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Home , Cardinal virtues, Faith (painting), Justice (painting), Justice (virtue), On Virtues and Vices, Prudentius

Lexham Dictionary • Timothy Jacobs • September 1, 2013

VIRTUE/ LISTS Lists of , morals, acts of obedience, , wrongdoings, or . Display a normative ethic focused on character. Incorporate Hellenistic influence on biblical authors and historical theology.

1. Biblical Lists 2. The Seven Catholic Virtues 3. The 4. 5. Index of Passages 6. Bibliography

!!Biblical Lists Ethical lists are prominent in the Bible, especially , and should be interpreted as addressing particular people and situations.

!!!Interpretation. Virtue and vice lists in the NT are most often for the purpose of typifying ​ righteous and unrighteous lives and should be taken as illustrative rather than exhaustive (see Thompson, Moral Formation according to Paul). Lists of vices are characterizations of those ​ ​ who walk according to the flesh, while virtue lists display the character of those who walk according to the Spirit, the gospel life, and Christian community (Harrington, Paul and Virtue ​ Ethics, 110). Often vice lists are given in contrast with virtue lists in order to instruct individuals ​ on their past life and the life they are to pursue.

Ethical lists are prominent in Paul’s epistles as he addresses particular situations and provides specific instruction. In Galatians 5:16–23, Paul contrasts a list of generic works and of the flesh with the generic fruit of the Spirit. Though the list addresses the particular Galatian situation, it may be seen as partially depicting the foundations of morality in the imitation of divine characteristics. In 2 Peter 1:5–7 the Apostle Peter presents another list as the foundation of morality including virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and . The differences between these two lists show that NT lists illuminate each other as they both overlap and differ.

!!!Form and Use. Strict virtue lists are found only in the epistles and may take the form of ​ antithesis (e.g., Gal 5:19–23; Jas 3:13–18), contrast (e.g., Titus 3:1–7), instruction (e.g., 2 Pet 1:5–7) or polemics (e.g., 1 Tim 1:9–10; 6:3–5; 2 Tim 3:2–5). Rhetorical emphasis is accomplished through repetition or rhythmic flow and may employ alliteration, assonance, or inclusio (See Porter, “Vice and Virtue Lists”). The intention for the order of items within a list is seldom discernable, excepting the progressions presented in Phil 4:8 and 2 Pet 1:5–7. Even in these lists it is important to note that their presentations are related to the occasions they address and are not intended to convey a universal hierarchy of virtue. It is possible, however, that certain virtues common throughout the NT, such as , love, and endurance, were included in early catechisms as more inclusive virtues.

!!!History. The formation of ethical lists began in the Homeric era then developed more fully ​ among the Socratics and post-Socratics, especially the Stoics (see The Seven Catholic Virtues and The Seven Deadly Sins below). later influenced hellenistic Jews, such as Philo (c. 20 BC–c. 50 AD). The interaction between Stoics and in the first century lead to the Christian adoption of ethical lists for practical purposes (See Porter, “Vice and Virtue Lists”). Because the recording of ethical lists in the Bible is formally an influence of Hellenism, most lists are found in the NT, though similar lists are also present in the OT. Ethical lists found in Greco-Roman moralists of the first and second century contrast with NT lists by emphasizing “self-help” rather than divinely revealed moral obligation (Harrington, Paul and , ​ ​ 113).

In the Ancient Near East, one may readily find lists of such as in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1772 BC) that that detail the social mores relating to property, family, and social contracts. Other such law codes are the The Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100 BC, Third Dynasty of Ur), the Sumerian laws of Lipit-Ishtar (c. 1925 BC), the Akkadian laws of Eshnunna (c. 1800 BC) north of Babylon, and the Hittite laws (1650-1200 BC) of Asia Minor. Though these codes do not contain virtue and vice lists proper, they list acceptable and unacceptable behavior. The influence of these contemporary law codes upon the structure of the Mosaic Law is evident while its content stands in contrast: God is described as loving; his people benefit more than he does from their covenant; property violations are not seen as capital offenses; and notably the mention of God’s love and the love he requires from others (see Exod 20; 34:6; Lev 19:1–18; Deut 6:5). The mention of love and the emphasis on motivation and attitude present in the tradition of Israel provide references to virtue that contrast contemporary law codes (see Index of Passages below).

