Growing Virtue

As a Duke grad, it's not surprising that I have a strong interest in virtue. The way we order our lives as the Body of Christ is inextricable from the presence of and the development of a virtuos people. I say it's not surprising that I have a special interest in how virtuous persons are formed because I continue to be profoundly influenced by Duke theologian Stanley Hauerwas, who made his initial mark in the field of virtue ethics.

I mention this by way of explaining why I am excited about the work of philosopher Linda Zagszebski, whose Divine Motivation Theory makes important connections between what genetic psychologists are learning about how emotions are formed in the human brain and the formation of virtuous persons. Virtue seems to be grounded in our emotions. Emotions are trainable, and virtuous persons have characteristic emotions in response to the stimuli of life which motivate virtuous actions. Our emotions are shaped by mental mappings that are themselves shaped by the narrative that constitutes our identity.

I am just beginning to reflect on what this means for the Church in our own understanding of how participation in a Scripture shaped common life contributes to virtue. It seems clear that liturgy plays an important role in the transformation of our lives through the renewal of our minds. This is not a surprise. What's promising is that we may be discovering a bit more about how this actually happens in the brain. If I am correct, this will reinforce certain soteriologies and challenge the credibility of others, and also drive us to rediscover classical liturgical practices such as daily immersion in Scripture and celebration of exemplars of the Christian life as essential to our development of virtue.