Election Season and Cardinal Virtues with Elisabeth Kincaid

The Living Church Podcast

With election season heating up in the U.S., many Christian leaders feel the extra strain. With churches and nations dealing with painful divisions, how might Christians — and anyone else — learn to enjoy and share life together? What does that take?

Today it takes us to the virtues, ways to live at peace with ourselves and others through the exercise of certain habits.

The cardinal virtues are four specific means and wisdoms for flourishing that God makes available to humans universally, to discern "the good" and experience some of that goodness in our social and material lives.

How do humans share life across divides? How do we make the life of grace visible, and how does God make it visible through us, and accessible to others, even in tricky times? And how are the cardinal virtues a time-tested paradigm for knowing and sharing, through prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude, God's goodness in our life together?

Dr. Elisabeth Rain Kincaid is our guest today. She is the Director of the Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University, where she also serves as associate professor of ethics, faith, and culture. Her first book, Law From Below, was recently published with Georgetown University Press. Her research interests include questions at the intersection of theology, business, and law, as well as natural law theory, virtue ethics, socially responsible investment, Anglican and Catholic Social Teaching, and questions of human flourishing.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Read Elisabeth's book.

Register for The Human Pilgrimage conference, where Dr. Elisabeth Kincaid will be one of our keynotes.