Written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, a Christian governor, who died around 410 A.D., it entails the battle between good virtues and evil vices.
Seven heavenly virtuesĪ list of the seven heavenly virtues – to oppose the seven deadly sins – appeared later, in an epic poem entitled Psychomachia, or Battle/Contest of the Soul. But Stalker, in his book The Seven Cardinal Virtues, says, “It is of distinct advantage to be reminded that the Christian character has a natural foundation… but certainly the latter are cardinal also–that is, hinge virtues and it is convenient to have a single adjective for designating the whole seven”. After the New Testament was written, these four virtues became known as the cardinal virtues, while faith, hope and charity were referred to as the theological virtues. The first virtues were identified by the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, who regarded temperance, wisdom, justice, and courage as the four most desirable character traits.
These were adopted by the Church Fathers as the Seven Virtues. Paul of Tarsus, are faith, hope, and charity (or love). The three theological virtues, from the letters of St. The four cardinal virtues, from ancient Greek philosophy, are prudence, justice, temperance (or restraint), and courage (or fortitude). In the Catholic catechism, the seven Christian virtues refers to the union of two sets of virtues.
