THE VIRTUOUS LIFE AND ITS PROBLEMS

I am glad to see a renewed interest in living the virtuous life. This is true not only of Western Buddhists but also of philosophers and psychologists. They all recognize that when we live in harmony with our moral nature, we derive a sense of well-being. And when we violate our moral nature, we reap confusion and discomfort.

The Bible also recognizes these facts:

·       Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:13-17)

However, the secular versions of the virtuous life leave out God. Therefore, they are only able to justify this life by virtue of its benefits. They are unable to say that virtue is good in itself because it comes from God. Consequently, when secularists perform virtue, they are doing it for selfish reasons and benefits, not because an act is virtuous in itself.

Therefore, I couldn’t help responding to a Stoic Meetup blog:

·       The virtuous life is oxymoronic if we are only living virtuously for self-centered pragmatic reasons (a cost/benefit analysis). Instead, virtue must find its meaning and basis with the Author of virtue and morality, if virtue is going to be virtuous and not another self-serving lifestyle.

An atheist responded that his ideal is the same as mine – virtue for “its own sake”:

·       Men recognize and value Virtue for its own sake, without reference to the supernatural. Lying is wrong because it harms society. It may be that the believer is moral for merely self-centered reasons, if he acts to avoid punishment in the hereafter. No?

Notice that this atheist endorses virtue because it doesn’t harm society. This is not a bad reason, but it is inadequate. It doesn’t provide an adequate rationale for virtue. It just leads to other unanswerable questions like, “Why should we be concerned about not harming society? Or “Why shouldn’t Darwin’s survival-of-the-fittest guide our lives?” Or “Isn’t the idea of virtue just something we made up? Why then bother with it?” However, these questions can only be adequately answered if there is a loving God who designed us to recognize His unchanging and universal moral truths. I therefore responded:

·       I too care about not harming society but why even bother with this moral intuition if it is just a product of a blind amoral impersonal process? Why not kill if that's what feels right or pleasurable?

Perhaps sensing the inadequacy of his response, the atheist put me on the defensive:

·       And who is the author? Zeus? Allah? Ahura Mazda? So many to chose from!

It seemed to me that his response acknowledged the superiority of the theistic position. Therefore, he shifted the discussion to an additional perplexity. He could have mentioned the names of many other gods. However, we shouldn’t be side-tracked by these many names. Instead, it’s a matter of the necessary character of God. Therefore, I responded:

·       Once you recognize that God is philosophically necessary, the difficulty of deciding among the gods can be resolved logically and evidentially.

Here’s what I meant. Whoever God is, He must have certain characteristics in order to account for this reality in which we live. He must be:

1.    IMMUTABLE:

2.    OMNISCIENT

3.    OMNIPOTENT

4.    OMNIPRESENT

5.    RIGHTEOUS (Just)

6.    MERCIFUL

7.    FORGIVING

8.    LOVING (self-sacrificing)

These characteristics eliminate all of the other gods except the God of the Bible. The first four characteristics are necessary to account for design, the fine-tuning of the universe, the unchanging and elegant laws of science which must underlie all learning, life…

The last four characteristics are necessary to account for our feelings of guilt, shame, the relief of forgiveness, objective moral laws on which virtue rests, meaning, purpose, love of justice, and love for just about anything else.

The virtuous life does have its benefits. It feels good to do good. However, God wants us to not only enjoy His gifts but to also enjoy Him. As a result, He has designed the moral order as a pointer to something greater.

While the virtuous life pays dividends, it will also make uncomfortable demands. It demands that we live up to the internal values that we have embraced. When we violate them, we feel guilty and bad about ourselves.

How then can we continue to be virtuous? Many cannot. After the optimism of youth passes and un-alleviated guilt and shame take hold, we tend to forget about the virtuous life. Others suppress their failures and convince themselves of their moral superiority – self-righteousness – instead of advancing to the next lesson.

There, we painfully face our need for the mercy and forgiveness of God. Without these, we are left with only two options – despair or pride.