Adventist Virtues

Questions of morality confront us all the time. What should we do in the face of a horrific war? How can I live Christian stewardship in a consumerist world? Who should make decisive contributions when families break up? When is more patience, more courage, more dedication needed – and when do we need less of it, because “patience” may also mean lethargy, ”courage” may imply folly, and ”dedication” could lead to counterproductive activism?

On what do we base our decisions?

In ethics, all of these questions are fundamentally discussed: should we derive our action decisions from goals or rather from an idea of duty, as Immanuel Kant taught? Should we always re-evaluate our decisions depending on the situation, or is the old idea of virtue still of any use? Since I am also responsible for this area of moral reflection as a systematic theologian here at Friedensau, I have set myself the goal of further developing Adventist ethics over the next few years.^[1] At the moment, I am working on one of the oldest approaches to the field, namely virtue ethics, which can be found as early as Aristotle.

Ideals that we strive for

One discovery of the last few months is that in their history, Seventh-day Adventists have not only focused on tangible norms of action (known and derived from the Ten Commandments) and, linked with these norms, on duties. Adventist moral concepts have always been clearly embedded in a sphere of virtues. As a counterpart to the norms (mostly prohibitions, i.e. minimum requirements), these embody the ideals that we strive for: Justice. Love. Diligence. Humility.

Virtues? Typically Adventist!

 Is there something like typical Adventist virtues? Certainly – hope (because we are oriented towards God’s future), patience (because this future will not become reality as quickly as many would like), order and self-discipline (cf. the workday and Sabbath rhythm), reliability and loyalty (connected with the Ten Commandments and a strong church identity).

A comprehensive virtue model

 In my search for a comprehensive model of virtue that encompasses all important areas, I recently came across the founder of positive psychology, Martin Seligman. Together with his colleagues Katherine Dahlsgaard and Christopher Peterson, he discovered the fact that six virtues are present in almost all the great philosophies and religions of history: namely wisdom, justice, courage, temperance (the four classical ones already advocated by Plato); plus humanity and transcendence (i.e. the ones emphasized by almost every religion and Christianity in particular). These psychologists have drawn up a list of 24 character strengths,^[2] which I find inspiring because elements of them can be found everywhere: in conflicts among friends, questions about choosing a partner, in self-reflection, in trying to understand other people, in team dynamics, conversations with church members ... I therefore place this list here at the end and present it with the hope that you as readers can also use it as a guide – for working on your self, praying for growth and showing compassion to those who still have a long way to go in some areas.

Six main virtues at a glance:

1. Wisdom – A: Creativity, B: Curiosity, C: Open-Mindedness, D: Love of Learning, E: Perspective
2. Strengths of Courage – F: Bravery, G: Persistence, H: Integrity, I: Vitality
3. Strengths of Humanity – J: Love, K: Kindness, L: Social Intelligence
4. Strengths of Justice – M: Citizenship, N: Fairness, O: Leadership
5. Strengths of Temperance – P: Forgiveness and Mercy, Q: Humility and Modesty, R: Prudence, S: Self-Regulation
6. Strengths of Transcendence: T: Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence, U: Gratitude, V: Hope, W: Humour, X: Spirituality

Text (Copyright): Stefan Höschele, Professor of Systematic Theology at Friedensau Adventist University

[1] A description of the research project is found on my website – www.stefan-hoeschele.de – section “Project: Adventist Ethics”.

[2] For details, see C. Peterson & M. Seligman: Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. New York: Oxford University Press 2004.