Of Tolerance

Over the weekend one of my children made the statement that “tolerance” is a virtue. I began thinking about it and decided that maybe, before the discussion becomes any more heated, I should name the seven virtues—and then the seven deadly sins. But even before that, a little history. The virtues, to begin with, were initially four. They were constructed by a couple of the ancient Greek philosophers, specifically Aristotle and Plato. They are: temperance (not tolerance), wisdom, justice and courage. These were adopted by the Church Fathers and are referred to by their current name of the “four cardinal virtues”. Through the Catholic Church, they were in part, renamed and incorporated as and into the “Seven Heavenly Virtues”. Those are: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility. The Seven Heavenly Virtues were derived from the Psychomachia ("Contest of the Soul"), an epic poem written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (c. AD 410) entailing the battle of good virtues and evil vices. The intense popularity of this work in the Middle Ages helped to spread the concept of holy virtue throughout Europe. Practicing these virtues is considered to protect one against temptation from the seven deadly sins, with each one having its counterpart. Due to this they are sometimes referred to as the contrary virtues. Each of the seven heavenly virtues matches a corresponding deadly sin. The corresponding “deadly sins” are: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.

What triggered the discussion was the Gospel of Sunday last.

(Luke 19:1-10) At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

This Gospel is about forgiveness specifically. Jesus was not being 'tolerant' of Zacchaeus, He was forgiving Zacchaeus. And there is a huge and important distinction. To be ‘tolerant’, coming from Funk and Wagnall, is to bear, sustain or to tolerate another’s beliefs, practices, etc. Tolerance denotes or intimates no change but accepting the individual as he or she is. It is not a virtue for a number of reasons. In “Charity” Christ forgave Zacchaeus and expected him to change—which he did, especially in regards to his interior life manifested by what he did exteriorly. Christ did not ‘tolerate’ Zacchaeus’ living and especially his work practices. If He had done that then Zaccaeus would not have changed and given half his wealth, made amends for this extortion, etc. The same can be said about the Lord’s encounter with the prostitute. In His response He asks the gal if no one has condemned her. She replies that no one has. He then says that neither does he condemn her. But He also adds that she is to commit this sin no more. He is asking for change. He is not being tolerant of her behavior.

Which brings me to the final point. Oftentimes we confuse the aspect of “condemnation” of a person with what that person is doing in regards to living a moral or ethical life. We are all called to preach the Gospel. Part of that is making sure that the people that come into our lives everyday know the love of Christ. And part of that love is to, if one is truly concerned about that person making it to the Kingdom, help that individual understand, and there are a myriad of ways of doing this and one definitely not by condemning, that he or she could possibly be driving their soul off the metaphorical cliff into the reality of hell. To not do that is against the virtue of Charity. But it is Christ and Christ alone who has the power of salvation in regards to heaven or hell.