 What is the scope and nature of this apparent ability to intuitively grasp right from wrong? Can conscience err and, if so, do its dictates still bind? The best way to address these and other questions is to employ a developmental approach. The term conscience is still generally used to refer to an innate moral sense, but it has slightly different connotations today than it did in the medieval period, which in turn had different connotations from what preceded it in pagan antiquity and in Scripture. Still, medieval theories of conscience drew extensively on these earlier sources. Since the concepts of conscience and synderesis evolved over time, then, it will be necessary to take a linear approach to the topic and begin with some background.