To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel.
Lately, it seems that every Christian intellectual is talking about the virtues. As a Christian book reviewer, I have been reading one treatment of the virtues after another, wondering all the while whether this is the hot subject of the hour or I simply gravitate toward books on this subject.
Every one of these authors is living in the shadow of the late philosopher Alisdair MacIntyre’s provocatively titled volume After Virtue, which posited that modern Western society no longer operates by a concept of civic or theological virtue, but in the absence of a common morality, has resorted to constant emotional appeals. As Alan Noble explains in his new book on the virtues, To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving through Chaotic Times, “We determine morality based on what feels right or what our preferences are. This, in a culture that exists After Virtue…is what we have left. The book you are reading is a call back to virtue, and therefore away from emotivism, away from purely internal and exclusively subjective means of making moral judgments.” (44)
Having read so many volumes calling us “back to virtue,” my immediate questions upon opening To Live Well were, “What makes this treatment of the virtues unique?”, and more importantly, “What does the author see as the role of virtue in the Christian life? What is virtue’s purpose, and by what power do we acquire it?” I can happily report that the answer to many of these questions is gospel, gospel, and more gospel.
Noble defines the virtues as “cultivated habits that align us with who God created us to be.” (7) They are not about becoming good citizens, as Aristotle argued, nor are they about the pursuit of final justification before God, as many Christian thinkers have posited. Rather, Noble argues that, “We pursue these habits, not to become righteous before God, but because we have Christ’s imputed righteousness and are adopted children of God.” (7) We can live virtuously by the power of the Holy Spirit in union with Christ. For while “our ultimate sanctification, including in the virtues, will be brought about by Christ,” (8) it is nevertheless our duty in this life to live faithfully for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor.
To live virtuously is not only to live in line with truth, goodness, and beauty, but also to live in accordance with our ultimate purpose as devised by our Creator. “The cosmos has an order, defined by God, and the virtues help orient us toward that order. They give us true hope in a time of despair and false hope. And they teach us to love when the word ‘love’ has all but lost its meaning.” (168) Much of the problem with modern society is that “it denies that we have a telos” and thus “we are anxiously striving to do the right thing but never sure what the right thing is.” (7) Here the historical riches of Christian virtue ethics can help us.
Throughout the book, Noble draws heavily on the work of philosopher Josef Pieper, but he disagrees with Pieper about the role the human will plays in the development of virtue.
“As a Catholic thinker, Pieper emphasizes free will and volition. In keeping with the Reformed tradition, I believe the Scriptures teach that we don’t desire the good without the work of the God calling us to Christ (John 6:44). But despite our theological differences, the experiential reality of turning our wills toward God remains the same: we come to faith in Christ because the Holy Spirit draws us to desire the good and gives us faith.” (109-10)
With this grace-based understanding, Noble moves through each of the traditional virtues—justice, fortitude, temperance, prudence, faith, hope, and love—and considers both how they align with Scripture and how they might be applied in today’s world. The pursuit of the good may lead us in different directions depending on our individual circumstances, “But we do know the contours of the good. We know that it always necessarily culminates in a vision of and union with Christ, and that this good is achieved by grace through faith.” (149)
The theological virtues of faith, hope, and love are singled out by the Apostle Paul: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13) Noble explains that love is the foundational virtue that must be joined to all the others for them to be truly God honoring. “Love unites all the virtues in one goal: the glorification of God. As we practice love, we cultivate the other virtues as well so that over time the truly just person is the person who loves. The truly temperate person is the person who loves.” (166)
Noble argues the cultivation of virtue is one and the same with our sanctification, an argument that falls in line with the theology of the Reformed tradition, in particular. He explains that while we should strive to “achieve human excellence” and live in line with “God’s creational design,” it is also true that “we will never attain that excellence in this life. We will never love fully, completely, genuinely until our final glorification when Christ sanctifies us.” (166) Once again, it is Christ who works in us through the power of the Holy Spirit to mold us into his virtuous image.
Noble rightly points out that, “Each of the virtues is dependent on community for its cultivation,” and while governments may not be properly equipped to instill these values as Aristotle envisioned for the city-state, Christians have “a built-in community in which to practice them: the local church.” (170) In this context, we can grow in virtue together, with one generation teaching another and all of us drawing upon the strength of our mutual bond in Christ.
To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel. “No matter how virtuous you are, you need God’s mercy. You need to rest in God’s mercy,” Noble writes. “When you lie down at night, the hope that gives you peace to sleep is not your virtuous works, but God’s loving grace to you. You can sleep the sleep of the righteous because you are righteous before God.” (176)
Noble’s latest Christian meditation on life in the modern world is a fine addition to his growing collection. The book is easy to read and should appeal to Christians of all varieties, but especially those from Reformation traditions, even if Lutherans may reach slightly different conclusions on the role virtue plays within sanctification. While it is not aimed at a specific age group, it might be especially helpful for young adults attempting to make important decisions in a rapidly changing world. If you, unlike me, read only one book on the virtues, this would be an excellent choice.
