The Seven Christian Virtues – 2: Temperance
By Fionn Shiner, TCW:
We are republishing this series on the antidote to the seven deadly sins on Sundays over the summer. This article was first published on April 17, 2018.
ALDOUS Huxley’s Brave New World was right: it won’t be an overt tyranny that enslaves us but rather an insidious assault of entertainment, hedonism and inanity. We’re enslaved by our incontinence, and our cosseting material wealth has convinced us that nothing bad will ever happen.
Temperance is abstinence: not just from sex but from alcohol, food, wealth. It is moderation and a voluntary form of self-restraint, the ability to say no when every atom of your body wants to say yes. A person with temperance has mastery of the flesh, and as St Augustine said: ‘Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet.’
Conquering yourself is a lifelong battle, but in our age the self is to be appeased at every opportunity. The self is king. Me, me, me and some more me, too. The gluttonous person isn’t just fat. It may be someone who is broke because they have spent all their money or a father who cannot control his temper and beats his children. Gluttony is indulgence, temperance is restraint.
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