Pride

Is inordinate and unreasonable self-esteem, attended with insolence, and rude treatment of others. "It is sometimes, " says a good writer, "confounded with vanity, and sometimes founded with vanity, and sometimes with dignity; but to the former passion it has no resemblance, and in many circumstances it differs from the latter. Vanity is the parent of loquacious boasting; and the person subject to it, if his pretences be admitted, has no inclination to insult the company. The proud man, on the other hand, is naturally silent, and, wrapt up in his own importance, seldom speaks but to make his audience feel their inferiority." Pride is the high opinion that a poor little contracted soul entertains of itself. Dignity consists in just, great, and uniform actions, and is the opposite to meanness.

2. Pride manifests itself by praising ourselves, adorning our persons, attempting to appear before others in a superior light to what we are; contempt and slander of others; envy at the excellencies others possess; anxiety to gain applause; distress and rage when slighted; impatience of contradiction, and opposition to God himself.

3. The evil effects of pride are beyond computation. It has spread itself universally in all nations, among all characters; and as it was the first sin, as some suppose, that entered into the world, so it seems the last to be conquered. It may be considered as the parent of discontent, ingratitude, covetousness, poverty, presumption, passion, extravagance, bigotry, war, and persecution. In fact, there is hardly an evil perpetrated but what pride is connected with it in a proximate or remote sense.

4. To suppress this evil, we should consider what we are. "If we could trace our descents, " says Seneca, "we should find all slaves to come from princes, and all princes from slaves. To be proud of knowledge, is to be blind in the light; to be proud of virtue, is to poison ourselves with the antidote; to be proud of authority, is to make our rise our downfall." The imperfection of our nature, our scanty knowledge, contracted powers, narrow conceptions, and moral inability, are strong motives to excite us to humility. We should consider also, what punishment this sin has brought on mankind.

See the cases of Pharaoh, Haman, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, and others. How particularly it is prohibited, Pro 16:18. 1Pe 5:5. Jas 4:6. Pro 29:23; what a torment it is to its possessor, Est 5:13; how soon all things of a sublunary nature will end; how disgraceful it renders us in the sight of God, angels, and men; what a barrier it is to our felicity and communion with God; how fruitful it is of discord; how it precludes our usefulness, and renders us really contemptible.

See HUMILITY.

PRIDE.—The condemnation of pride has always been very pronounced in Christian thought. It is one of the faults most distinctly incompatible with the ethics of the NT. Certain other systems of religion have not so strenuously combated this feeling. In fact, some may not unreasonably be regarded as having contributed to its indulgence. An elementary attribute in the Christian conception of character is humility.

1. It is remarkable that the word for ‘pride’ (ὑπερηφανία) occurs only once in the recorded conversations of our Lord, and the adj. ‘proud’ (ὑπερήφανος) only once in the Gospels (Luk 1:51). In Mar 7:22 pride is classed as one of the things which defile a man. It is in the positive precepts and general example and teaching of the Master that we find the principles which have made pride so repugnant to the Christian consciousness. Chief of all these forces is the example of our Lord’s own life. The Incarnation was itself the most transcendent exhibition of humility. In it men saw their Lord counting it not a prize to be on an equality with God, emptying Himself, and taking the form of a servant. In the essential abasement of this earthly life He humbled Himself to the particular extremes of endurance of personal ill-treatment and obedience even unto death. Henceforth lowliness of station and self-forgetting passivity were consecrated by the Divine example. In the same degree the possessors of power and place were taught the limitations and responsibilities of their position, and shown the insensate evil of scornfully regarding men of inferior circumstances.

2. Before the Birth of Christ this characteristic of His mission was heralded in Mary’s song. She who described herself as a handmaiden of low estate could rejoice that in the coming Kingdom the proud would be scattered in, or by (Luk 1:51 (Revised Version margin) ), the disposition of their hearts. Princes would be brought down, and rich men sent empty away. On the other hand, those of low degree would be exalted, and the hungry abundantly satisfied. The Magnificat proclaimed the truths that whilst poverty and obscurity are not bars to acceptance with God, there are evils peculiarly belonging to high rank which utterly disqualify.

