But it is always the case that a faculty or a virtue whose object is a certain end, controls--by commanding--those faculties or virtues which have to do with those things which are means to that end. But the theological virtues--_i.e._, faith, hope, and charity--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.