Long before Jesus came, people were already asking what it meant to live well. The ancient philosophers said that a good life isn’t just about rules or avoiding bad behavior. It’s about becoming the kind of person who naturally chooses what is good. They spoke of four key habits—prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance—that together form what they called the “cardinal virtues,” the path of moral excellence.
Centuries later, Christian theologians saw that this ancient insight lined up beautifully with the life of Jesus. He didn’t just teach the right way—He lived it perfectly. Jesus saw the truth clearly (prudence), lived for the good of others (justice), endured suffering for the sake of love (fortitude), and remained total self-control and peace (temperance). The virtues, then, aren’t a rival to Jesus’ way—they describe His character and show what His Spirit forms in us as we follow Him.
Josef Pieper, a twentieth-century Christian philosopher, brought this old wisdom to life again in his short book The Four Cardinal Virtues. He called it “the wisdom of the ancients” that had “inexhaustible contemporaneity,” a perpetual relevance (xii). Let’s walk the path together.
Prudence: Seeing Clearly
Everything begins with seeing clearly. Pieper calls prudence the “mother” of all virtues. It’s the habit of looking at the world honestly and acting in line with reality. Jesus said, “If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (Mt. 6:22). Prudence is that clear, steady eye.
It’s not overthinking or endless hesitation. It’s learning to pause long enough to see what’s true—and then to act decisively on it. As Pieper puts it, “In deliberation we may hesitate; but a considered act must be performed swiftly” (13). Wisdom doesn’t just think; it moves. It sees the good and points the way forward.
In the Christian life, prudence means learning to see all of life in the light of God’s truth—to discern what leads to love, what leads to harm, and what truly honors God and neighbor. Wisdom shows us the good.
Justice: Living for the Good of Others
Once we see what’s good, we have to live it. That’s where justice comes in. Justice is the habit of giving others what they deserve as fellow image-bearers of God. It’s how wisdom becomes love in action.
Justice isn’t limited to courts or public issues. It’s how we treat people every day—with fairness, honesty, and kindness. Pieper says it includes even likability and sweetness of temper (47). It’s the instinct to protect a person’s dignity, to honor those in authority, and to help others flourish. The Bible simply calls it loving your neighbor as yourself.
Justice is also realistic. It recognizes that people are imperfect, systems are messy, and communities take work. That’s why prudence and justice always go together: wisdom shows us the good, and justice gives us the habit of pursuing it in the real world, patiently and consistently.
Fortitude: Staying True When It’s Hard
Of course, doing what’s right isn’t always easy. Sooner or later, the good meets resistance. That’s where fortitude—courage—comes in.
Pieper says that true courage reaches “down into the depths of the willingness to die” (117). This may seem morbid, but it is freedom. He who knows what is worth dying for knows what is worth living for. It means having something so good and true that it’s worth suffering for. Fortitude faces fear, counts the cost, and stands firm anyway. “We dare most freely,” said Pericles, “where we have reflected best.”
In the Christian story, fortitude is the courage of Jesus setting His face toward Jerusalem, knowing what awaited Him. It’s the courage of the apostles rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for His name. Courage enables us to pursue the good in the face of obstacles.
Temperance: Keeping the Heart Free
There’s one more danger to doing good—not just fear, but distraction. The world is full of good things that can pull us off course if we let them. That’s why we need temperance—the quiet strength of self-control.
Temperance doesn’t mean rejecting joy or pleasure. It means enjoying things rightly, in their place. Pieper explains that the Latin word temperare means to bring parts into harmony (146). That’s what temperance does—it keeps our desires balanced so they serve our true calling rather than rule us. It’s how we stay free to love.
Even noble things—like learning, success, or service—can take over if we’re not careful. Pieper warns that “without rational self-restraint even the hunger . . . for knowledge” can bec ome a compulsive greed (151). Temperance protects us from that. It’s not saying no to joy—it’s saying no to the things that keep us from greater joy.
The Whole Path
These four virtues aren’t separate boxes to check. They’re steps along a single path—the path of doing good in the real world.
- Wisdom shows us what is good.
- Justice gives us the habit of pursuing it.
- Courage helps us hold to it when people oppose it.
- Temperance guards us from distractions that would pull us away from it.
This is the way of moral excellence—not perfectionism, but formation. It’s the slow, Spirit-led process of becoming more like Jesus, who lived this path fully and freely. The goal isn’t simply being “virtuous.” It’s becoming the kind of person who, in wisdom and love, naturally does greater good in this world.
The ancients saw this path dimly. Jesus walked it perfectly. And now He invites us to follow Him on it—the ancient path of moral excellence that still leads to life and blessing today.