The Virtue Driven Life [Paperback]

Benedict J. Groeschel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

Since when is being called "virtuous" an insult?

It's a word that has gotten a bad rap, misused and misunderstood even by great thinkers, philosophers, and theologians, and mocked in the cynical sound bites of the media.

Rediscover virtue as it should be understood in our lives. With wit, warmth, and wisdom, Father Groeschel reintroduces the seven virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, faith, hope, and charity. One by one he makes them meaningful for modern men and women, shaking off the dusty mantle of pretentiousness and demonstrating how each has a real role in a whole and holy life.

Father Groeschel's charming conversational style entertains even as he educates and challenges us. History, politics, an advertisement, the neighbor down the street ... all are reference points for Father Groeschel as he explores the meaning of each virtue for Christians today. By the end of the book, you will understand that being labeled virtuous is the ultimate compliment!

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592762654
• ISBN-13: 978-1592762651
• Product Dimensions: 0.4 x 5.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Page Turner October 25, 2006

By Michael Dubruiel VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I'm a long time fan of Father Benedict Groeschel, going back to his Capuchin days and this latest book is pure Father Benedict. As you might expect his look at the virtues isn't a rote rendering of them but a challenging and incredibly entertaining read. I found myself unable to put the book down.
A great overview of the virtues--will please all of Father Benedict's fans as well as those who are just coming to know of him.

I am the author of The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy, Fast Goal-Oriented Text for Any Christian March 21, 2007

By Brandon B. Justice

Format:Paperback

Groeschel does not disappoint, if you are an avid fan or a first time reader, this text will present very realistic situations for an expansion of spiritual growth and provide attainable options. The chapters are concise and this is a book one could space out over time or read in a full setting.

Groeschel once again challenges the reader to lead a more fully Christian life and uses his psychological background at times to relate to what frustrates and beseiges the modern day person searching for a closer realtionship to God. Excellent as a retreat companion or a Lenten guide without gloss or heavy duty theological phrasing.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great "How to" book May 27, 2007

By M. Booth

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an extraordinary book. It has both explanations of the virtues and suggestions about how to incorporate them into a person's life. The tone is personal. It seems like the author is talking directly and easily with the reader.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking open the true path to happiness March 3, 2008

By CDS

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The title may be a play on Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life (apparently an editorial decision), but the content is both solid and time tested. Father Groeschel takes a look at the seven virtues, and explains the role of each of them in the life of a Chrisitan. He gives multiple examples of how each virtue is lived out, and insights on how to reach for them in our own lives. This is a straightforward guide on reaching a focus which will more readily help the reader attain the focus and peace they desire.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quintessential Quick Read, Faith into Action by Grace March 29, 2008

By D. Ferrell

Format:Paperback

An absolutely clear and easy to read format gets to the heart of virtue in seconds with practical points at every step. What's best is knowing that the author is one who practices what he writes, all the while reminding us of the need to convert daily from ourselves and selfish tendencies toward the unself-centered love of God and neighbor. So much is packed into this little book for all ages and stages of spiritual, yet practical development of mind and will. This would make a helpful group study. Every teacher, parent, student, subway, doctor and dentist office should keep a copy out. Edith Burns would approve heartily.
Oh, and this is NOT a works-based salvation worldview. The worldview expressed is based on what God has made, body, soul and matter and God's gift of grace which blesses all regardless of whether or not they believe OR love. The task of responding to this grace is that of the individual reader, a response which either receives and willingly accepts the grace OR ignores and disregards it since humans are not puppets or robots by design.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A must on your spiritual reading list November 1, 2011

By Christina M. Weber, MS

Format:Paperback

Fr. Groeschel, in my mind, is one of the most visibly known informal public figures and "elders" in the United States Roman Catholic Church to the devout lay Catholics. The Virtue Driven Life is one of the 20 books he has written. I participated in a study circle with my Regnum Christi team using this book.

This book fits right in with the charism of the movement. "Regnum Christi" means "Christ's Kingdom" in Latin. In Regnum Christi, we are taught how to identify our root sin or predominant fault. We then actively work with the Holy Spirit to develop and strengthen the opposing virtue. In "The Virtue Driven Life", Fr. Groeschel guides the reader to an in-depth and personal understanding of the virtues.

The book looks closely at the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity; as well as the four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. It is rich in colorful examples to illustrate these virtues. Fr. Groeschel pulls sections from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that enhance our understanding of the virtues in our practical lives. This is helpful to anyone desiring to increase self-awareness and grow in holiness. Father also includes "Questions for Meditation" for each virtue he discusses.

