In Praise Of Virtue

In this resourceful and illuminating exploration of the biblical virtues, Benjamin W. Farley examines both the Old and the New Testament and applies their teachings on moral character to the Christian life today. In the process, Farley critically reviews the current philosophical and theological interest in virtue, engages the Aristotelian, Thomist, and modern views of virtue, incorporates and responds to feminist concerns, and discusses the importance of the biblical virtues for our pluralistic age.

Intolerance and bigotry lie at the heart of all human suffering. So claims Bertrand Russell at the outset of "In Praise of Idleness," a collection of essays in which he espouses the virtues of cool reflection and free enquiry; a voice of calm in a world of maddening unreason. With characteristic clarity and humour, Russell surveys the social and political consequences of his beliefs. From a devastating critique of the ancestry of fascism to a vehement defense of 'useless' knowledge, with consideration given to everything from insect pests to the human soul, " In Praise of Idleness " is a tour de force that only Bertrand Russell could perform.

Responsibility. Courage. Compassion. Honesty. Friendship. Persistence. Faith. Everyone recognizes these traits as essentials of good character. In order for our children to develop such traits, we have to offer them examples of good and bad, right and wrong. And the best places to find them are in great works of literature and exemplary stories from history. William J. Bennett has collected hundreds of stories in The Book of Virtues, an instructive and inspiring anthology that will help children understand and develop character -- and help adults teach them. From the Bible to American history, from Greek mythology to English poetry, from fairy tales to modern fiction, these stories are a rich mine of moral literacy, a reliable moral reference point that will help anchor our children and ourselves in our culture, our history, and our traditions -- the sources of the ideals by which we wish to live our lives. Complete with instructive introductions and notes, The Book of Virtues is a book the whole family can read and enjoy -- and learn from -- together.

Since the beginning of time, a fierce spiritual battle has raged between the forces of good and evil. Today the spiritual entities of wickedness are winning, burdening countless souls in a world lacerated by evil. To claim victory, God is calling us to engage in spiritual warfare as the only way to save the world from the desolation that is sure to come. In these pages, theologian Venatius Oforka explains that we are part of a spiritual web through which God acts to save souls. No longer does God create out of nothing. Instead, He achieves His purposes through the prayers and actions we pour in. To win such a sophisticated war, Oforka introduces us to the supernatural weapons of war and how we can shape the events that affect our earthly and eternal destiny. From Father Oforka, you will learn: How the ministry of intercession can bring salvation to millions of hopeless soulsHow to frustrate the Devil’s evil schemesHow to free yourself from the encumbrances of the flesh so you can fully participate in spiritual warfareThe two basic actions Christians must undertake to survive evil daysThe profound advantage you have over Satan and his worksHow and why God needs intercessors to save soulsWhy God requires us to act before He steps inThe critical role of the angels and the saints in fighting evilThe importance of suffering in spiritual warfareWhy God needs our prayers to make His Kingdom come The Art of Spiritual Warfare is the one book you need to awaken our world from its spiritual hibernation and to exercise the awesome privilege of working with God in the realization of His Kingdom.

Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" is considered to be one of the most important treatises on ethics ever written. In an incredibly detailed study of virtue and vice in man, Aristotle examines one of the most central themes to man, the nature of goodness itself. In Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics," he asserts that virtue is essential to happiness and that man must live in accordance with the "doctrine of the mean" (the balance between excess and deficiency) to achieve such happiness.

Uniting thirty years of authoritative scholarship by a master of textual detail, Machiavelli's Virtue is a comprehensive statement on the founder of modern politics. Harvey Mansfield reveals the role of sects in Machiavelli's politics, his advice on how to rule indirectly, and the ultimately partisan character of his project, and shows him to be the founder of such modern and diverse institutions as the impersonal state and the energetic executive. Accessible and elegant, this groundbreaking interpretation explains the puzzles and reveals the ambition of Machiavelli's thought. "The book brings together essays that have mapped [Mansfield's] paths of reflection over the past thirty years. . . . The ground, one would think, is ancient and familiar, but Mansfield manages to draw out some understandings, or recognitions, jarringly new."—Hadley Arkes, New Criterion "Mansfield's book more than rewards the close reading it demands."—Colin Walters, Washington Times "[A] masterly new book on the Renaissance courtier, statesman and political philosopher. . . . Mansfield seeks to rescue Machiavelli from liberalism's anodyne rehabilitation."—Roger Kimball, The Wall Street Journal

This book, the last that noted moral theologian Servais Pinckaers, OP, wrote before his death, was conceived as a follow-up to his previous work Plaidoyer pour la vertu (An Appeal for Virtue) (2007) Pinckaers' aim in Passions and Virtue was to show the positive and essential role that our emotions play in the life of virtue. His purpose is part of a larger project of renewing moral theology, a theology too often experienced as an ethics of obligation rather than as a practical guide to living virtuously. To this end, Pinckaers sketches a positive psychology of the passions as found in the biblical tradition, in the writings of the Fathers of the Church, in pagan authors and, especially, in the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas.