Virtues And Vices List

The Detroit/Washington D.C. Pamphlet combined this list of virtues with a long list of vices (or character defects) which commonly get alcoholics in trouble. In the Sixth and Seventh Steps, our goal is to begin replacing the following character defects with the positive virtues listed above. The Seven Virtues opposed the Seven Sins. In one scheme, the Seven Virtues are based on the three spiritual virtues listed by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13: Faith, Hope and Charity, followed by the four Cardinal or 'Pagan' virtues: Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice.

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The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines virtue as 'a habitual and firm disposition to do the good.'^[1] Traditionally, the seven Christian virtues or heavenly virtues combine the four classical cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage (or fortitude) with the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. These were adopted by the Church Fathers as the seven virtues.

Cardinal virtues[edit]

The Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, regarded Temperance, wisdom, justice, and courage as the four most desirable character traits. The Book of Wisdom is one of the seven Sapiential Books included in the Septuagint. Wisdom 8:7 states that the fruits of Wisdom '...are virtues; For she teaches moderation and prudence, justice and fortitude, and nothing in life is more useful for men than these.'

The moral virtues are attitudes, and good habits that govern one's actions, passions, and conduct according to reason; and are acquired by human effort.^[2]Immanuel Kant said, 'Virtue is the moral strength of the will in obeying the dictates of duty'.^[3] The cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

Prudence from prudentia (meaning 'seeing ahead, sagacity') is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason.^[4] It is called the Auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues) as it guides the other virtues.^[5]
Justice is the virtue which regulates man in his dealings with others. Connected to justice are the virtues of religion, piety, and gratitude.^[6]
Fortitude which Thomas Aquinas ranks third after prudence and justice and equates with brave endurance.^[3] Patience and perseverance are virtues related to fortitude.
Temperance is the virtue which moderates in accordance with reason the desires and pleasures of the sensuous appetite. Related to temperance are the virtues of conscience, humility, and meekness.^[6]

Philosophers recognized the interrelatedness of the virtues such that courage without prudence risks becoming mere foolhardiness. Aquinas found an interconnection of practical wisdom (prudentia) and moral virtue. This is frequently termed 'the Unity of the Virtues.'^[7] Aquinas also argued that it not only matters what a person does but how the person does it. The person must aim at a good end and also make a right choice about the means to that end. The moral virtues direct the person to aim at a good end, but to ensure that the person make the right choices about the means to a good end, one needs practical wisdom.^[8]

Theological virtues[edit]

The traditional understanding of the differences in the natures of Cardinal and Theological virtues, is that the latter are not fully accessible to humans in their natural state without assistance from God. 'All virtues have as their final scope to dispose man to acts conducive to his true happiness. The happiness, however, of which man is capable is twofold, namely, natural, which is attainable by man's natural powers, and supernatural, which exceeds the capacity of unaided human nature. Since, therefore, merely natural principles of human action are inadequate to a supernatural end, it is necessary that man be endowed with supernatural powers to enable him to attain his final destiny. Now these supernatural principles are nothing else than the theological virtues.'^[6]

Seven virtues and the seven capital sins[edit]

A list of seven virtues that oppose the seven deadly sins appeared later in an epic poem titled Psychomachia, or Battle/Contest of the Soul. Written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, a Christian governor who died around AD 410, it entails the battle between good virtues and evil vices. The enormous popularity of this work in the Middle Ages helped to spread the concept of holy virtue throughout Europe.

After Pope Gregory I released his list of seven deadly sins in AD 590, the seven virtues became identified as chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility. Practicing them is said to protect one against temptation from the seven deadly sins.

Virtue	Latin	Gloss	Sin	Latin
Chastity	Castitas	Purity, abstinence	Lust	Luxuria
Temperance	Temperantia	Humanity, equanimity	Gluttony	Gula
Charity	Caritas	Will, benevolence, generosity, sacrifice	Greed	Avaritia
Diligence	Industria	Persistence, effortfulness, ethics	Sloth	Acedia
Patience	Patientia	Forgiveness, mercy	Wrath	Ira
Kindness	Humanitas	Satisfaction, compassion	Envy	Invidia
Humility	Humilitas	Bravery, modesty, reverence	Pride	Superbia

These seven virtues do not correspond to the seven heavenly virtues arrived at by combining the cardinal and theological virtues. Furthermore, efforts in the Middle Ages to set the seven heavenly virtues in direct opposition to the seven capital sins are both uncommon and beset with difficulties. '[T]reatises exclusively concentrating on both septenaries are actually quite rare.' and 'examples of late medieval catalogues of virtues and vices which extend or upset the double heptad can be easily multiplied.'^[9] And there are problems with this parallelism.

