ABSTRACT
A familiar narrative holds that the Protestant Reformation and post-Reformation thought turned their attention away from virtue toward a deontological, law-focused approach, and that this development contributed profoundly to our modern and postmodern predicaments. This essay does not directly evaluate this narrative, but seeks to contribute to the positive argument that virtue continued to play a coherent and important role in early Protestant, and particularly Reformed, ethics. The present focus is on the integration of virtue and divine law, particularly as it came to expression in two prominent catechetical documents, the Heidelberg Catechism and Westminster Larger Catechism, and two important theologians, Zacharias Ursinus (1534–1583) and Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635–1711). Early Reformed theology did give great attention to the law of God, but not at the expense of virtue. This essay argues that these documents and theologians not only affirmed a place for both virtue and law but also integrated virtue and law in coherent ways. It also argues that there are good biblical and theological reasons to concur with their basic approach and thus to appropriate it for contemporary Christian ethics.
