Yelling "Virtue" at the top of your lungs today may be the equivalent of uttering a swearword judgment over the innocent heads of those who choose to interpret that word differently. But even among Christians, who frequently use the word "virtue", all eyes will turn toward the women in the church and detailed instructions will be pushed their way. The Bible is often cited or referenced--and who can argue with God, one might wonder? The word "virtue" has been thrashed about in history, literature, sermons, art, architecture, and yes, even science, as a necessary female quality that only the best and most worthy women can possess. In today’s context of feminism, free speech, and subjective truth, the word "virtue" appears on the surface to be archaic and patriarchal, but you may want to consider another perspective using the evidence provided by none other than the Bible itself.

First, let us first define the word. In one dictionary, the word is defined as "unspoken and un-compromised excellence…as in good morality". Since morality today is so subjective, let us also at this point define the word "morality". The same dictionary defines morality as "the diligent practice of an inner belief system." At this point, one might argue that since everyone has their own personal inner belief system, virtue is a term that tells only whether the person diligently practices whatever his or her inner belief system is. Not so fast—remember that virtue is defined with the assumption of good morality. In examining the words "good morality", there are only two interpretations. Good morality may mean either that the inner belief system (despite being injurious or flawed) is diligently practiced—practiced "good", if you will-- or that the inner belief system is in-and-of-itself good (beneficial or wholesome) regardless of how well it is practiced. Under the first interpretation of good morality, even a thief has good morals if he truly believes he right in stealing. However, when considering virtue in terms of good morality, virtue implies the second interpretation—that a person’s inner belief system itself must be good and should be practiced excellently.

The Bible does not ignore this distinction, but addresses it thoroughly by separating those who diligently practice an injurious/flawed inner belief system from those who ought to practice what is beneficial/wholesome. The Bible separates these two categories by renaming them "the world" and "believers". In reading 1 John chapter 2, for example, the world "wants sinful things to please [their] bodies, wanting the things [they] see, and being too proud of the things [they] already have" which will "soon pass away." Although it doesn’t specify, we may assume that such worldly inner beliefs may pass away from a person by whim, experience, choice, death, change, or trial. In the same chapter, believers are those in whom "God’s message lives…and [they] have conquered the evil one" which may refer to either the devil, the nature of a person, or to those who don’t believe yet—the world. These believers are instructed: "be sure to continue to follow the teaching which you heard from the beginning." In other words, as you find throughout the whole chapter, believers must believe in their heart God’s message (the Gospel; literally, the good word) and diligently practice it. Good morality according to the Bible is God’s good word received in a human heart that must be diligently practiced in order to overcome evil (also read Romans 12:21). Unspoken and un-compromised excellence in terms of such well-defined good morality leads us directly into how the term "virtue" is used in the Bible.

(Come back to read part 2)