Chapter V

Is Religion One of the Theological Virtues?

Religion is considered a part of Justice, and this is a moral virtue.

Religion is the virtue whereby we offer to God His due honour. Two things have therefore to be considered in religion. First we have to consider what religion offers God, namely, worship: this may be regarded as the material and the object with which religion is concerned. Secondly, we have to consider Him to Whom it is offered, namely, God Himself. Now, when worship is offered to God it is not as though our worshipful acts touched God, though this is the case when we believe God, for by believing in God we touch Him (and we have therefore said elsewhere[57] that God is the object of our faith not simply inasmuch as we believe in God, but inasmuch as we believe God). Due worship, however, is offered to God in that certain acts whereby we worship Him are performed as homage to Him, the offering sacrifice, for instance, and so forth. From all which it is evident that God does not stand to the virtue of religion as its object or as the material with which it is concerned, but as its goal. And consequently religion is not a theological virtue, for the object of these latter is the ultimate end; but religion is a moral virtue, and the moral virtues are concerned with the means to the end.

But some regard religion as a theological virtue, thus:

1. S. Augustine says[58]: "God is worshipped by faith, hope, and charity," and these are theological virtues. But to offer worship to God comes under religion. Therefore religion is a theological virtue.

But it is always the case that a faculty or a virtue whose
object is a certain end, controls--by commanding--those
faculties or virtues which have to do with those things which
are means to that end. But the theological virtues--_i.e._,
faith, hope, and charity--are directly concerned with God as
their proper object. And hence they are the cause--by commanding
it--of the act of the virtue of religion which does certain
things having relation to God. It is in this sense that S.
Augustine says that "God is worshipped by faith, hope, and
charity."

2. Those are called theological virtues which have God for their object. But religion has God for its object, for it directs us to God alone. Therefore it is a theological virtue.

But religion directs man to God, not indeed as towards its
object, but as towards its goal.

3. Lastly, every virtue is either theological or intellectual or moral. But religion is not an intellectual virtue, for its perfection does not consist in the consideration of the truth. Neither is it a moral virtue, for the property of the moral virtues is to steer a middle course betwixt what is superfluous and what is below the requisite; whereas no one can worship God to excess, according to the words of Ecclesiasticus[59]: _For He is above all praise._ Religion, then, can only be a theological virtue.

But religion is neither an intellectual nor a theological
virtue, but a moral virtue, for it is part of justice. And the
_via media_ in religion lies, not between the passions, but in a
certain harmony which it establishes in the acts which are
directed towards God. I say "a certain," not an absolute
harmony, for we can never show to God all the worship that is
His due; I mean, then, the harmony arising from the
consideration of our human powers and of the Divine acceptance
of what we offer. Moreover, there can be excess in those things
which have to do with the Divine worship; not indeed as regards
quantity, but in certain other circumstances, as, for example,
when Divine worship is offered to whom it should not, or at
times when it should not, or in other unfitting circumstances.