Editing Cardinal virtues (section)

=== In relation to the theological virtues ===
The "cardinal" virtues are not the same as the [[Theological virtues|three theological virtues]]: Faith, Hope, and Charity ([[Agape|Love]]), named in [[1 Corinthians 13]].

{{Blockquote|And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.}}

Because of this reference, a group of [[seven virtues]] is sometimes listed by adding the four cardinal virtues (prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice) and three theological virtues (faith, hope, charity).
While the first four date back to [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] philosophers and were applicable to all people seeking to live moral lives, the ''theological virtues'' appear to be specific to [[Christians]] as written by Paul in the New Testament.

Efforts to relate the cardinal and theological virtues differ. Augustine sees faith as coming under justice. Beginning with a wry comment about the moral mischief of [[pagan]] deities, he writes:

{{blockquote|They [the pagans] have made Virtue also a goddess, which, indeed, if it could be a goddess, had been preferable to many. And now, because it is not a goddess, but a gift of God, let it be obtained by prayer from Him, by whom alone it can be given, and the whole crowd of false gods vanishes. For as much as they have thought proper to distribute virtue into four divisions - prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance - and as each of these divisions has its own virtues, faith is among the parts of justice, and has the chief place with as many of us as know what that saying means, ‘The just shall live by faith.’
|[[City of God (book)|''City of God'']], IV, 20}}

[[Dante Alighieri]] also attempts to relate the cardinal and theological virtues in his [[Divine Comedy]], most notably in the complex allegorical scheme drawn in ''Purgatorio'' XXIX to XXXI. Depicting a procession in the Garden of Eden (which the author situates at the top of the mountain of purgatory), Dante describes a chariot drawn by a gryphon and accompanied by a vast number of figures, among which stand three women on the right side dressed in red, green, and white, and four women on the left, all dressed in purple. The chariot is generally understood to represent the holy church, with the women on right and left representing the theological and cardinal virtues respectively.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Musa |editor-first=Mark |date=1981 |title=Dante: The Divine Comedy Vol. II: Purgatory |publisher=Penguin Books |pages=315, 318–319 |isbn=0-14-044-442-4}}</ref> The exact meaning of the allegorical women's role, behaviour, interrelation, and color-coding remains a matter of literary interpretation.