Otherwise, it was a helpful book.
1. The examples he used felt very cheesy at times. As in, he either oversimplified situations or it just felt like something that would never happen in real life.
2. He described Bathsheba as being "seduced". Bathsheba was not seduced, she was raped, and I am very bothered that he used the language he did on that section.
Otherwise, it was a helpful book.
June 8, 2025
Powerful, biblical, helpful, practical, easy to read. I loved the little vignettes illustrating his various points: the examples of the conscience in action kept my interest and helped me understand what he was saying.
A while back in adult Sunday school the topic of the conscience came up and discussion got LIVELY. This book helped me clarify what the Bible says on the issue, and provided some needed conviction, encouragement, and comfort. Great book!
A while back in adult Sunday school the topic of the conscience came up and discussion got LIVELY. This book helped me clarify what the Bible says on the issue, and provided some needed conviction, encouragement, and comfort. Great book!
March 17, 2018
A very useful and insightful book. I took a lot from it and I certainly recommend it. The reason I marked it 4/5 is I thought the title was a bit misleading, since it's more about conscience, and joy is the end result, but it's not a major point (unless I missed something).
January 23, 2015
Really, 3.5 stars. I enjoy the writing of Christopher Ash.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews