Is a virtue or quality of the mind generally considered the same with courage; though, in a more accurate sense, they seem to be distinguishable. Courage resists danger, fortitude supports pain. Courage may be a virtue or vice, according to the circumstances; fortitude is always a virtue: we speak of desperate courage, but not of desperate fortitude. A contempt of neglect of danger may be called courage; but fortitude is the virtue of a rational and considerate mind, and is founded in a sense of honour, and a regard to duty. Christian fortitude may be defined that state of mind which arises from truth and confidence in God; enables us to stand collected and undisturbed in the time of difficulty and danger; and is at an equal distance from rashness on the one hand, and pusillanimity on the other. Fortitude takes different names, according as it acts in opposition to different evils; but some of those names are applied with considerable latitude.
With respect to danger in general, fortitude has been called intrepidity; with respect to the dangers of war, valour; with respect to pain of body, or distress of mind, patience; with respect to labour, activity; with respect to injury, forbearance; with respect to our condition in general, magnanimity. Christian fortitude is necessary to vigilance, patience, self-denial, and perseverance; and is requisite under affliction, temptation, persecution, desertion, and death. The noble cause in which the Christian is engaged; the glorious Master whom he serves; the provision that is made for his security; the illustrious examples set before him; the approbation of a good conscience; and the grand prospect he has in view, are all powerful motives to the exercise of this grace. Watts's Ser. ser. 31. Evan's Ser. ser. 19. vol. 1: Steele's Christian Hero; Mason's Ser. vol. 1: ser. 5:
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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