"The Virtue Driven Life" is a quality resource and an easy read. I highly recommend it as part of your spiritual reading list.

_________________________
Christina M. Weber, MS
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Catholic Coach
[...]

"I help Catholic Women have phenomenal relationships with God and others."

5.0 out of 5 stars A good lenten study June 19, 2012

By S. Leiker

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

My husband and I read this book and discussed it as part of our lent. It presents interesting issues to ponder then discuss. It would be good for a Christian book club to read and study.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Virtue Driven Life October 25, 2011

By Brian Van Hove

Format:Paperback

The Virtue Driven Life
by Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.
Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2006
Pp. 156. Paperback $12.95.
ISBN: 13:978-159276-265-1; LCCN: 2006932354

Review by Reverend Brian Van Hove, S.J.
Alma, Michigan
Published in The Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly, vol. 30, no 1 (Spring 2007): 34-35

Don't let the title of Father Benedict Groeschel's newest book mislead you. Catholics might think that he is sparring with the Baptist minister Rick Warren. Warren, founding pastor of the Saddleback Valley Community Church in southern California, wrote a best-seller, The Purpose-Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002). It sold twenty-five million copies. Written in a devotional style of forty chapters, perhaps Warren's theology is to Evangelicals what St. Ignatius' "First Principle and Foundation" theology is to Catholics.

Wrong. Groeschel is not responding to Warren. Rather, he is casting into semi-popular language a serious point that Pope Benedict XVI made at Regensburg University in September 2006. He could not have done this intentionally because the book was finished before the pope arrived in Bavaria.

Reason (or Logos) and our Greek philosophical inheritance may not be shed except at peril to the Faith itself. Jews and Catholics understand this because of their two-source theory of Revelation (Scripture and Tradition), whereas Evangelicals and Muslims do not. The Reformation doctrine of Sola Scriptura, and the absence in Islam of any principle of secondary causality, does not equip Evangelicals or Muslims to appreciate the importance of tradition. That is what the pope reemphasized at Regensburg.... The Catholic genius addresses and transforms the best of Greek wisdom (including newer secular learning and technology, for that matter). The original concept of "virtue" derives from Athens, not Jerusalem.

Father Groeschel writes a lot. His books often contain anecdotes, but his choice of them is rich and sometimes very moving. (e.g. pp. 125-126) The story of the beginning of his vocation is told as an anecdote. (pp. 141-143) His professional background in psychology emerges, but he never presents psychology as an ersatz religion. He keeps it in its place as a helping tool for life. (p. 118) In fact, the author hides neither the failure of psychology during the last century nor the collapse in our country of hope in psychoanalysis. The author demonstrates that psychology is lately edging closer to values and the affirmation of characterŻand virtue. (pp. 14-16) Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman espouse a positive psychology of human strengths, almost a contemporary reorientation toward the Greek virtues. We can deduce from this that psychology finally left behind B.F. Skinner and his behavioristic model. Paul Vitz wrote about the happy event in his "Psychology in Recovery" (First Things, March 2005). Groeschel is very much cheered that this newer trend in psychology reverses the negativity of the past, when people were told they were merely victims. This trend replaces that with something so good and positive. (p. 148)

The Virtue Driven Life owes much to Cardinal Newman. Besides personal anecdotes, we get an abundance of quotations from John Henry Newman. After Newman, the author quotes Pope John Paul II, especially from Crossing the Threshold of Hope. The author frequently cites The Catechism of the Catholic Church and sprinkles biblical references throughout the text. The questions for meditation and little boxed quotes may not be helpful for the reader. Along with the prayers in the appendices, their inclusion signifies that the author intends this to be a meditation book. Especially to young readers, the Afterword is an admonition to get going and develop tough personal virtue.

The first part of the book treats the classical cardinal virtuesŻprudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. These Greek ideals can be re-expressed in Christian terms. Yet we need more than reason and the natural virtues, so the second half of the book deals with the supernatural virtuesŻfaith, hope and charity. "They are special gifts of God so that the soul may be saved." (p. 130)

Chapter 7, which discusses charity, has an excellent presentation of the four loves we first learned about so long ago from C.S. Lewis. Groeschel explains that the absence of storge in our contemporary society has led to a selfism that is destructive. Storge was not mentioned by the pope in his first encyclical, probably to avoid confusion. But the decline of loyalty to a greater group (family, country, church, community, troop, cause) explains the difficulty for the newer generation in making any commitment. This insight alone makes The Virtue Driven Life worth buying.

The more illuminated our problems become, the more there is hope to solve them with the twin resources of faith and reason. Read more ›