In the previous blogs, I wrote about the Seven Deadly Sins. These are the chief sins from which all other sins spawn. This number and list came from St. Gregory Dialogos, a sixth century Roman Pope. There are others who say that there are Eight Deadly Sins. St. John of the Ladder, St. Evagrios the Solitary, and St. John Cassian said that there are eight, but their lists of sins are not completely identical with each other. In this blog, I will talk more about sin and virtue.
Sin is the absence of good. It is the absence of virtue. There are three Theological Virtues and four Cardinal Virtues. The absence of any one of these is sin.
The three Theological Virtues are mentioned in the thirteenth chapter of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. They are faith, hope, and love. (I Cor. 13:13)
The four Cardinal Virtues are in the eighth chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon. They are self-control, prudence, justice, and courage. (Wisdom 8:7)
The virtue faith (Greek, pistis) includes belief and trust as well as faithfulness. To have pistis in someone is to believe that person, trust that person, and stay faithful to that person. That is what it means to "believe in Christ." Anyone who truly believes in Christ will believe what Christ taught, trust Christ to do what He said He would do, and faithfully keep His commandments and serve Him.
The four Cardinal Virtues are in the eighth chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon. They are self-control, prudence, justice, and courage. (Wisdom 8:7)
The virtue faith (Greek, pistis) includes belief and trust as well as faithfulness. To have pistis in someone is to believe that person, trust that person, and stay faithful to that person. That is what it means to "believe in Christ." Anyone who truly believes in Christ will believe what Christ taught, trust Christ to do what He said He would do, and faithfully keep His commandments and serve Him.
Faith is always accompanied by hope and love. The absence of either of these other virtues would indicate the absence of the theological virtue of faith. St. Paul said that "faith worketh by love." (Gal. 5:6, KJV) He also said that faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1, KJV)
A faith that does not produce works done out of love is a dead faith. St. James said, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" (James 2:14, KJV) The answer to these questions is that such a man does not have a genuine faith, but a dead one. No, such a faith as this cannot save him. (James 2:17,26)
So, faith and faithfulness are always accompanied by the virtues of love and hope.
In the Wisdom of Solomon, love (Greek, agape) is defined as "the keeping of her laws," that is, the laws of Wisdom — an Old Testament name for the Second Person of the Godhead. (Wisdom 6:18; see also I Cor. 1:24.) St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, likewise, defined love as "the fulfilling of the Law." (Rom. 13:10) Love is obedience to God.
St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians describes love. He says:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (I Cor. 13:4-8, NKJV)
From this text, we see that patience (makrothumia), kindness (chrestotes), humility, courteousness, unselfishness, purity of thought, joy in truth, faith (pistis), and hope (elpis) are characteristics of love (agape). Love "bears all thing" and "endures all things" because it is assured that God is in control and governs everything well. That is what Clement of Alexandria said.
Although visited with ignominy and exile, and confiscation, and above all, death, he will never be wrenched from his freedom, and signal love to God. “The charity which bears all things, endures all things” (I Cor. 13:7), is assured that Divine Providence orders all things well. (The Stromata, Book IV, chapter 7, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 418, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
St. Jerome wrote:
Charity is the mother of all virtues, and the apostle’s words about faith hope and charity (I Cor. 13:13) are like that threefold cord which is not quickly broken. (Eccl. 4:12) We believe, we hope, and through our faith and hope we are joined together in the bond of charity. (Col. 3:14) (Letter LXXXII, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 175, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Wherever there is love (agape), there will also be the other two theological virtues: faith (pistis) and hope (elpis). Faith and hope produce love. When the apostle says love "believes all things," he was not saying that we should believe anything at all whether it be true or false. Blessed Augustine explains this text this way:
Since faith, then, is in our power, inasmuch as every one believes when he likes, and, when he believes, believes voluntarily; our next inquiry, which we must conduct with care, is, What faith it is which the apostle commends with so much earnestness? For indiscriminate faith is not good. Accordingly we find this caution: “Brethren, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” (I John 4:1) Nor must the clause in commendation of love, that it “believeth all things” (I Cor. 13:7), be so understood as if we should detract from the love of any one, if he refuses to believe at once what he hears. For the same love admonishes us that we ought not readily to believe anything evil about a brother; and when anything of the kind is said of him, does it not judge it to be more suitable to its character not to believe? Lastly, the same love, “which believeth all things,” does not believe every spirit. Accordingly, charity believes all things no doubt, but it believes in God. Observe, it is not said, Believes in all things. It cannot therefore be doubted that the faith which is commended by the apostle is the faith whereby we believe in God. (Rom. 4:3) (On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter 55, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.), vol. 5, p. 107, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
When St. Paul said that love "hopes all things," he was saying that we should hope for the good things to come in the age to come and hope for the best for everyone. St. John Cassian wrote:
As then Christ is our head, we ought always in all temptations and persecutions to protect it with the hope of future good things to come, and especially to keep faith in Him whole and undefiled. (The Conferences, Part I, Conference VII: The First Conference of Abbot Serenus, chapter 5, by St. John Cassian, 360-436 A.D., vol. 11, p. 364, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The sins of impatience, meanness, envy, pride, arrogance, disbelief, distrust, despair, selfishness, joy in sin, joy in falsehood and error, and lack of endurance in hardship and trials indicate the absence of love.
