(b) The guiding principle of Christian virtue is the ' royal law ' (.Ja 2*) — the loving one's neighbour as oneself. ' He that loveth his neigh- bour hath fulfilled the law' (Ro IS"- 14'= 15"-, 1 Co 8. 10=*, Gal 5'3, 1 Jn, etc.). The law of brotherly love limits the freedom of action which otlierwi.se might belong to the strong Christian. 'All things are lawful; Imt all things are not expedient (1 Co 10^). Virtue must be interpreted not merely in the light of abstract right, but also in the light of brotherly service.
(c) Christian virtue stands in contrast to Stoic virtue, inasmuch as the latter (1) is uninfluenced by immortality, and (2) insists on the suppression of the emotions. ' The sage will console witli them that weep, without weeping with them ' (Seneca, de Clem. ii. 6). The general tendency of Christianity has been to exalt the amiable rather than the heroic qualities.
(d) Asceticism is not a virtue of the NT Church, yet tliere must be self-mastery and self-restraint. Marriage is lawful and honourable (1 Co 7, He 13^), though with its dangers to supreme spiritual ser- vice (1 Co 7, Rev W), but .sexual immorality is strongly denounced (1 Th 4^ 1 Co 5, etc.). the apostolic insistence upon elementary morality among the Christians is noteworthy. ' That is a reminder that the cliurches were composed of converts from heathenism, and lived in the midst of a heathen environment ' (R. Mackintosh, Chris- tian Ethics, London, 1909, p. 63).
(e) The communistic spirit of the early Church created »<•? o;t)H set o/?'trf«e«— mutual hospitality, contribution to the Church's poor, the ignoring of distinction between rich and poor believers ( Ja 2'"*). One also notes the stress laid upon loyalty to Church rule (1 Th 5'^ He 13", Jude ") and avoid- ance of Church divisions (see art. Murmuring). The references to ' false teachers ' and schismatics are impressively severe.
(/) St. Paul appears to acquiesce in the system of slavery, and the apostolic ideals of womanhood are obviously imperfect. We must distinguish between the det.i.iled virtues of the 1st cent. Church and the master-principle which inspired them. The implications of brotherhood will un- fold with the progression of civilization. Christian principles abide, yet ' New occasions teach new duties ; Time makes ancient good uncouth ' (J. R. Lowell, The Present Crisis, 171 f.).
Consult, further, the various lists of virtues (Eph 4-' 5^ etc.) and the various duties for special clas.ses — husbands, wives, church officials, women, widows, young men, masters, slaves, etc.
VISION
VOICE
CC!
LnBBATl'RK. — W. E. H. Lecky, Hintory of European Morals^, 2 vols., London, ISSS; j. Vernon Bartlet, nrl. ' Didache,' in IIDB v.; Newman Smyth, C/irigtian Ethics, Edinluirj;h, ISHi; ; T. B. Strong, Clirixlian Ethics (ISI.), London. 1S!H> ; T. B. Kilpatrick. Christian Chanictcr, Eiiin- bnrilh, ISflO ; J. Butler, Fiflicn Sermons (1726), cd. R. Cnr. niiehutl. I,on<ion. l.<;'i(> ; J. R. Seeley, iVcc //ohio^, do., l.HOd ; L. N. Tolstoy, Iicli(iioii ami Morahtu, 181M ; R. W. Dale, Laws of Christ far Common Lije^, I.Kindon, 1S91. For (uller list of avithoritics see EHE, art. ' Ethics and .Moralit.v (Chris- tian),'Literature, sect. 3. II. IJULCOCK.
VISION. — ^ In modern English, 'vision,' from l.:it. viilcrc, 'to see.' is almost synonymous witli 'sij;lit,' but in the oUler use of the word the ron- ception is that of images presented to the more or less aVmormal states of eonsciousness, and generally produced by supernatural agency. The latter is the sense in which the IJible uses the term. It is the distinctive function of the seer (^;n and nxT) to see visions, and those isolated and exalted persons are well represented by Samuel, who is the only seer known to us by his projjer name. In his childhood, we are told, the vision (jiin) was not widely dili'used ( 1 S ,3'). The same word for ' vision ' is found in I'r •Jil'" in the statement ' Where there is no vision, the jieople perish,' or 'cast off restraint.' Words froiu the same roots are frequentlj' employed in Daniel and Ezekiel. .lereuiiah warns the people against the visions of false prophets which are elaborated out of the uninspired minds of those whom God had not sent (U" 23'").
In the or it is eviiient that visions, though often associated with dreams (.11 '2^), are to be distinguished from them. WJiilst dreams may be the medium fiu' (lod's revelations, by way of ' special providences ' during sleep, visions may occur during waking moments and by the exalta- tion or perhaps the transcendence of the natural powers of sight. A vision is thus the ' sight ' or perception of spiritual realities, communicated either by means of the illumination or exaltation of the natural senses or by immediate conscious- nes.s^ through the supersession of them. It may be said that tlie evolution of the prophet in the OT involves a change from the state of rapture or ecstasy to that of ethical interpretation. Some writers affirm that the imagery of the revelation is supplied, in the case of the later prophets, by their own illuminated thought, whilst the truths them- selves in more abstract form were the material of the communication. Whether this be so or not it is difficult to determine, inasmuch as the cases of vision in the NT and in more recent times imply a direct presentation in a concrete or personal form, or as an image before the eonsciousness.