!!The Seven Catholic Virtues Christian tradition has formulated a traditional list of four (, , fortitude, and ) and three (faith, , and love).

The prominence of The Seven Catholic Virtues in historical and modern theology necessitates their address. The are not to be confused with the Seven Contrary Virtues, explained below. The Seven Virtues are listed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article ​ ​ 1805 and 1813 as:

Cardinal Virtues 1. Prudence (prudentia) ​ ​ 2. Justice (justitia) ​ ​ 3. Fortitude/ (fortitudo) ​ ​ 4. Temperance (temperantia) ​ ​

Theological Virtues 5. Faith (fides) ​ ​ 6. Hope (spes) ​ ​ 7. Love/ (caritas) ​ ​

!!!Definition. The Cardinal Virtues, or human virtues, are “firm attitudes, stable dispositions, ​ habitual perfections of intellect and that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to and faith” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1804). They ​ ​ constitute the moral life that leads to joy and are rooted in the Theological Virtues. The Theological Virtues are man’s participation in the divine with God being their “origin, motive, and object” (1812–13). Where Cardinal Virtues are primarily concerned with this life and relations therein, Theological Virtues are concerned with relationship to God and the character dependant upon that relationship. It is upon the Theological Virtues that all morality ultimately depends.

!!!History. Originating in the thought of (ca. 427–347 BC), , justice, fortitude, and ​ temperance are mentioned as the four primary virtues for the wellbeing of a city-state ( ​ 4.427e). Plato’s student, (384–322 BC), added magnificence, magnanimity, liberality, gentleness, and prudence (, 1366b). (106–43 BC) reduced them back to the ​ ​ original four (De Inventione, II, LIII). The hellenistic Jew Philo (ca. 20 BC–ca. AD 50) adopted the four virtues , sorrow, , and fear (Porter, 4). Plato’s four virtues are listed in the deuterocanonical Wisdom of Solomon 8:7 and with slight changes in 1:18. (AD 337–397) was the first to articulate the four cardinal virtues within the Catholic tradition (Commentary on Luke, V.62). They are mentioned again by (AD ​ ​ 347/48–419/20; Epp. 52.13, 64.20, 66.3) and Augustine (AD 354–430; De moribus eccl., Chap. ​ ​ ​ ​ xv; see Bejczy, 11–28) and are later discussed in depth by (AD 1225–74) along with the theological virtues (, II-II.1–170). ​ ​

!!!Similar Lists. With similarities to the Seven Catholic Virtues, the Seven Heavenly Virtues ​ have developed: faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice, temperance, prudence. Seven Corporal Works of have also been articulated: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give shelter to strangers, clothe the naked, visit the sick, minister to prisoners, and bury the dead. The terms “Seven Heavenly Virtues” and “Seven Holy Virtues” are also variously used in reference to the Catholic Virtues or the Contrary Virtues (discussed below).

!!The Seven Deadly Sins In addition to the Seven Catholic Virtues, Christian tradition has formulated Seven Deadly Sins, also called Capital Vices or Sins, from which all other sins spring: , Greed, , Wrath, Lust, , .

The Seven Deadly Sins are accompanied by a list of Seven Contrary Virtues. The Seven Deadly Sins are listed in Article 1866 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as below. The Contrary ​ ​ Virtues are based upon the poem by (AD 348–ca. 410). ​ ​

Capital Vices 1. Pride (superbia) ​ ​ 2. Greed/Avarice (avaritia) ​ ​ 3. Envy (invidia) ​ ​ 4. Wrath (ira) ​ ​ 5. Lust (luxuria) ​ 6. Gluttony (gula) ​ ​ 7. Sloth/Acedia (pigritia seu acedia) ​ ​