Hope consists of desire and expectation. When we hope for immortality, we desire to be resurrected with our bodies changed into immortal, youthful, healthy, incorruptible ones and we expect that that will actually happen one day if we continue to persevere on the path of salvation. When we hope to live in a renewed universe where there is no sin or evil, we desire it and we expect it to be ours one day. We look at the stars believing and knowing that we will one day be able to see other worlds that orbit those stars. Immortals have plenty of time to do many things.
Hope moves us on to obedience to God. Love, as we have already seen, is the keeping of God's commandments. So, hope produces love.
People who have their hearts set on temporal pleasures and sensual delights have a difficult time keeping God's commandments. To them, God's commandments are burdensome and an impediment to their experience of joy in iniquity. Sin is more pleasurable to them because they are short-sighted and unable to see beyond this life to the glorious joys of the next.
To those who have hope in better things to be revealed to them after Christ's Second Coming, God's commandments are not burdensome. They are the means to obtaining the likeness of God and becoming whole human beings. They are the means to acquiring eternal wealth and a joy that will last forever.
The Christian should remember that God is paying him to keep His commandments. Even though he will be an "unprofitable and unworthy servant" if he keeps them all (St. Luke 17:10), he will still receive his reward at the end of this present age.
The absence of the cardinal virtue of self-control (sophrosune) is lack of self-control. The person who lacks self-control is one who is incapable of saying no to oneself.
The absence of the cardinal virtue of prudence (phronusis) is imprudence. Such persons who lack this virtue do not think ahead. They do not consider what will be the outcome of their actions. In Proverbs, it says, "Do all things with counsel." (Prov. 26:3, LXX) In Ecclesiasticus, it says:
Do nothing without advice, and when thou hast once done, repent not. (Ecclus. 32:19, KJV)
One needs wisdom before one acts. One needs to find out from the Bible, holy books and writings, and from godly people what to do, before doing something significant.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. (Eph. 5:15, NKJV)
The cardinal virtue of justice is in Greek dikaiosune. This word is also translated righteousness. One becomes righteous by first being forgiven and then by practicing God's commandments. Sin is the absence of righteousness. Injustice is the absence of justice. Being fair with others and not abusing them or showing partiality is how justice is exhibited.
The cardinal virtue of courage is in Greek andria. This word is derived from the Greek word for man, aner or andros. To have courage means to be manly. God placed man at the top of his creation but a little lower than the angels. (Gen. 1:26; Heb. 2:7) To behave without fear, but to behave righteously is what andria means. Jesus said:
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (St. Matt. 10:28, NKJV)
St. John said:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (I John 4:18, NKJV)
Fear is the absence of courage. It is also the absence of love. Courage is, therefore, a characteristic of love.
Love is the mother of all virtues, as St. Jerome said. Practice love for God and love for others and you will practice all of the other virtues as well. (St. Matt. 22:37-40) However, the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 5:5) Love comes from God. Therefore, all the virtues, which are all derived from love, come from God, too. Jesus said:
Without Me you can do nothing. (St. John 15:5, NKJV)
We need to be united to Christ in order to do any spiritual good. This union with Jesus Christ occurs sacramentally. (Rom. 6:3-8; Gal. 3:27; St. John 6:56) So, the unregenerate person has a difficult time doing any spiritual good because he has not been united to Christ and is devoid of God's Spirit.