3. The Temptation (Mat 4:1-11 || Luk 4:1-13) was largely an attempt to work on feelings of pride in the mind of Jesus. He was urged to prove His superiority to the conditions of ordinary humanity by a self-glorifying triumph over the laws of nature. The Tempter strove to make Him do so either (1) by providing for His special physical needs, or (2) by a public display of His might. In the offer (3) of universal sovereignty, the lures of authority and glory were especially emphasized.

4. In His definite teaching our Lord laid especial stress on the virtues of humility and lowliness of mind as fundamental requisites in His loyal followers. The Beatitude of the meek struck the dominant keynote in this respect. Men were invited to learn of Him, for He was meek and lowly in heart (Mat 11:29). His disciples could apply to Him the prophetic description that He was meek (Mat 21:5). More than once He seems to have uttered the apothegm, ‘Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted’ (Mat 23:12, Luk 14:11; Luk 18:14). Various specific forms of pride were rebuked and cautioned against.

(1) Several times our Lord severely censured exhibitions of spiritual pride. This vice called forth peculiar indignation and detestation in Him. The religious ostentation of the Pharisees was unsparingly reprobated. The types are eternally stigmatized who can thank God they are not as others are, who from the heights of their own complacency can look down on the supposed inferior spirituality of their fellows (Luk 18:9 ff.); who parade in public places their devotions (Mat 6:5); who do all their works to be seen of men, and obtrude their religious symbols (Mat 23:5); who for a pretence make long prayers (Luk 20:47). This species of religious self-satisfaction, of spurious spirituality, elicited the scathing invective of Christ in an altogether unparalleled degree. He declared that the publicans and harlots went into the Kingdom of God before such proud professors (Mat 21:31).

(2) The strictures our Lord passed on the racial pride of the Jews drew against Him their fiercest anger. He showed how vain were their boasted privileges when He proclaimed that many should be admitted to the Kingdom from all quarters of the earth, but the children of the Kingdom rejected (Mat 8:12). He tried to make them realize from their own Scriptures the futility of their reliance on descent, by referring to the favour shown Naaman the Syrian and the widow of Zarephath (Luk 4:25 ff.). The parables of the Labourers in the Vineyard (Mat 20:1 ff.) and of the Householder’s rebellious servants (Mat 21:33 ff.) were plainly intended to make His hearers see how little worth was in their lofty pretensions as the children of Abraham—the chosen people.

(3) Intellectual haughtiness was also decidedly condemned by Christ. The inclination that springs from the consciousness of ability or learning to scornfully depreciate those of more meagre mental equipment, is one of the most insidious forms of pride. To it certain natures fall victims who would consider family pretensions or religious assumptions of superiority vulgar and discreditable. Many who would loathe the commonly recognized vaingloriousness of the Pharisees are dangerously near sharing in the mental arrogance which prompted the latter to sneer, ‘This multitude which knoweth not the law are accursed’ (Joh 7:49).

The tendency to indulge in lofty contempt from the ‘intellectual throne’ is strikingly portrayed in Tennyson’s Palace of Art—

‘O God-like isolation which art mine,

I can but count thee perfect gain,

What time I watch the darkening droves of swine

That range on yonder plain.’

All such disdainfulness for the simple and unlearned was impressively forbidden by Christ’s warning, ‘See that ye despise not one of these little ones’ (Mat 18:10; cf. a striking sermon by Bp. Boyd Carpenter on ‘The Dangers of Contempt’). Again, our Lord bore witness to the supreme importance of simplicity and innocence, as opposed to superciliousness and pride, when He said of the little children, ‘Of such is the kingdom of heaven’ (Luk 18:16), and added that the only attitude which qualified for admission was that of a little child. It is noteworthy that the same dispositions of receptivity and absence of hard preconceptions are insisted on by scientists as prime requisites for the student of the kingdom of nature.