Contrary Virtues 1. (humilitas) ​ ​ 2. Love/Charity (caritas) ​ ​ 3. (humanitas) ​ ​ 4. (patientia) ​ ​ 5. (castitas) ​ ​ 6. Temperance (temperantia) ​ ​ 7. (industria) ​ ​

!!!Definition. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Capital Sins “are called ​ ​ ​ ‘capital’ because they engender other sins, other vices” (1866). They are not considered distinct from other sins but rather give rise to all . In Catholic reckoning, sins divide into mortal or venial sins. Mortal sins turn the heart away from God while venial sins hurt and weaken it. In order for a sin to be mortal it must meet three conditions: (1) it must be grave; (2) the subject must be aware that the action is sin and is grave; (3) the sin must be committed with full and deliberate consent. Any sin that lacks any one of these three criteria is defined as a venial sin. The distinction between mortal and venial does not imply a particular list of sins as with the Cardinal and Theological Virtues. Rather, any of the Seven Deadly Sins may be either mortal or venial depending on their expression (1854–64). What each sin has come to include has undergone continual revision and development as their semantic, psychological, and theological issues have evolved over time, so also their have undergone continual revision and development.

!!!History. The list of the Seven Deadly Sins originates in the thought of (AD ​ 345–399) who listed eight “evil thoughts” in his Treatise on Various Evil Thoughts (Capita ​ ​ ​ Cognoscitiva): gluttony (γαστριμαργία, gastrimargia); fornication (πορνεία, porneia), greed ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ (φιλαργυρία, philargyria), pride (ὑπερηφανία, hyperēphania ), sadness (λύπη, lypē), wrath (ὀργή, ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ orgē), boasting (κενοδοξία, kenodoxia), despair (ἀκηδία, akēdia ). These were translated by John ​ ​ ​ ​ Cassian (ca. AD 360–435) into as they entered Western . (AD 540– 604) revised the list by combining sadness and despair as sloth, including boasting under pride, and adding envy. These are repeated in ’s (AD 1265–1321) The Divine ​ Comedy and are listed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 1866 as shown above. In ​ ​ ​ correlation with the Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Contrary Virtues have been derived from the epic poem Psychomachia, or The Contest of the written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (AD ​ ​ ​ ​ 348–ca. 410), which was highly influential in the .

!!!Similar Lists. In addition to the Seven Deadly Sins, other lists of sins have been developed in ​ the Catholic tradition. Six particular sins are listed as being against the Holy Spirit: despair of , presumption of God's mercy, resisting the known truth, envy of another's spiritual good, obstinacy and determination in sin, and final impenitence even at the hour of death (The ​ Douay Catechism, 1649). The four sins crying to heaven for vengeance are: homicide (Gen ​ 4:10), sodomy (Gen 18:20–21; 19:5), oppression of the poor (Exod 22:20–24), and cheating laborers of their wages (Deut 24:14–15; Jas 5:4).

!!Virtue Ethics Virtue Ethics is a normative meta-ethic emphasizing the role of one’s character in determining ethical behavior.

Virtue Ethics is one of the three main normative meta-ethical systems including deontology, which emphasizes duty to rules, and consequentialism, which determines ethical behavior based upon consequences. Each of these three systems seeks to determine the rightness or wrongness of an action based on the system’s underlying principle. Though virtue ethicists may differ from each other, virtue ethics generally construes the human life as one with a proper role, function, or end (τέλος, telos). To determine the morality of an action, a virtue ethicists will take a ​ ​ case-by-case approach and ask whether the individual had right intentions, timing, contextual considerations, expression of virtue, encouragement of virtue, means of execution, and so on. Virtue ethics is prescriptive and determinative for ethical actions while emphasizing their role in the cultivation and expression of virtuous character. In Christian virtue ethics the ultimate human telos is the knowledge and (Phil 3:7–21). Insofar as one’s behavior is an ​ expression of godliness, an action is right. If one steps outside the proper human role, sin is committed. The virtuous life, then, is one in which virtue is cultivated as constituting the godly life.

