💭 Personal Reflection

At fourteen years old, I joined a catholic school.

That’s when I first discovered theology, the study of God and religious belief.

I remember being very interested in these ideas, but more specifically, morality.

After all, I was trying to understand how and why we have to behave in a certain way.

Would I get in trouble if I didn’t? And if so, with who? My parents? My teachers? God?

These are normal questions to complicated topics.

“Human beings all over the earth have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way...”

I decided to read this book because I’m still interested in learning more about morality and whether or not there is a right way of living.

After reading this book, I learned that to understand morality, we need to discuss three main topics.

• 1) Humans and the moral law of what is right and wrong.

• 2) Societies and the ideal relationship humans must have with each other.

• 3) The purpose of human life and its creation.

1) Most people agree with the moral rules of right or wrong.

“This is why it was previously called the natural law, as it was thought that everyone knew it by nature and did not need to be taught.“

2)Disagreements begin with the second topic, as people differ in their opinions of what an ideal society should be.

A big example of this is picking the right values to follow, such as Christian values or any other religion or life philosophy.

Topics include family, marriage, sex, education, and the roles of men and women in society, among others.

You can see why such disagreements begin here.

3) And finally, the general purpose of human life.

“It is in dealing with this question that Christians' and non-Christians' identities emerge… [It] involves a series of statements, which must be either true or false.”

Here, one must wrestle with the idea of a creator of life and the general purpose for human beings.

This book assumes a Christian viewpoint.

But whether you are Christian or not, I believe there is something to learn from people who have committed to living a Christian life.

The main takeaway I got from this book is that there are seven moral virtues which we can all learn and apply to our lives.

Four of them are called “cardinal” virtues.

They are called “cardinal” because the term comes from the Latin cardo (hinge), and all other virtues fall under and hinge upon them.

Just like the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west), and those virtues are…

1. Prudence: Meaning practical common sense.

2. Temperance: Going the right length and no further.

3. Justice: An old name for what we now call fairness. Includes honesty and truthfulness.

4. Fortitude: The steadiness of will to do good despite obstacles in the performance of our daily duty, also known as courage.

Ryan Holiday’s new books introduced me to these four virtues, whereas this book introduced me to the “theological” ones.

1. Faith: the art of believing and trusting in the process of transformation.

   In the religious sense, this means " accepting as true the doctrines of Christianity” and trusting in the advice of Jesus or God.

2. Hope: this means continually looking forward.

   In a religious sense, it means “the Christian hope of heaven.”

3. Charity: Meaning love. It is not an emotion but rather a state—a state of the will—of sincerely wishing good not only to others but also to yourself.

   In a religious sense, it means the highest form of love, which is signified by God's love.

Overall, this was an okay book to read if you are interested in topics such as Christianity, religion and moral virtues. It’s a bit slow in the beginning, and it starts to get interesting in the last two sections.

“This book begs to be seen in its historical context as a bold act of storytelling and healing in a world gone mad.”

Its contents originally came from a radio talk after the aerial bombing attacks on British towns in 1940.

“This book, then, does not consist of academic philosophical musing. Rather, it is a work of oral literature addressed to people at war…

Hope this helps; until next week.

-Agustin

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