arity--are directly concerned with God as
their proper object. And hence they are the cause--by commanding
it--of the act of the virtue of religion which does certain
things having relation to God. It is in this sense that S.
Augustine says that "God is worshipped by faith, hope, and
charity."

2. Those are called theological virtues which have God for their object.
But religion has God for its object, for it directs us to God alone.
Therefore it is a theological virtue.

But religion directs man to God, not indeed as towards its
object, but as towards its goal.

3. Lastly, every virtue is either theological or intellectual or moral.
But religion is not an intellectual virtue, for its perfection does not
consist in the consideration of the truth. Neither is it a moral virtue,
for the property of the moral virtues is to steer a middle course
betwixt what is superfluous and what is below the requisite; whereas no
one can worship God to excess, according to the words of
Ecclesiasticus[59]: _For He is above all praise._ Religion, then, can
only be a theological virtue.

But religion is neither an intellectual nor a theological
virtue, but a moral virtue, for it is part of justice. And the
_via media_ in religion lies, not between the passions, but in a
certain harmony which it establishes in the acts which are
directed towards God. I say "a certain," not an absolute
harmony, for we can never show to God all the worship that is
His due; I mean, then, the harmony arising from the
consideration of our human powers and of the Divine acceptance
of what we offer. Moreover, there can be excess in those things
which have to do with the Divine worship; not indeed as regards
quantity, but in certain other circumstances, as, for example,
when Divine worship is offered to whom it should not, or at
times when it should not, or in other unfitting circumstances.

VI

Is Religion to be preferred to the Other Moral Virtues?

In Exodus[60] the commandments which concern religion are put first, as
though they were of primary importance. But the order of the
commandments is proportioned to the order of the virtues; for the
commandments of the Law fall upon the acts of the virtues. Hence
religion is chief among the moral virtues.

The means to an end derive their goodness from their relation to that
end; hence the more nigh they are to the end the bette