In this day and age, in these troubled times, we see clearly religions which teach and promote virtues and those which do not. I use Thomas Aquinas here.
Here is a reminder of what the virtues actually are: virtues are good use of free will.
"When we say that virtue is the order or ordering of love, we refer to the end to which virtue is ordered: because in us love is set in order by virtue"
Now, read this again from Aquinas.
Virtue, from the very nature of the word, implies some perfection of power, as we have said above (Article 1). Wherefore, since power [The one Latin word 'potentia' is rendered 'potentiality' in the first case, and 'power' in the second] is of two kinds, namely, power in reference to being, and power in reference to act; the perfection of each of these is called virtue. But power in reference to being is on the part of matter, which is potential being, whereas power in reference to act, is on the part of the form, which is the principle of action, since everything acts in so far as it is in act.
Now man is so constituted that the body holds the place of matter, the soul that of form. The body, indeed, man has in common with other animals; and the same is to be said of the forces which are common to the soul and body: and only those forces which are proper to the soul, namely, the rational forces, belong to man alone. And therefore, human virtue, of which we are speaking now, cannot belong to the body, but belongs only to that which is proper to the soul. Wherefore human virtue does not imply reference to being, but rather to act. Consequently it is essential to human virtue to be an operative habit.
Reply to Objection 1. Mode of action follows on the disposition of the agent: for such as a thing is, such is its act. And therefore, since virtue is the principle of some kind of operation, there must needs pre-exist in the operator in respect of virtue some corresponding disposition. Now virtue causes an ordered operation. Therefore virtue itself is an ordered disposition of the soul, in so far as, to wit, the powers of the soul are in some way ordered to one another, and to that which is outside. Hence virtue, inasmuch as it is a suitable disposition of the soul, is like health and beauty, which are suitable dispositions of the body. But this does not hinder virtue from being a principle of operation.
Reply to Objection 2. Virtue which is referred to being is not proper to man; but only that virtue which is referred to works of reason, which are proper to man.
Reply to Objection 3. As God's substance is His act, the highest likeness of man to God is in respect of some operation. Wherefore, as we have said above (Question 3, Article 2), happiness or bliss by which man is made most perfectly conformed to God, and which is the end of human life, consists in an operation.
The fact that virtues are habits means these can be trained, as I have noted in my long series from last summer on virtue training.
A virtue, as Aquinas notes in the above passage, "is an ordered disposition of the soul, in so far as, to wit, the powers of the soul are in some way ordered to one another, and to that which is outside."
Action follows disposition. Without virtue active in the soul, action cannot be "good" or even "neutral". And reason is needed for the practice of virtues.
We daily choose what we think is the good, the true, the beautiful, but these choices are rooted in our disposition. If our minds, souls, hearts are conformed to God, then we shall exhibit virtue.
So, when people compare religions, one question they may ask is this, "Which religion leads to the formation of a correct disposition which will choose the good, the good which involves love of self, love of neighbor, as coming from love of God?"
To be continued...
