Keller found Edwards’s distinction between “common virtue” and “true virtue” in The Nature of True Virtue especially helpful. “Common virtues”—such as love for family, nation, and self—breed rivalry. We put our families ahead of others. We pit our nation against others. We choose our self-interest over the interest of others. But the kind of “true virtue” we see in revived Christians, when God becomes their summum bonum, or ultimate good and center, blesses everyone.13