(4) The pride that comes from the enjoyment of high official or social rank was discountenanced in one of the most surprising actions of our Lord’s earthly life—the episode of the Feet-washing (John 13). It was a vivid, unforgetable lesson in the duty of self-abasing service. No one who then was present was likely to fall into the sin of presuming on privileges of position, or treating subordinates with selfish, slighting inconsiderateness. The imagination of succeeding generations has been intensely impressed by the spectacle of the Son of God washing the travel-stained feet of His poor followers. The pride that jealously exacts sub-servience could not be more effectually proscribed. The homily against those whose self-importance made them claim the place of honour at entertainments (Luk 14:7 ff.) is directed against the same grandiose assumptions. This social arrogance of the Pharisees was one of the points in our Lord’s indictment of them. They loved the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and to be called Rabbi (Mat 23:5 ff.). Any tendency among His disciples to assume lordship was strictly, tenderly suppressed. Once He called them together when such claims were mooted, and pointed out to them how among the outside Gentiles there were those who lorded it and exercised authority. In contrast to that should be their practice. Whoever of them was ambitious of greatness and supremacy could attain it only along the lines of submissive service (Mat 20:25 f.). They had Him as an example, who came not to receive service, but to minister to the needs of others, even to the point of giving up His life for them (Mat 20:28). They were not to arrogate to themselves titles implying mastership (Mat 23:8; Mat 23:10). The question of leadership among them was met by Christ taking a little child and placing it ‘beside himself’ (παρʼ ἑαυτῷ), and saying that the reception of a little child meant the reception of Himself and of His Father who sent Him (Luk 9:46 ff.). In the light of how so stupendous a glory was to be won, their own shortsighted strivings after precedence stood exposed. All such grasping at power and place was a contradiction or the true conception of honour. It was he who humbled himself as a little child that was greatest (Mat 18:4).

5. The essential vice of pride was glanced at in one of these conversations when the Master said, ‘All ye are brethren’ (Mat 23:8). Pride is an injury to the bond of brotherhood; it is disloyalty in the Christian household; it is a breach of fellowship. The selfish despising of our fellow-creatures is a contradiction of the law of love. It cannot coexist with a true-hearted affection for all men. Pride is self-centred, and plumes itself on the gap between ourselves and those beneath us. It revels in the feeling of superiority. Nothing could be more opposed than this to the self-sacrificing love which is bent on raising and helping. Pride also betrays a lack of perception as to our own true position before God. It reveals an undue magnifying of relative differences.

6. The word ‘pride’ is often used in another and a harmless sense which may imply no more than a fit appreciation of benefits, a lofty sense of honour, a dignified aloofness that will not stoop to what is mean or defiling. In this better sense Milton can speak of ‘modest pride,’ and Moore deplore the loss of the ‘pride of former days.’ The distinction is clear between this pardonable and highly useful feeling—a feeling which may be accompanied with real humility—and a haughtiness of spirit, a contemptuous looking down on others, a selfish glorying in one’s own superiority. See also Humility, Meekness.

Literature.—Aristotle, Nic. Ethiopic iv. 3; Kant, Met. of Ethiopic (Clark’s ed.), 241; Liddon, Univ. Serm. ii. 203, BL [Note: L Bampton Lecture.] ^{8 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred]} , 491; Medd, The One Mediator, 416; Alford, Quebec Chapel Serm. ii. 15; Stalker, Seven Deadly Sins, I; Wickham in Oxford Univ. Serm. (ed. Bebb), 332; Bunyan, Pilg. Prog., Pt. ii. ‘The Valley of Humiliation’; Longfellow’s ‘King Robert of Sicily’; Bp. Magee, The Gospel and the Age (‘Knowledge without Love’).

W. S. Kerr.

The inordinate love of our own pre-eminence. This love becomes inordinate if it blinds us to the truth that our good qualities come from God and that others have similar or even greater gifts, and if it begets a spirit of independence which is impatient of subjection to any authority, human or Divine, and leads to a depreciation and contempt of others.

