This New Year, Build Character

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Christianity Today

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.3 • 622 Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2019

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We make New Year’s resolutions about money, fitness, diets, and technology. But what about personal character? And when choosing virtues to emulate, where should we start? The Bible, Aristotle, and Aquinas aren’t bad places to start, says Jay Wood, a philosophy professor at Wheaton College, who has frequently written about this topic. “What Christians have said about Aristotle is that he gives us good advice for how to flourish in a common human life,” said Wood. “Aristotle’s virtues do not, however, prepare us for the life to come. The great Christian teachers about virtue said we need to have the gifts that the Holy Spirit confers upon us in order to achieve the virtues.” Just for reference, here’s Galatians 5:22–23: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Wood joined digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss the biblical basis for a virtuous life, if Aristotle’s exhortations ever clash with those of the Bible, and what it looks like to actually become a person of character. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you in part by The Apologetics Guy Show, the podcast that helps you find clear answers to tough questions about Christianity.
0:11.0	Learn to explain your faith with courage and compassion.
0:14.5	Join Moody Bible Institute professor Dr. Mikhail del Rosario at Apologeticsky.com.
0:24.0	It's Wednesday, January 2nd, and this is quick to listen, where we set aside
0:28.4	hashtags and hot takes to discuss a major cultural event.
0:32.4	On today's show, Jay Wood joins us to discuss New Year's resolutions and virtues.
0:46.8	Yeah. Jay Wood joins us to discuss New Year's resolutions and virtues. Thanks for joining us this week.
0:48.3	I'm Morgan Lee, digital media producer here at Christianity today.
0:51.9	I'm joined by my co-host, Christian Today's editor in
0:55.2	chief, Mark Galley. Happy New Year, Mark. Happy New Year. Sort of happy New Year. As I was telling my wife,
1:01.7	in December, December, we've had a balmy December, but we always get, she hates it when I use this term,
1:07.4	we get punished in January, either with sub-zero temperatures or a ton of snow
1:12.6	within the first couple weeks. So I'm bracing for it.
1:15.3	Self-inflicted punishment since you moved here from California.
1:18.2	There you go.
1:19.1	All right. So I understand that you have known our guests today for a long time.
1:23.3	Yes, I have. Jay Wood, what, 30, 40 years? I don't know.
1:26.6	So Jay Wood is a professor of philosophy at Wheaton College with a special interest in, among other things,
1:31.9	virtue ethics and philosophical and theological ethics,
1:35.2	about which we've had many a discussion and or argument depending on what your perspective is.
1:40.4	He is author or contributor to many volumes, including co-author of a book on intellectual virtues and a contributor to the Oxford Book of Virtue.
1:48.6	Welcome, Jay.
	...

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