Five things make a soul cut itself off from sin: fear of men, fear of judgment, hope of future reward, love of God and, lastly, the prompting of conscience. (Maximos the Confessor)

I will admit to being influenced by Stoic understandings: might the soul be a spark of God residing with us?

Might conscience be the voice of divine awareness and potentiality within us?

Is it the conscience that recognizes our separation from God?

Is it the conscience that recognizes the same fractured characteristic in our neighbors?

Is it the conscience that urges us to reclaim the relationship that we innately share with God and neighbor?