Pride is the excessive love of one’s own excellence. It is ordinarily accounted one of the seven capital sins. St. Thomas, however, endorsing the appreciation of St. Gregory, considers it the queen of all vices, and puts vainglory in its place as one of the deadly sins. In giving it this pre-eminence he takes it in a most formal and complete signification. He understands it to be that frame of mind in which a man, through the love of his own worth, aims to withdraw himself from subjection to Almighty God, and sets at naught the commands of superiors. It is a species of contempt of God and of those who bear his commission. Regarded in this way, it is of course mortal sin of a most heinous sort. Indeed St. Thomas rates it in this sense as one of the blackest of sins. By it the creature refuses to stay within his essential orbit; he turns his back upon God, not through weakness or ignorance, but solely because in his self-exaltation he is minded not to submit. His attitude has something Satanic in it, and is probably not often verified in human beings. A less atrocious kind of pride is that which imples one to make much of oneself unduly and without sufficient warrant, without however any disposition to cast off the dominion of the Creator. This may happen, according to St. Gregory, either because a man regards himself as the source of such advantages as he may discern in himself, or because, whilst admitted that God has bestowed them, he reputes this to have been in response to his own merits, or because he attributes to himself gifts which he has not; or, finally, because even when these are real he unreasonably looks to be put ahead of others. Supposing the conviction indicated in the first two instances to be seriously entertained, the sin would be a grievous one and would have the added guilt of heresy. Ordinarily, however, this erroneous persuasion does not exist; it is the demeanour that is reprehensible. The last two cases generally speaking are not held to constitute grave offences. This is not true, however, whenever a man’s arrogance is the occasion of great harm to another, as, for instance, his undertaking the duties of a physician without the requisite knowledge. The same judgment is to be rendered when pride has given rise to such temper of soul that in the pursuit of its object one is ready of anything, even mortal sin. Vainglory, ambition, and presumption are commonly enumerated as the offspring vices of pride, because they are well adapted to serve its inordinate aims. Of themselves they are venial sins unless some extraneous consideration puts them in the ranks of grievous transgressions. It should be noted that presumption does not here stand for the sin against hope. It means the desire to essay what exceeds one’s capacity.-----------------------------------JOSEPH F. DELANY Transcribed by Jim Holden The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIICopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

This word occurs thrice in the AV_: in Mar_7:22 as the rendering of ὑðåñçöáíßá, in 1Jn_2:16 of ἀëáæüíåéá, in 1Ti_3:6 as the rendering (‘lifted up with pride’) of ôõöüù (the same verb is found in 1Ti_6:4, ‘he is proud’ [RV_ ‘pulled up’], and in 2Ti_3:4, ‘highminded’ [‘puffed up’ RV_]; it is formed from the substantive ôýöïò, ‘smoke’ or ‘cloud,’ which does not occur in the NT, but is found in the metaphorical use in 1 Clem. xiii. 1 along with ἀëáæüíåéá and suggests the pride which beclouds the moral sense and destroys self-control). In 1Co_13:4, where we read that love ‘vaunteth not itself’ (ïὐ ðåñðåñåýåôáé), ‘is not puffed up’ (ïὐ öõóéïῦôáé), the first verb appears to denote the arrogant or forward manner of one who sounds his own praises, the latter (cf. 1Co_4:6; 1Co_8:1) the disposition of self-conceit which loves pre-eminence.

The two words ὑðåñçöáíßá and ἀëáæüíåéá, with their corresponding adjectives, are common in the literature of the early Church: e.g., in Hermas, Mand. VI. ii. 5, both stand together as signs of the presence within the heart of ‘the messenger of wickedness.’ In Rom_1:30 with these is associated the epithet ὑâñéóôÞò (AV_ ‘despiteful,’ RV_ ‘insolent’); but ὕâñéò indicates the unrestrained insolence of wrong-doing (common in Greek tragedy) rather than pride in the strict sense: it is essentially the contempt of others breaking forth into acts of wantonness and outrage, and therefore the strongest word of the three in the scale of guilt. In distinguishing the pride of the ἀëÜæùí from that of the ὑðåñÞöáíïò, R. C. Trench (NT Synonyms9, 1880, pp. 98-105) rightly refers the former to ‘speech,’ the latter to ‘thought,’ but not thought, it must be noted, as merely quiescent and passive. The pride of overmastering language is definitely brought out in the use of ἀëáæüíåéá in such passages as Jam_4:16 (AV_ ‘boastings,’ RV_ ‘vauntings’) and 1 Clem. xxi. 5; in 1Jn_2:16 Trench suggests that the Germ. Prahlerei is the most adequate rendering; the English ‘pride’ is too vague and colourless; and Beza’s ‘gloriosus’ is a better rendering of ἀëÜæùí than Vulg._ ‘elatus.’ On the other hand, ὑðåñçöáíßá (Germ. Hochmuth) is a vice developed not so much in society as in the secrecy of the heart; none the less, it manifests itself in outward acts of arrogance, cruelty, and revengefulness. The ‘proud’ of Jam_4:6; 1Pe_5:5, Pro_3:34 are those whose overweening treatment of others calls forth and merits the Divine antagonism.

