Cross Balance

Seven Old Gifts

(Isaiah 11)

There are several groups of gifts noted in the Bible.
One of them is used in the church's catechism,
and is based on a passage of Isaiah.
These seven gifts are distinct from the motivational gifts of the New Testament
which are described later.
As with many of the groups,
four gifts seem to correspond with the four temperament types.
Wisdom goes with the intellectual or thinker.
The fear of God fits with the observer's disposition.
 Fortitude would seem to be a natural strength of the bold doer
(the same as the virtue).
And righteousness fits with the sanguine for whom justice is important.

The others - understanding, knowledge and counsel -
seem to go together in the middle since they are important
(as we shall see later in several examples)
 for the balanced teacher.