Integrity – The Virtue of Virtues 315
Forgiving each other 32The old life (Eph 5:1-21)
Immorality 3, 5
Impurity, Envy 3,5
Rude, stupid, dirty speeches 4
Stinginess (idolatry) 5
Darkness 8
Working in darkness 11
Behaving like ignorants 15
Not believing in listening to
God 17
Drunkenness 18
The new life (Eph 5:1-21)
Live as children of light 8
all goodness, righteousness, and truth
8
Have nothing to do with darkness,
but be transparent 11
Be very careful, how you live, not as
unwise but as wise 16
Do not be foolish, but understand
what the Lord’s will is 17
Do not get drunk on wine 18
Be filled with the Spirit 18The ten virtues (Gal 5:22)
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, good-
ness, faithfulness 22
In the History of Christianity, Thomas Aquino had the greatest influ-
ence on the theology of virtues for centuries. Reformers had replaced
virtue-based orientation by an action based solely on faith as redemp-
tion. Loving one’s neighbour is a result of faith and not an orientation of
one’s nature towards Goodness.
Modern thinking has long refused to acknowledge virtues, until its
revival after World War II and during the second half of the 20th Centu-
ry. Joseph Pieper (1939), Elisabeth Anscombe (1958), Alasdair Mac-
Intyre (1981), Charles Taylor (1985, 1998) and Martha Nussbaum
(1986) were contemporary philosophers and theologians who have rein-
stated postmodern virtues. I myself have stressed the importance of vir-
tues in protestant theology in many of my books and articles.^234
234
E.g. Stückelberger Christoph, Umwelt und Entwicklung. Eine sozialethische
Orientierung, Stuttgart 1997, 68-69; 239-338.