The origin of virtue ethics may be traced to Plato’s presentation of the just man in the Republic ​ who has properly ordered desires and behaviors. Plato’s ideas were developed in Aristotle who wrote what is still considered the foundational virtue ethics text, , as well as ​ ​ , , On Virtues and Vices, and others. As Aristotle’s concept of ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ virtue developed through antiquity and the Middle Ages, it became incorporated into the official theological ethics of the Catholic Church. As the Enlightenment rationalists began rejecting biblical and historical ethics as a foundation for morals, deontology and consequentialism arose in place of virtue ethics. Elizabeth Anscombe’s landmark essay, Modern Moral Philosophy ​ (1958), pioneered the modern resurgence of virtue ethics and Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue ​ (1981) brought it into full swing. MacIntyre’s work notably argues that life and morality are defined by the human role, or telos, fulfilled in cultivation of virtuousness. He states that virtue ​ ​ lists present virtue as plural when it is ultimately singular, i. e. virtuousness (After Virtue, 52, 169 ​ ​ ff., 216 ff.). This is analogous to love, justice, and mercy being ultimately one in God because his of character is not a collection of parts summing up to a whole but rather various expressions of one substance. Virtue ethics today continues to develop both in the sacred and secular realms with publications ranging from The Christian Case for Virtue Ethics to Virtue ​ ​ ​ Ethics: a Pluralist View. See above for an outlining of virtue ethics as centered around the ​ traditional Seven Catholic Virtues and The Seven Deadly Sins. For a full and recent treatment of Christian virtue ethics, see Joseph J. Kotva’s The Christian Case for Virtue Ethics. ​ ​

!!Index of Passages. This partial indexing of biblical, apocryphal, and historical references to ​ virtue and vice lists is meant as an aid to further study of significant texts and not as an exhaustive guide.

* Classical Greek (Before 336 BC): Aristotle, Ethica eudemian 2.3.4; Plato, 525–6; ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Republic 4.427e, 6.490c–e, 427c–434d, 543c–580a. ​ * OT: Exod 20; 34:6; Lev 19:1–18; Deut 5; 27:15–26; 6:5; Psa 15; Prov 6:16–19; Isa 11:1–3; Jer ​ 7:3–11; Hos 2:19–20; 4:1–2; Mic 6:8. * Apocrypha: Wisdom of Solomon 4:11; 8:4–9; 12:10; 14:21–31; Sirach 7:1–7 ​ * Pseudepigrapha: 4 Maccabees 1:18; 1 Enoch 91:5–7; Jubilees 21:21, 23:144; 3 Baruch 4:17, ​ 13:3–4; Testament of Reuben 3:2–8; Testament of Judah 16:1–2, 19:1–4; Testament of Gad 5:1–3; Testament of Asher 2:5–6; Testament of Benjamin 6:4; Sibylline Oracles 2:253–97, 3:36-45; Assumption of Moses 7:1-10. * NT Virtue Lists: 2 Cor 6:6–8; Gal 5:22–23; Eph 4:32; 5:9; Phil 4:8; Col 3:12; 1 Tim 4:12; ​ 6:11; 2 Tim 2:22; 3:10; Jas 3:17; 1 Peter 3:8; 2 Pet 1:5–7. * NT Vice Lists: Matt 15:19; Mark 7:21–22; Rom 1:29–31; 13:13; 1 Cor 5:10–11; 6:9–10; 2 Cor ​ 6:9–10; 12:20–21; Gal 5:19–21; Eph 4:31; 5:3–5; Col 3:5, 8; 1 Tim 1:9–10; 2 Tim 3:2–5; Titus 3:3; Jas 3:15; 1 Pet 2:1; 4:3, 15; Rev 9:21; 21:8; 22:15. * NT Related Passages: Matt 5:1–12; 5:17–48; 19:18–19; 22:36–40; Mark 10:17–22; Luke ​ 6:20–26; 18:20; Rom 5:3–5; 12:9–21; 14:17; 15:13; 5:1–5; 1 Cor 13:4–13; Eph 4:17–6:24; Phil 2:1–4; Col 3:1–4:6; 1 Thes 4:1–12; 5:8, 12–22; 1 Tim 3:2–11; 4:12; 6:3–12; Titus 1:6–9; Jas 2:8–11; 3:13–4:4; 1 Pet 4:15; 2 Pet 3:11.