Pelagius, an ancient heretic, taught that it is possible for someone to keep all of God's commandments without having received any of the Sacraments in the Church. He falsely taught that the Sacraments are unimportant. He taught salvation without grace.
We still need God's grace. We still need the Sacraments. We are all spiritual cripples and need spiritual crutches in order to walk aright.
In conclusion, there are three Theological Virtues and four Cardinal Virtues. One cannot have any one of the three Theological Virtues without having the other two. Love is the mother of all virtues. Anyone who has love has the four Cardinal Virtues as well. We need to receive the Sacraments in the Church so that we can more easily keep God's commandments. Love is obedience to God. If we refuse to obey God, then we refuse to love Him. Sin is the absence of virtue.
Steve
Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
A faith that does not produce works done out of love is a dead faith. St. James said, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" (James 2:14, KJV) The answer to these questions is that such a man does not have a genuine faith, but a dead one. No, such a faith as this cannot save him. (James 2:17,26)
So, faith and faithfulness are always accompanied by the virtues of love and hope.
In the Wisdom of Solomon, love (Greek, agape) is defined as "the keeping of her laws," that is, the laws of Wisdom — an Old Testament name for the Second Person of the Godhead. (Wisdom 6:18; see also I Cor. 1:24.) St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, likewise, defined love as "the fulfilling of the Law." (Rom. 13:10) Love is obedience to God.
St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians describes love. He says:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. (I Cor. 13:4-8, NKJV)
From this text, we see that patience (makrothumia), kindness (chrestotes), humility, courteousness, unselfishness, purity of thought, joy in truth, faith (pistis), and hope (elpis) are characteristics of love (agape). Love "bears all thing" and "endures all things" because it is assured that God is in control and governs everything well. That is what Clement of Alexandria said.
Although visited with ignominy and exile, and confiscation, and above all, death, he will never be wrenched from his freedom, and signal love to God. “The charity which bears all things, endures all things” (I Cor. 13:7), is assured that Divine Providence orders all things well. (The Stromata, Book IV, chapter 7, by Clement of Alexandria, 153-217 A.D., vol. 2, p. 418, Ante-Nicene Fathers)
St. Jerome wrote:
Charity is the mother of all virtues, and the apostle’s words about faith hope and charity (I Cor. 13:13) are like that threefold cord which is not quickly broken. (Eccl. 4:12) We believe, we hope, and through our faith and hope we are joined together in the bond of charity. (Col. 3:14) (Letter LXXXII, by St. Jerome, 345-420 A.D., vol. 6, p. 175, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
Wherever there is love (agape), there will also be the other two theological virtues: faith (pistis) and hope (elpis). Faith and hope produce love. When the apostle says love "believes all things," he was not saying that we should believe anything at all whether it be true or false. Blessed Augustine explains this text this way:
Since faith, then, is in our power, inasmuch as every one believes when he likes, and, when he believes, believes voluntarily; our next inquiry, which we must conduct with care, is, What faith it is which the apostle commends with so much earnestness? For indiscriminate faith is not good. Accordingly we find this caution: “Brethren, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” (I John 4:1) Nor must the clause in commendation of love, that it “believeth all things” (I Cor. 13:7), be so understood as if we should detract from the love of any one, if he refuses to believe at once what he hears. For the same love admonishes us that we ought not readily to believe anything evil about a brother; and when anything of the kind is said of him, does it not judge it to be more suitable to its character not to believe? Lastly, the same love, “which believeth all things,” does not believe every spirit. Accordingly, charity believes all things no doubt, but it believes in God. Observe, it is not said, Believes in all things. It cannot therefore be doubted that the faith which is commended by the apostle is the faith whereby we believe in God. (Rom. 4:3) (On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter 55, by Blessed Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.), vol. 5, p. 107, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series)
When St. Paul said that love "hopes all things," he was saying that we should hope for the good things to come in the age to come and hope for the best for everyone. St. John Cassian wrote:
As then Christ is our head, we ought always in all temptations and persecutions to protect it with the hope of future good things to come, and especially to keep faith in Him whole and undefiled. (The Conferences, Part I, Conference VII: The First Conference of Abbot Serenus, chapter 5, by St. John Cassian, 360-436 A.D., vol. 11, p. 364, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series)
The sins of impatience, meanness, envy, pride, arrogance, disbelief, distrust, despair, selfishness, joy in sin, joy in falsehood and error, and lack of endurance in hardship and trials indicate the absence of love.
