What is virtue and what are the theological and cardinal virtues? Virtues are gifts from God that le

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." — Luke 6:43-45 (NIV)

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St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians captured the idea of virtue and the living of a virtuous life: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (4:8). With this in mind, a virtue is a habit or firm disposition which inclines a person to do good and avoid evil. Likewise, a virtuous person not only strives to be a good person but also seeks what is good and chooses to act in a good way.

The three most important virtues:

• love

• hope, and

• faith

are called theological virtues because they come from God and lead to God. The cardinal virtues:

• prudence

• temperance

• courage, and

• justice

are human virtues, acquired by education and good actions. Early Christian Church theologians adopted these four primary moral virtues and considered them to be equally important to all people, whether they were Christian or not.

The Bible certainly promotes the development of an excellent, virtuous character. We have the example of Noah, “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time” (Genesis 6:9). Job 1:1 describes Job as “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” And Luke 1:6 says Zacharias and Elizabeth were “righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.” But the Bible also teaches that no one is perfect. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And we cannot rely on ourselves to act properly, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).

The entire book of Proverbs is dedicated to discerning how or why to act virtuously and encouraging practical virtue, excellence of character, in others. Proverbs 8:11 says, “For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” However, wisdom is not something we can develop on our own. Wisdom is a gift from the Lord (Proverbs 2:6) and actually begins with reverence for the Lord (1:7).

Secular theories of ethics place a great amount of importance on happiness. Not giddy joy, but well-being and a fulfilled life. The pursuit of happiness implies that the good life is necessary for a virtuous character. The Bible says otherwise. Romans 5:3–5 says, “We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” In other words, trials develop virtue. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33), and maybe that’s a good thing, if the hard times are what God uses to build our character. We can never be completely virtuous, and we cannot develop a virtuous character on our own (Hebrews 10:10). But virtue ethics is not far off when it says ethical behavior flows from a virtuous character.

As Luke 6:43–45 says,

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.