The notion of virtue being its own branch of philosophy is a concept which predates Christianity by at least four centuries. Expounded upon almost simultaneously in Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the field of moral philosophy began as a study of the four cardinal virtues: Prudence, alternatively known as Wisdom; Justice; Courage; and Temperance. In classical philosophy, the theoretical “ideal man” was an exemplar of all four of these virtues.

The same four cardinal virtues appear again in the Old Testament, appropriately in the Book of Wisdom, written about 150 years after the death of Plato and Aristotle. Cicero would cite them again in his De Officiis, penned in about 100 BC, and Seneca would discuss them once more in his Consolations, published just a handful of years after Christ’s death and resurrection. Saint Ambrose, writing in the fourth century, addressed the cardinal virtues in his Commentary on Luke. Across eras and cultures, the four cardinal virtues served as a staple of moral philosophy for centuries.

However, it wasn’t until Saint Augustine began his career in the fifth century that the concept of a distinct, Christian understanding of these virtues began to take shape. Augustine was writing during an inflection point in the history of the faith; Christianity had just been made the state religion of the Roman Empire a few decades prior, and while its growth since then had been exponential there were still many people who cleaved to the old ways. Even among professed Christians, beliefs varied widely; some believed that Christ was simply one more god to add to the existing pantheon, while others believed that, while the Christian God retained primacy, the other gods of the Greek and Roman pantheons could be successfully syncretized with the faith. Many of the heresies Augustine had to combat seem, to modern ears, like silly foregone conclusions. Of course we believe Jesus is divine, we might scoff. Of course we have free will; of course all demons are evil; of course we shouldn’t sacrifice a bull to Jupiter during Mass. Don’t be ridiculous! But in the 400s, old pagan notions of religion and morality were still culturally dominant, and Christianity – still emerging and asserting its own identity – needed to address them.

In their desire to excise pagan theology from Christianity, many early doctors of the Church summarily dismissed all ideas which happened to come from the pagan mind. What insight could Aristotle or Socrates have on being a good person, if they had never been Christian? Saint Augustine argued, eventually with success, that this actually limited the Christian faith; after all, such blinkered examination of pre-Christian philosophy reduces the entire faith to simply being a good person; in short, it meant the faith began and ended at that age-old notion of virtue, itself a very “pagan” concept as it stems from the Greeks. Despite Saint Augustine’s headway on the subject, it wasn’t until the thirteenth century that Saint Thomas Aquinas would reconcile these conflicting philosophies through the development of the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.

While the cardinal virtues could be attained through human merit and habit, Aquinas argued, the theological virtues were particular graces from God, each designed specifically to lead souls back to Him. As such, an individual’s actions cannot cultivate them, but rather, they are infused – granted as a special grace by the Holy Spirit to allow a soul to experience a fuller relationship with God. However, much like the cardinal virtues the theological virtues, once instilled, are maintained through their consistent application and practice.

The clear parallel we can draw today is to the relationship between faith and works; the Church clearly teaches that faith alone saves a soul, although works act as important indicators of the state of a person’s faith, and by extension their soul. Again, this is a concept we take for granted today; but in Saint Augustine’s time, the relationship between deity and man was still largely informed by pagan thought, which indicates that humans can gain the favor of the gods through meritorious works. I can become worthy of the favor of Apollo by gaining knowledge; Jupiter, by being a capable leader; Mars, by crushing my enemies in battle. The notion that human works can somehow earn grace and favor was an ancient concept, and it bled over significantly into Christian thought. One of the oldest and most pervasive heresies, Pelagianism, perpetuates this belief, propagating the idea that humans can gain salvation solely through their own works and deeds, entirely separate from faith.

By establishing a clear distinction between the cardinal and theological virtues, Aquinas more clearly defined humanity’s relationship with Christ, how humans could better understand and cultivate it, and how it differed from the old pagan forms of worship. In essence, this examination of moral philosophy defined how Christians should live their lives day to day, down through the ages to our own time. More than just being pithy aphorisms on how to be a decent person, the theological virtues – in tandem with the cardinal – inform our relationship with the Savior, and His with us, and how we can use virtue in our efforts to grow closer to Him.