Stanley HAUERWAS.  The Character of Virtue: Letters to a Godson.  With an Introduction by Samuel WELLS. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018. pp. 199.  $21.99 hb. ISBN: 978-0-8028-7579-2. Reviewed by James BRETZKE, S.J., Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.

This is a book that has been a long time in the making, as it is comprised of yearly letters on a particular virtue by Hauerwas to his godson Laurie Wells beginning with his baptism in October 2002 and concluding with a summary letter on character in January 2017. Particularly helpful is the chapter-length Introduction by Samuel Wells, the father of Hauerwas’ godson.  Wells gives a very good sketch of cultural and theological aspects of god-parenting, especially as it relates to the sacrament of Baptism and collaboration with the child’s parents.  He also provides a quick thumb-nail sketch of the chapters in the book, set in the context of a readable theology of the virtues.

The book may not prove to become a classic, but it certainly is helpful in giving some well-grounded theological reflections written before the 2016 election that will give many readers a good refresher course on why the post-truth and me-first (if you’re white) ethos ultimately cannot be squared with either virtue in general or the Gospel in particular.  For example, in the concluding chapter on Character, written after one year of the Trump presidency, Hauerwas observes that “we’ve entered a time in which truth no longer matters in our public life and politics. And people of character like you are going to find that this is a difficult world to negotiate (p. 197).”

Hauerwas scholars will also find helpful the insights revealed into his character, as many of his remarks reference different points in Hauerwas’s own life, and also how he sees his own life as a narrative of Christian character.  While Hauerwas does admit to not having yet reached the summit of the perfection of the virtues he discusses, neither is he entirely successful in avoiding the appearance of being the hero of his own story.

The first Letter, penned in October, 2002 at Laurie’s baptism, surfaces some well-known Hauerwasian themes?the “desperate” times in which Christians live, the dangers, of secularism, and the need for a Christianity in the style of Bonhoeffer which can, and will, challenge a culture which has grown soft and unaccustomed to suffering.  Realizing one’s baptized identity in the Christian community provides the strength, support, and wisdom to safely navigate these troubled waters. 

Hauerwas rejects the traditional division and distinction among cardinal, acquired, theological and infused virtues, and instead presents his collection somewhat as facets of a gem that reflects and refracts moral light in different ways under different circumstances.  His list does include classic habits such as Courage, Temperance, Justice, Hope and Faith, as well as traits Hauerwas thinks important, but which do not usually make the list of key virtues.  This latter group includes Constancy, Kindness, Simplicity, Joy, Generosity, and Humor (this last is paired with Humility). Others may seem at first glance to reflect basic moral or spiritual obligations, such as Truthfulness, Friendship, and Patience.

The collection can serve for spiritual reading, or perhaps as a good example of how to present the Christian virtues in a catechetical or homiletic setting.  Hauerwas grounds well the virtues (and their corresponding vices) in the moral character of the individual, as well as the relation to the larger Christian community and its mission in the world.  He totally avoids the recipe for “cultivation of the virtues” as if these might represent a moral training program somewhat extrinsic to the nature of the individual him/herself, e.g., along the lines of developing some particular skill through repeated drilling and practice.

Hauerwas reiterates frequently the need for the distinctiveness of “Christian” to modify, form, and determine “ethics,” so it is more than a bit surprising that he doesn’t include the particularly Christian virtue of Forgiveness.  After all, Jesus did highlight this in his own valediction from the Cross.