In spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue. While different people may understand its meaning differently, it is generally used to refer either to religious devotion or to spirituality, or often, a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions of piety is humility. Personification of virtue (Greek ἀρετή) in Celsus Library in Ephesos, Turkey Virtue (Latin virtus; Greek ) is moral excellence of a person. ... Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual... Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ... For the medieval saint of the same name, see Saint Humility. ...

Etymology

The word piety comes from the Latin word pietas, the noun form of the adjective pius, which means "devout" or "good". Pietas, as virtue of the Roman Emperor Herennius Etruscus, celebrated with the instruments of cult, such as patera and lituus. ...

The religious aspect of piety

In the religious sense, it is often used to refer to one of two things:

It can refer to a way to win the favor or forgiveness of one's God, or gods, (i.e., to propitiate Him/them). According to some, this type of piety does not necessarily require the spiritual piety, while others refrain from distinguishing the two. This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In Christianity, Propitiation is a theological term denoting that by which God is rendered propitious, i. ...

It is also used by others to refer only to the external signs that result from the spiritual aspect of piety. That is, according to some, if one is "truly" pious (in the spiritual sense), the natural and inevitable result of it will be this religious piety. By this definition, then, piety can be either genuine, in that it springs from spiritual piety, or false, in that it is an attempt to exhibit the signs of piety for their own sake, or for some other reason, (such as propitiation or public esteem).

In Catholicism and Anglicanism, piety is one of the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this Tree of Jesse the seven gifts, represented as doves, encircle a bust of Christ. ...

Religious movements

Pietism as a movement within Lutheranism was strong from the late-17th century to the mid-18th century. Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late-17th century to the mid-18th century. ... Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther. ...

See also

• Plato's dialogue Euthyphro, in which Socrates seeks a definition of piety.
• pietas, the Roman virtue
• filial piety, a Confucian virtue
• Puritan