Discernment, Part 6: The Seven Virtues as a Foundation for a New Order
Today, we live in a world that makes distinctions between private and public behavior. We have come to passively accept that we have a "right" to privacy and that what we do in private should not become a matter of public concern. Although this may be a useful heuristic distinction, it is artificial, and those who believe that this is a real distinction are mistaken. In fact, this is a very recent notion in our history, and one that would have been foreign to the classical and Christian thinkers that formed our western heritage and the American republic.
We tend to be satisfied with a good public image, believing that we can separate public competence from private virtue, and preferring competent rulers to virtuous ones. But giving work to persons of dubious characer or enabling incompetent good folks could be bad for the culture in the long term even if it is good for our short term felt needs. Such a state of affairs sets up a false dilemma. We actually cannot separate the private and the public in a truly virtuous society. We must place restraints on so-called "private" freedoms if we are to be truly free.
For example, in colonial Virginia, some of the first laws had to do with sexuality. Unlike we "sophisticated" postmoderns, the colonists viewed sexual behavior as public behavior that appeared in private. To them, sex was the most "public" thing one could do and was therefore something that a just state must care about. After all, sex produces future citizens, and, therefore, the state must intervene in self-defense. We, on the other hand, consider sex wholly private and preoccupy ourselves with financial affairs. Hence, business is highly regulated and sex is not regulated at all. This is because completely unregulated sexual behavior results in the high regulation of other activities. Why? Because if a government does not concern itself with the sexual mores of its citizens, it will deal with this lack of mores in business and political affairs as well. Character after dark finds its way into the light of the marketplace.A secular worldview does not produce babies, and if we cannot replace the population, the nation will die. Sexual liberation leads to demographic suicide and depopulation. In addition, as we have discussed above, too much freedom in private results in too much law in public. This inevitably leads to the final solution: a totalitarian state. The only healthy solution is a revival of evangelical Christianity and the consequent revival of the seven virtues. Four of these have been historically called the classical, civic, or secular virtues and consist of courage, practical wisdom, moderation, and justice. Three of these have been historically named the Christian virtues which are faith, hope, and charity. In truth, they are all Christian in origin, but the first four are available through natural law to the unbelieving public and are the basis of the classical liberal arts education that once formed the foundation of civil society. In our next two posts, we will consider first the importance of the four classical virtues in a free society, and then, the importance of the three classical Christian virtues in a free society.
My thanks to Dr. John Mark Reynolds at Biola University whose lectures in the summer of 2006 had a substantial influence on the content of this essay.
Blessings,
Arnie Gentile
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Categories: Cultural Apologetics
Tags: virtue ethics Christianity faith and reason secularism sexuality Christian apologetics morality
Very nice point about how culture wrongfully separates public image and private virture. With appreciation,
Pastor Adam Barton, Akron, Ohio
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Thanks for your comment, Pastor Barton.
Blessings,
Arnie Gentle
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As usual, you have done a beautiful job. You must've put a lot of study into this. Do you have a theological degree?
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Thanks, Miriam. I have two undergrad degrees, one in Education and the oher in Bible and Pastoral Theology, and I have an M.A. in Christian Apologetics from Biola University.
Blessings,
Arnie
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