To Live Well: Practical Wisdom for Moving Through Chaotic Times

Noble (On Getting Out of Bed), an English professor at Oklahoma Baptist University, stumbles with this uneven look at how seven core virtues—prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, faith, hope, and love—can help believers live more faithfully. Drawing on scholarship from such thinkers as Thomas Aquinas scholar Josef Pieper, the author frames prudence as “the mother of all... virtue” that allows believers to make godly choices, and temperance as the use of self-discipline to avoid selfishness and “preserve yourself for the glory of God... and the good of your neighbor.” Unfortunately, Noble’s theological analyses are overshadowed by his clumsy attempts to frame the virtues as antidotes to the “ills” of the modern world; he implies, for example, that simply attempting to exercise temperance and keep God in mind can help believers reduce social media use or stop overeating. (Other suggested applications of the virtues are more problematic, as when he suggests queer Christians exercise the virtue of “chastity” by staying single or marrying someone of the opposite sex.) Despite some stray theological insights, this fails to meaningfully explore how Christian theology can inform believers’ lives. (Apr.)