Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 1
The speaker says he hears “very little” discussion of virtue today but finds early Christians talk about it “a lot”; what does that difference suggest early Christians assumed Christianity was meant to produce in a person, and what do our sermon emphases today imply we think Christianity is mainly for?
Another way to ask: If early Christians talked a lot about virtue, what did they think Christianity should change in a person? What do today’s sermons make it seem like we think Christianity is mainly for?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s contrast, early Christians seem to assume Christianity is meant to produce a virtuous person—moral excellence that becomes stable in the soul. Our lack of emphasis today suggests we may treat Christianity more as getting ideas, inspiration, or “information,” rather than becoming a certain kind of person.
- He says today there’s “not a lot of discussion on virtue… very little about it,” but early Christians “talk a lot about virtue.”
- He frames virtue as essential for Christian “success,” not optional: “for us to understand virtue is in large part… for us to be successful as a Christian.”
- Virtue is described as what obedience *produces*: “as you walk in obedience… virtue is the result. That’s what it makes you. That’s what you become.”
- He distinguishes knowledge-transfer from virtue: “I’m bringing knowledge to you about virtue, but you have to become virtuous.”
- He presents virtue as broad and life-shaping, not narrow: “it’s not its narrowness, but… its breadth.”