The opposition between the virtues and the vices to which these works allude despite the frequent inclusion of other schemes may seem unproblematic at first sight. The virtues and the vices seem to mirror each other as positive and negative moral attitudes, so that medieval authors, with their keen predilection for parallels and oppositions, could conveniently set them against each other.... Yet artistic representations such as Conrad's trees are misleading in that they establish oppositions between the principal virtues and the capital vices which are based on mere juxtaposition. As to content, the two schemes do not match each other. The capital vices of lust and avarice, for instance, contrast with the remedial virtues of chastity and generosity, respectively, rather than with any theological or cardinal virtue; conversely, the virtues of hope and prudence are opposed to despair and foolishness rather than to any deadly sin. Medieval moral authors were well aware of the fact. Actually, the capital vices are more often contrasted with the remedial or contrary virtues in medieval moral literature than with the principal virtues, while the principal virtues are frequently accompanied by a set of mirroring vices rather than by the seven deadly sins.^[10]

References[edit]

^Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1803
^CCC §1804
^ ^a^bRickaby, John. 'Fortitude.' The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 April 2017
^Prudence—Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-webster.com (2012-08-31).
^CCC §1806
^ ^a^b^c One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Waldron, Martin Augustine (1912). 'Virtue'. In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
^Annas, Julia. The Morality of Happiness (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 73–84
^Aquinas. Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI, Lecture XI, ##1279–1280
^Bejczy, István P. (2011). The Cardinal Virtues in the Middle Ages: A Study in Moral Thought from the Fourth to the Fourteenth Century. Boston: Brill. pp. 228, 229.
^Bejczy, 2011, pp. 232–33

External links[edit]

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In the bubble of Christianity, it is inexplicably easy to get “overwhelmed” with internal theological or apologetic debate. Dissecting scripture to find “objective truth” is sometimes difficult as we seek to understand and “pin down” the lines we should not cross. We question whether or not certain actions, activities, or choices are OK, and try to define (and sometimes wiggle into or out of) the black, white, and gray areas.

Most of us most of us know plenty about the Bible and Christ. I am absolutely NOT saying reading the Bible is irrelevant or unimportant. Deeply reading the Bible is a joy, blessing, and action of obedience. It is a gift of divine Truth from our Holy Creator. The book contains literal words from and about our God and Savior.

What if all someone knew were these words from Christ: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (Luke 10:27). Imagine what the world would look like if we stopped reading the Bible and simply lived out only the stuff we already know.

Believe it or not, the Bible does not need us to add anything to it. It is fine just the way it is. It is elegant and eternal. The Creator of the Universe directed the hands of man to assemble it for us. God only wants the following from us:

Read and know it
Live it
Tell other people about it

Tonight during my quiet time I read the selection below from Galatians 5. I found the blunt simplicity of the passage extremely refreshing. We could surely dive into a plethora of “smart theologian” blabber, but we wont. The Bible contains so much non-debatable and simple truth. Imagine what your life would look like if you only focused on the simple, straightforward truths. Your / my worlds and communities would be revolutionized in love, and we would be living out Christ’s Great Commission in an extraordinarily real and dynamic way.

Read Galatians 5:19-26 below. Then re-read it. Pray about it. Re-read it. Talk about it with your spouse. Ask your spouse where you can improve. Ask your spouse how you can hold them accountable. Re-read it. Pray together. Then, re-read it.

¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. ²⁵ Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Galatians 5:19-26 (NLT)

Virtues And Their Vices List

Let’s all just do those things… easy enough right? 🙂

God knows our hearts because he created us. I don’t have much else to say here. God spoke directly to us in that passage. We do not have to second-guess anything… we only have to submit to Christ with faithful and obedient action. That God for Jesus.

I have a basic paperback Tyndale “Life Application Study Bible” in the New Living Translation version. It has a great callout related to Galations. I am writing it below for your contemplation.