When considering the Heavenly virtues, it is important to first understand what virtues are and their role in humanity. A virtue is defined as behavior showing high moral standards. Virtues are qualities that make a person admirable. The concept of virtues originates in ancient Greek philosophy and was later incorporated into Christian theology. Theologians have identified seven Heavenly virtues, also known as the theological virtues or sacred virtues. These are faith, hope, charity (love), fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance. Each of these virtues is considered to play an important role in living a virtuous and meaningful life. However, identifying the strongest amongst them invites debate and discussion.
What are the Heavenly Virtues?
The seven Heavenly virtues are:
Faith
Faith is complete trust and confidence in God. It signifies believing in God even when there is no tangible proof. Faith gives meaning to things that are intangible and not visually evident. It empowers people to overcome hardships and challenges. Faith is considered a theological virtue as it relates directly to God.
Hope
Hope is closely tied to faith. It is the belief that God will fulfill His promises and bring salvation. Hope inspires optimism, uplifts the downtrodden, and provides comfort during trying times. It too is a theological virtue.
Charity
Charity, also known as love, is considered the greatest of the three theological virtues. It refers to selfless, unconditional love. Charity means expressing love through compassion, empathy, kindness, and generosity.
Fortitude
Fortitude empowers people to confront hardships and adversity with courage rather than retreat. It helps overcome fear, anxiety, and discouragement. Fortitude allows people to act with wisdom and perseverance for the higher good rather than seek comfort and convenience.
Justice
Justice is the virtue of being fair and reasonable. It implies judging rightly, without bias or prejudice. Justice is associated with truthfulness and integrity. It necessitates upholding moral and legal principles.
Temperance
Temperance brings moderation and self-restraint against extreme behavior and indulgence. It promotes prudence, humility, and discipline. Temperance allows people to exercise wisdom in meeting natural human desires.
Prudence
Prudence is the ability to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time. It implies having discernment, discretion, and the ability to govern and discipline oneself. Prudence empowers people to differentiate what is good and right from what is not.
How do the Heavenly Virtues relate to each other?
The seven Heavenly virtues complement each other in guiding humanity towards righteousness. Faith, hope, and charity are considered theological virtues that connect humanity directly to God. Fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance are known as cardinal virtues. They govern human interactions and community.
Faith and hope are interconnected. Faith provides the foundation for hope and believing that God is benevolent, merciful, and will deliver on His promises. Hope fuels faith and inspires optimism despite challenges.
Charity is linked to faith and hope in loving and trusting God. It also unites all the other virtues by spreading God’s unconditional love. Fortitude, justice, prudence, and temperance put charity into action through courage, fairness, wisdom, and self-restraint.
Prudence informs justice by enabling thoughtful judgments between right and wrong. Temperance helps support fortitude by promoting control over destructive emotions that might hinder perseverance. Justice brings fairness to temperance by preventing extremes like greed or deprivation. Fortitude empowers people to act justly and temperately despite adversity.
The interplay between the theological and cardinal virtues creates a framework for human flourishing, relationships, society and connection to the divine. They complement each other in nurturing individual growth and communities built on moral principles.
What does the Bible say about the Heavenly Virtues?
The Bible discusses virtues like faith, hope, love, courage, justice, wisdom, moderation, and righteousness extensively across both the Old and New Testaments. While it does not directly list the seven Heavenly virtues together, it does highlight their importance individually.
Some relevant Biblical passages about virtues include:
Faith
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hope
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Charity
1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Fortitude
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Justice
Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”
Temperance
Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
Prudence
Proverbs 2:10-11 “For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.”
These and other Biblical passages emphasize the importance of cultivating virtue to live according to God’s will.
Which Heavenly Virtue is considered the strongest and why?
There are differing views on which of the seven Heavenly virtues is most powerful or important. Each virtue plays a significant role in developing Christian character and has its own merits. However, an examination of Scripture and theology reveals the reasons why theologians emphasize Charity (Love) as the greatest and strongest virtue:
Charity is eternal
Charity never ends and is the only virtue to persist forever according to 1 Corinthians 13:13 – “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Faith and hope cease when we are with God in the afterlife, but love endures eternally.
Charity is indispensable
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 explains that without charity, other virtues and actions are meaningless – “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
Charity unifies and brings life
The Bible emphasizes that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love originates from and unites us to God, who is the source of truth and life. Charity binds people together in harmony. It is the fundamental virtue that gives life and meaning to all others.
Charity fulfills God’s will
Charity is the greatest commandment according to Jesus in Matthew 22:36-40 – “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” The virtue that fulfills both these commandments is charity.
Charity reflects God’s nature
Since God is love, charity is the virtue that most aligns human nature with the divine. Bible verses like 1 John 4:16 explain “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” Charity allows people to reflect the unconditional, generous agape love of God.
Charity brings joy and peace
Charity blesses people with the fruits of the Spirit like joy, peace, patience, kindness according to Galatians 5:22. It improves human relationships and wellbeing. Charity is an empowering virtue that uplifts both givers and receivers.
In summary, the theological arguments and Biblical evidence point to charity or love as the greatest of the seven Heavenly virtues. Its eternal nature, essentialness, unifying power, alignment with God’s will, reflection of divine nature, and life-giving properties make it the strongest and most important virtue. Love is patient, kind, protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Of all the virtues, charity most powerfully leads to human flourishing on earth and in the afterlife.
Conclusion
The seven Heavenly virtues provide a moral framework for human life and interaction with the divine. Identifying the strongest amongst them necessitates analyzing their theological significance and presence in Biblical teachings. Though faith, hope, fortitude, justice, prudence and temperance have merits, charity or love rises above the others in importance and power. Charity alone endures forever, is absolutely essential, encapsulates God’s nature and will, unifies humanity, and blesses people abundantly. The Biblical emphasis on loving God and loving one another positions charity as the greatest virtue that brings meaning and fullness to all other virtues. Cultivating love leads to improved relationships with the self, others, and God. Of the cardinal and theological virtues, charity stands supreme in Christian theology as the strongest Heavenly virtue.