!!Bibliography Anscombe, G. E. M. “Modern Moral Philosophy.” Philosophy 33(124) (1958):1–19. ​ ​

Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica, 5 vols. Translated by The Fathers of the English ​ ​ Dominican Province. Notre Dame: Christian Classics, 1981.

Aristotle. Complete Works: The Revised Oxford Translation, 2 vols. Edited by Jonathan Barnes. ​ ​ Princeton University Press, 1984.

Bejczy, István P. The Cardinal Virtues in the Middle Ages: A Study in Moral Thought from the ​ Fourth to the Fourteenth Century. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2011. ​

Catechism of the Catholic Church. Citta del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993. English ​ ​ ​ translation United States Catholic Conference, Inc., 1994.

Charles, J. Daryl. “Vice and Virtue Lists.” In Dictionary of New Testament Background : A ​ Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship, electronic edition. Edited by Porter, Stanley ​ E. and Craig A. Evans. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000.

———. Virtue amidst Vice. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. ​ ​

Crisp, Roger and Michael Slote. Virtue Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. ​ ​

Easton, Burton Scott. “New Testament Ethical Lists.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature Exegesis, New York City, December 28,1931.

Foot, Philippa. Virtues and Vices: And Other Essays in Moral Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford ​ ​ University Press, 2002.

Harrington, Daniel and James Keenan. and Virtue Ethics: Building Bridges Between New ​ Testament Studies and Moral Theology. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., ​ 2002.

———. Paul and Virtue Ethics: Building Bridges Between New Testament Studies and Moral ​ Theology. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010. ​

Hauerwas, Stanley. Character and the Christian Life: A Study in Theological Ethics. Notre ​ ​ Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994.

———. Vision and Virtue. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1986. ​ ​

Hursthouse, Rosalind. Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. ​ ​

Kotva, Joseph J., Jr. The Christian Case for Virtue Ethics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown ​ ​ University Press, 1996.

The Longer Catechism of The Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church. Moscow: Synodical Press, ​ 1830.

Lopez, Rene. “Vice Lists in Non-Pauline Sources”Bibliotheca Sacra 168 (April–June 2011): ​ ​ 178–95.

———. “Views on Paul’s Vice Lists and Inheriting the Kingdom.” Bibliotheca Sacra 168 ​ ​ (January–March 2011): 81–97.

———. “Paul’s Vice List in Ephesians 5:3–5.” Bibliotheca Sacra 169 (April–June 2012): ​ ​ 203–18.

MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1981. ​ ​

———. A Short History of Ethics: A History of Moral Philosophy from the Homeric Age to the ​ Twentieth Century, 2nd ed.. Notre Dame: Univsersity of Notre Dame Press, 1998. ​ ​ ​

Metzger, Bruce M. and Michael D. Coogan, editors. “Ethical Lists.” In The Oxford Companion ​ to the Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1012. ​

Oopeza, B. J. “Situational Immorality: Paul’s ’Vice Lists’ at Corinth.” The Expository Times ​ 110:9 (1998): 9–10.

Plato. Plato: Complete Works. Edited by John M. Cooper. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., ​ ​ ​ ​ 1997.

Sampley, J. Paul. Paul in the Greco-Roman World. Harrisburg, PA: Press International, ​ ​ 2003.

Swanton, Christine. Virtue Ethics: A Pluralistic View. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. ​ ​

Thompson, James W. Moral Formation according to Paul : The Context and Coherence of ​ Pauline Ethics. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011. ​

Tuberville, Henry. The Douay Catechism. New York: Excelsior Catholic Publishing House, ​ ​ 1649.

Willis, Wendell. “The Shaping of Character: Virtue in Philippians 4:8–9.” Restoration Quarterly ​ 54:2 (2012): 65–76.

—Timothy L. Jacobs