The word scruple is defined by Webster’s as “an ethical consideration or principle that inhibits action.” The word came into English via the Middle English word scriple, from the Latin scrupulus , a unit of weight. Scrupulus was, in turn, the diminutive form of scrupus, meaning “sharp stone.”
In Catholic moral theology, the word is used to express an unreasonable fear of having offended God. Scruples can cripple a soul’s advance toward God by keeping it captive in an unwholesome fear, clouding his judgment, making him insistent on his own will, and other very harmful effects. Adolphe Tanquerey, in his The Spiritual Life, explains the origin and meaning of the word thus: “The term scruple (from the Latin scrupulus, pebble) was employed for ages past to designate a weight under which only the most sensitive scales would tilt. In the moral sense, it stands for some trifle which only the most delicate conscience would notice. Hence, this word has come to be commonly used to designate the anxiety about having offended God which certain souls feel for little or no reason .”
The best cure for scruples is a good, firm spiritual director whose commands must be heeded.