Hope consists of desire and expectation. When we hope for immortality, we desire to be resurrected with our bodies changed into immortal, youthful, healthy, incorruptible ones and we expect that that will actually happen one day if we continue to persevere on the path of salvation. When we hope to live in a renewed universe where there is no sin or evil, we desire it and we expect it to be ours one day. We look at the stars believing and knowing that we will one day be able to see other worlds that orbit those stars. Immortals have plenty of time to do many things.
Hope moves us on to obedience to God. Love, as we have already seen, is the keeping of God's commandments. So, hope produces love.
People who have their hearts set on temporal pleasures and sensual delights have a difficult time keeping God's commandments. To them, God's commandments are burdensome and an impediment to their experience of joy in iniquity. Sin is more pleasurable to them because they are short-sighted and unable to see beyond this life to the glorious joys of the next.
To those who have hope in better things to be revealed to them after Christ's Second Coming, God's commandments are not burdensome. They are the means to obtaining the likeness of God and becoming whole human beings. They are the means to acquiring eternal wealth and a joy that will last forever.
The Christian should remember that God is paying him to keep His commandments. Even though he will be an "unprofitable and unworthy servant" if he keeps them all (St. Luke 17:10), he will still receive his reward at the end of this present age.
The absence of the cardinal virtue of self-control (sophrosune) is lack of self-control. The person who lacks self-control is one who is incapable of saying no to oneself.
The absence of the cardinal virtue of prudence (phronusis) is imprudence. Such persons who lack this virtue do not think ahead. They do not consider what will be the outcome of their actions. In Proverbs, it says, "Do all things with counsel." (Prov. 26:3, LXX) In Ecclesiasticus, it says:
Do nothing without advice, and when thou hast once done, repent not. (Ecclus. 32:19, KJV)
One needs wisdom before one acts. One needs to find out from the Bible, holy books and writings, and from godly people what to do, before doing something significant.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. (Eph. 5:15, NKJV)
The cardinal virtue of justice is in Greek dikaiosune. This word is also translated righteousness. One becomes righteous by first being forgiven and then by practicing God's commandments. Sin is the absence of righteousness. Injustice is the absence of justice. Being fair with others and not abusing them or showing partiality is how justice is exhibited.
The cardinal virtue of courage is in Greek andria. This word is derived from the Greek word for man, aner or andros. To have courage means to be manly. God placed man at the top of his creation but a little lower than the angels. (Gen. 1:26; Heb. 2:7) To behave without fear, but to behave righteously is what andria means. Jesus said:
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (St. Matt. 10:28, NKJV)
St. John said:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (I John 4:18, NKJV)
Fear is the absence of courage. It is also the absence of love. Courage is, therefore, a characteristic of love.
Love is the mother of all virtues, as St. Jerome said. Practice love for God and love for others and you will practice all of the other virtues as well. (St. Matt. 22:37-40) However, the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 5:5) Love comes from God. Therefore, all the virtues, which are all derived from love, come from God, too. Jesus said:
Without Me you can do nothing. (St. John 15:5, NKJV)
We need to be united to Christ in order to do any spiritual good. This union with Jesus Christ occurs sacramentally. (Rom. 6:3-8; Gal. 3:27; St. John 6:56) So, the unregenerate person has a difficult time doing any spiritual good because he has not been united to Christ and is devoid of God's Spirit.
Pelagius, an ancient heretic, taught that it is possible for someone to keep all of God's commandments without having received any of the Sacraments in the Church. He falsely taught that the Sacraments are unimportant. He taught salvation without grace.
We still need God's grace. We still need the Sacraments. We are all spiritual cripples and need spiritual crutches in order to walk aright.
In conclusion, there are three Theological Virtues and four Cardinal Virtues. One cannot have any one of the three Theological Virtues without having the other two. Love is the mother of all virtues. Anyone who has love has the four Cardinal Virtues as well. We need to receive the Sacraments in the Church so that we can more easily keep God's commandments. Love is obedience to God. If we refuse to obey God, then we refuse to love Him. Sin is the absence of virtue.
Steve
Bibliography
Ante-Nicene Fathers, edited by Alexander Roberts, D.D. & James Donaldson, LL.D., volumes 1-10, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D. & Henry Wace, D.D., volumes 1-14, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Peabody, Massachusetts
