English to Persian (Farsi) Art/Literary Religion Christianity

Greetings,

This is a concept from St. Augustine.

What he believed was that people who did not have the life-changing experience resulting from surrendering one’s life to Jesus Christ could have no real virtues, but only noble vices, i.e. bad points which nevertheless had a certain nobility about them.

I suppose a modern defender of St. Augustine would point to the lack of true democracy and human rights in non-western societies but also the large-scale wickedness in modern Western societies too.

The main example would probably be promiscuity, which often results in abortion, which many Christians see as murder, often perpetrated by non-believers with relatively benign intentions.

However, I certainly wouldn't go so far as to call the wrong things done by believing Christians “base virtues”:)

All the best, and many thanks,

Simon