(c) From 1 Ti 4' we learn that even in St; Paul's time there were those who forbade marriage, and in the 2nd cent, the luactice of abstaining from marriage became common. .Justin {Apul. i. 15) refers to many men and women of sixty and seventy who bad been from infancy disciples of Christ ami bad keiit themselves unpolluted (see E. von Dob-
• The term was given at Antioch as a nickname to the female companions of Paul of Somosala (see Kus. HE vii. SO. 12).
t In the Ai'.ti' of Thninas, § .M. we have an account of a con- verted youth w-ho killeil his wife because she refused to a!>ide with him in chastity. The Apostle raised her again to life.
642
VIETUK
VIRTUE
soliiitz, Christian Lifr, in the Primitive Church, En^. tr., Lomloii, l'J04, ]>. 261 f., for the growth of the feeling in fjivour of ascetic virginity). 15iit in the I'listoral Epistles there is no reference to virgins. Even tlie deaconesses are not required to be unmarried (1 Ti 3"); and, as we saw above, the younger widows are to marry again so that they may not be a burden on the Church funds, and so as to save them from sexual temptation. It was only in the 4th cent, that virgins became a definite Cliurcli order, although there are references to individual virgins earlier as existing both in orthodox and in heretical circles. St. Paul advises older widows w ho are on the Church rolls for relief to adhere to their decision to remain unmarried, and these seem to liave been called virf/ines * (see Ign. ad Smyrn. 13, ' I salute . . . the virgins wlio are called widows'), but they are not so named in tlie NT (see art. WiDOW.s). Tlie question a.s to the perpetual virginity of M.ary is not raised in the NT, althougli it is usually rai-sed by commentators in tlie discussion concerning ' the brethren ' of our Lord. Jerome maintained tlie Aei-virginitas on a priori grounds as to the superiority of the virgin life, and he tried to defenil it from Scripture (see J. B. Lightfoot, Galatians^, London, 1876, p. 252 f.; J. E.adie', Gnlatians, Edinburgh, 1869, p. 57 tt'. ; for a spirited vindication of the Helvidian view, with which the present writer agrees, see F. \V. Farrar, Early Days of Christianity, London, 1882, vol. i. bk. iv. eh. xix.).
Literature.— H. Achelis, in art. 'Agapetse,' ERE i., and literature cited by hiiu, gives information about ' virgines sub- introductffi': see also arlt. 'Subintroductce ' and 'Virgins' in Smith and Cheetham's DC A ii. For I Co 726-38 consult T. C. Edwards, G. G. Findlay {EGT), and Meyer- Weiss ; for Rev 14J, J. Moffatt {EGT) and H. B. Swete. H. C. Lea, History of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Chrii-tian Church^, 2 vols., London, 1907, gives the history. DONALD MACKENZIE.
VIRTUE.— 1. The term 'AperiJ (tr. 'virtue' in
Ph 48, 2 P l3-= [AV and KV] ; pi. ' virtues' AVni of 1 P 2') was the common heathen term for ' moral goodness.' In this sense it is used in the books of Maccabees. But it was also the LXX tr. of -nn (' magnificence,' 'splendour,' Hab 3', Zee 6'*) and n^n^ ('glory,' 'praise,' Is 42'= 43="). In Ph 4" (' Whatsoever things are true . . . if tliere be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things ') and in 2 P P ( ' In your faith supply virtue ; and in your virtue knowledge ') the reference is to a human attribute, and the sense is the ordinary classical one of moral e.xcellence possibly coloured with its LXX meaning of ' piaiseworthiness.' (The association of liraivos with aperri in the former passage suggests that this fuller significance is in the writer's mind ; cf. the coupling of aperri with ddia in 2 P 1-. ) J. B. Lightfoot gives us the mean- ing of dperri in Ph 4*, ' Whatever value may reside in your old heathen conception of virtue ' {Philip- plans, London, 1878, p. 162). In the other two NT passages (2 P 1^, 1 P 2*") the reference is to an attribute of God or Christ, and the LXX senses of ' glory ' and ' praise ' are more appropriate. G. A. Deissniann (BiMe Studies, Edinburgh, 1901, p. 95 f.) contends that dperri sometimes signifies neither the righteousness nor the praise of God, but the manifestation of His power. He compares 2 P P with an inscription of Stratonicea in Caria belong- ing to the earliest years of the Imperial period, and considers that in both iper-ri bears the meaning of ' marvel.' ' Marvellous power ' would well suit the context in 2 P 1^ and 1 P 2K
2. The Christian conception of virtue.— («) The motives of Christian virtue, according to the writers of the Apostolic Church, are : (1) the rewards and punishments of God's moral law (Gal 6'- ^ He
* The Greek word x^P°-> indeed, is used of a woman without a husband (either ' widow ' in our sense or ' unmarried ').
10-«'-, 1 Co 10"-, etc.) and of tlie coming Day of the Lord (Ro 2'';«, 2 Th 1"-, Ja 5"-, 1 P 4", etc.); (2) the consciousness of a future life (' If after the manner of men,' i.e. from merely human motives, ' I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die '[1 Co 15'"; cf. 2 Co 5'"]) ; (3) the promise of faith, reinforced bj' the inspiration of ancient heroes and the general exemplarsliip of Jesus (He 11. 12); the exam|ile of Jesus is specifically a motive for humility (Ph 2^<-) and generosity (2 Co 8") ; (4) the inspira- tion of Christian idealism—' the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus' (Ph S'''), the recog- nition of a Divine mis.sion (' Necessity is laid upon me ; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel ' [1 Co 9'*]) ; (5) highest of all, the imperative of the love of God (1 Jn., etc.), the constraining love of Christ (2 Co 5''') — the dynamic of the ' unio mystica.' Virtuous life is the natural fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5--, etc.) ; hence also the justifica- tion of St. Paul's emphasis on ' faith' — communion with the Oversoul : right ' works ' will proceed from right attitude.