If faith were felt in the heart, as believed by Pascal, and existed as a passion that jostled our will in opposite ways and made us miserable, then an act of faith would be defined as an act of impulse and savagery, without thought to tomorrow, rather than “the first beginning of the heart’s purifying”, as said by Thomas Aquinas.
“Faith, by its very nature, precedes all other virtues,” Aquinas states, and the purifying of the heart mentioned by Aquinas subordinates man’s appetite to his reason and the “exercise of the moral virtues”, according to Jean Bodin, pulling man from his savage state, creating in him civility, and welcoming him into society. Bodin specifically mentions the virtues of faith, prudence, and knowledge leading to “true wisdom, which is the highest felicity attainable in this world.”
Faith, as the first of virtues and existing in the intellect, as said by Aquinas, directly develops the intellectual virtues. Also, as according to Bodin, faith directs man to the habits of the moral virtues. Now, faith focuses the will and lifts the mind, body, and spirit for the perfection of our intellectual and moral virtues.
But what are these virtues developed by faith, you ask? Let’s first consider several faith-based groupings of virtues: The Four Cardinal Virtues, The Three Theological Virtues, and The Seven Heavenly Virtues.
The Four Cardinal Virtues – The four cardinal virtues are: Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice. According to Britannica, “an enumeration of four cardinal virtues is said to go back to Socrates and is certainly to be found in Plato and Aristotle.”
The Three Theological Virtues – To the four cardinal virtues, Christianity added the three theological virtues. These theological virtues, discussed at length by Thomas Aquinas, are: Faith, Hope, and Charity (Love). According to Christian teaching, the theological virtues do not originate from humanity, as do the natural virtues; instead they are imparted by God.
The Seven Heavenly Virtues – Described by Pope Gregory I (the Great) in the 6th century and then elaborated in the 13th century by Thomas Aquinas in his famous Summa Theologica, the seven heavenly virtues are: Humility, Charity, Chastity, Gratitude, Temperance, Patience, and Diligence. Each of these “heavenly virtues” was set in counter to one of the corresponding “Seven Deadly Sins.” These sins are: Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth.
The moral vs. intellectual virtues developed by faith – Aggregating from the above, we determine that the following virtues are related to faith: Charity, Chastity, Diligence, Fortitude, Gratitude, Hope, Humility, Justice, Patience, Prudence, and Temperance. Now, the moral virtues developed by faith include: Charity, Chastity, Diligence, Fortitude, Gratitude, Hope, Humility, Patience, and Temperance.
In the group of intellectual virtues developed by faith, based solely on the above, however, exists only Prudence. But, to this list, Bodin would add the virtues of Wisdom and Knowledge, as he states that faith, prudence, and knowledge perfect our wisdom. Now, the intellectual virtues developed by faith include: Knowledge, Prudence, and Wisdom.
To recap, the moral virtues developed by faith include: Charity, Chastity, Diligence, Fortitude, Gratitude, Hope, Humility, Patience, and Temperance, while the intellectual virtues developed by faith include: Knowledge, Prudence, and Wisdom.