Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
A Man of Easier Virtue (Summer in the Republic 10)

A Man of Easier Virtue (Summer in the Republic 10)

Last updated on: June 14, 2018 at 10:14 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

A Man of Easier Virtue (Summer in the Republic 10) 2018-06-14T10:14:51-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Satan cannot produce blessings and so his ancient trick is to make blessings a snare.

Wealth, as the Old Testament demonstrates, is a natural result of following God’s laws. In a broken world, this does not always happens, but it generally does.

If Biblical authority is not enough, try classical. Socrates and his friend in Republic suggest:

The best thing about being rich is that it makes virtue easier to obtain. The worst thing about being rich is that wealth makes virtue appear less valuable.

The poor man who is undercharged at the grocery store has a greater temptation to keep the money than the rich man. Virtue is its own reward, but for a rich man the start up costs of Virtue Inc. are lower.

The rich person can do the right thing more easily. Generally a good and just society will reward good behavior and punish bad, even unjust societies could not function at all if they did not do this to some extent. As a result, people tend to do well by doing good.

The blessings of a goodly inheritance extend to the very end of life.

Rich and poor, we all will do one thing: die. The rich are privileged even in death! How? As death approaches, a person’s thoughts turn to what is next. If a person generally has done the right thing he can hope for mercy, but if he has blown it badly, then he is troubled in his heart. One advantage of wealth is that it is easier to make restitution!

Yet having gained the advantages of a good parent, the headstart of a good inheritance, and residence in a republic, the young heart might confuse these thing with good he has done. This is delusion, but one that can allow the heir of a great republic, of wealth, or privilege to use his inheritance for vice as if he possesses himself some natural goodness to counteract the errors.

An old man, Cephalus, tells Socrates in Republic:

But the man with a clear conscience will have Pindar’s “sweet hope” as the constant companion of his age. Pindar’s lines are really a beautiful celebration of the old man who has lived justly and reverently:

Hope, the mainstay of our mortal purposes, warms his heart and shares his journey into age, his companion and his tender nurse. This is a fine-indeed, a wondrous-saying.

This is the reward of virtue, and the chief value of wealth is to strengthen virtue-if not in every man, then in the good man. Money makes it easier for a man to shun cheating and fraud. Money enables him to pay his debts, so that he need not fear the next world because of what he owes to gods or men in this one. Money obviously has other uses, too. All in all, however, I believe that wealth’s chief service to the reasonable man is what I have just described:

Wealth does not equal virtue, but is a tool that can further a good man’s quest for courage, temperance, practical wisdom, justice, faith, hope, and love. When our forefathers and mothers leave us a good inheritance, we are given the gift of time and so opportunity, purchased with that inheritance, and so are thankful. If we use that inheritance well (Lord have mercy on me!), then we gain hope for our children in this life and the benefits of a clean conscience as we face the world to come.

Yet here is the great error that Cephalus makes and that if I am not careful I will make. He has indentified good actions that money has helped him do, but also implies that one can buy off the gods with sacrifices. In our context, that might be the foolish notion that gifts to the Church or to charties can win us favor in the court of Heaven.

Nonsense.

The measure of a man before God is virtue and justice is more than paying our debts. What is justice? That will be the topic of the rest of Republic, but this much is obvious. Nobody, certainly not me, can look at our lives and only feel hope. Why? Justice is absolute and even our good inheritance may have been gained itself with injustice. We have not behaved as we should and no inheritance is umixed. Adam gave us the image of God, but in broken social structures.

As revelation avows and Plato demonstrates: we are none just, no not one. Somehow we must be saved from the evils we have inherited and learn to use the great goods we have received for virtue. And so we are led back, even here, to the need for Jesus, but that is a longer and different story!

———————————————-

*I begin an informal summer reading of Republic using Scott/Sterling (a new translation for me). Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10.

**I have no idea how much of what I know is just Professor Al Geier filtered through my eccentricity. Here is to you Al!

Culture

On Books

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

June 13, 2018

You Can Learn From Anyone Even the Big Head (Summer in the Republic 9)

Next Post

June 15, 2018 Do Justice, Know Justice (Summer in the Republic 11)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many men did Joshua initially send to Ai?

Select your answer to see how you score.

5,000 2,000 3,000 4,000

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »