What am I here for? How should I behave? Most Christians, faced with those questions, think in terms either of 'rules' or of 'living authentically'. Both lead to problems. In this book, full of fresh biblical exploration, Bishop Tom Wright proposes instead that we inhabit the ancient tradition of virtue once again -- but from a thoroughly Christian, not just a philosophical, perspective. The virtues are the strengths we need to get to our goal. Following on from his popular best-selling books Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope, he sees the goal in terms of the whole new creation, with humans renewed to look after it.

Tom Wright

Cover page

Foreword

Title page

Imprint

Dedication

Preface

1. The moment when it counts

2. The transformation of character

3. Priests and rulers

4. The kingdom coming and the people prepared

5. Transformed by the renewal of the mind

6. Three virtues, nine varieties of fruit, and one body

7. Virtue in action: the royal priesthood

8. The virtuous circle

Afterword: further reading

Notes

Search items for biblical references

Search items for names and topics

Virtue Reborn is the first in a series of three titles about Christian life in the modern world, which will build on the themes of Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope and be aimed at a similar market.

The Good Book Stall

N. T. (‘Tom’) Wright explores the ancient complex and many-sided notion of Virtue, the work of the Holy Spirit in the nurturing and development of ‘new strengths’ of character. Rather than being formed by ethical rules, Virtue is eschatologically driven (‘front-loaded’, is Wright’s expression) anticipating-the-life-of-the-age-to-come.   
The book issues a ‘double challenge’: to Christians (‘to think through the nature of Christian behaviour from a new angle’), and to ‘anyone and everyone’ (‘to think through what it means to be genuinely human’).   
You will find the author’s usual vivid range of illustrations, old and recent, fictional and factual, and the intensive study of many biblical passages (among them Genesis 1 and Psalm 8 - related to the recurring emphasis on ‘priests and rulers’ - the Sermon on the Mount and 1 Corinthians 13).  
The closing chapter offers the helpful picture of a ‘Virtuous Circle ‘, whose elements - scripture, stories, examples, community and practices -will help with ‘character being transformed and virtue reborn’.   
I didn’t find this an easy book to read, but it’s worth letting it stretch you.

Virtue Reborn

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Virtue Reborn

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