B. F. Westcott (Epistles of St. John, 1886, p. 65) suggests that while ἀëáæüíåéá may be referred to a false view of what things are in themselves, empty and unstable-a sin against truth-ὑðåñçöÜíéá is a sin against love as implying a false view of what our relations to other persons are. Thus, ‘the vainglory of life’ is a false view of the value of our possessions, and therefore ἀëáæüíåéá in 1Jn_2:16 is rightly associated with life (âßïò) in its external and transient significance, not in its essential principle (æùÞ).

It may be noted that the verb êáõ÷Üïìáé, with its corresponding nouns êáý÷çìá and êáý÷çóéò (see art._ Boasting) is often used by St. Paul in a good sense to indicate the legitimate pride with which an apostle contemplates the effects of his ministry in the life and conduct of his converts (e.g. 2Co_9:2, Php_2:16); it also expresses the sacred glorying of the inner life in God or Christ (e.g. 1Co_1:31, Php_3:3, and elsewhere)-a characteristic and very common Pauline expression.

The pride of racial exclusiveness, e.g. of Greek towards barbarian and especially of Jew towards Gentile, as done away in Christ, is a common theme with the same apostle; cf. Rom_10:12 (and argument of the whole chapter), Gal_3:28.

R. Martin Pope.

Pride is possibly the most common sin of all. It is the root sin, the means that Satan used in successfully tempting the original humans to rebel against their maker (Gen 3:1-6; 1Jn 2:16). It remains a characteristic feature of fallen human nature and one of the hardest evils to overcome (Pro 16:18; Dan 5:20; Oba 1:3; Mar 7:21-22; Rom 1:28-30).

The essence of pride is self-centredness. The pleasure of the proud is not just to have something, but to have more of it than anyone else; not just to be something, but to be better than anyone else (Pro 14:21; Mat 23:5-7; Mat 23:12; 1Jn 2:16). Pride causes people to rebel against God because he is above them, and despise fellow human beings because, in their view, they are below them (Exo 5:2; Isa 14:12-15; Luk 18:9-11).

To feel pleasure at being praised is not pride, provided the pleasure comes from having pleased someone else (Mat 25:21). But if the pleasure is that of delighting in oneself or holding a high opinion of oneself, that is pride (Mat 6:2; Mat 6:5; Joh 12:43). In like manner, to feel pleasure in some other person or thing (to feel proud of it) is not pride in the sinful sense, providing it is only unselfish admiration (Hag 1:8; Gal 6:14). But if the pleasure is a feeling of conceit, the pride is sinful (Isa 25:11; Dan 4:30).

Pride is a sin that is particularly hateful to God (Pro 8:13; Pro 16:5). Those who practise it bring against themselves God’s opposition, and guarantee for themselves a humiliating punishment (Lev 26:19; Pro 29:23; Isa 13:11; Isa 16:6; Dan 4:37; Luk 1:51; Luk 18:14; Jas 4:6). (See also BOASTING; HUMILITY; HYPOCRISY.)

Pride can refer to a reasonable or justifiable self-respect, but it can also mean improper and excessive self-esteem, known as conceit or arrogance.

Positive and Negative Pride

The apostle Paul showed a positive kind of pride when he spoke about his confidence in Christians or strength in the Lord (2 Corinthians 7:4; 12:5, 9). However, the Bible mostly refers to the negative side of pride in both the Old and New Testaments.

In the Bible, pride often means having an attitude of being high or superior, which is the opposite of humility. One Greek word for pride describes someone who seems important but is really just puffed up with self-importance (for example, 1 Corinthians 5:2; 8:1; 13:4; Colossians 2:18).

Pride as a Sin

Pride is a sin of attitude and spirit. So it is said, “Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the guides of the wicked—are sin” (Proverbs 21:4). Ecclesiastes 7:8 talks about being proud in spirit, and the psalmist says, “O LORD, my eyes are not haughty” (Psalm 131:1).

Pride is cited in the two lists of the most obvious sins in the Bible. n addition to the sins for which God will judge the gentiles, Paul lists insolence, arrogance, and boasting (Romans 1:30). Paul also mentions that in the last days, people will be boastful, arrogant, and conceited (2 Timothy 3:2–4).

Just like many sins of attitude, pride cannot remain internal:

• It can affect how someone speaks:

  • They may boast more often (Malachi 3:13).

• It can affect how someone looks:

  • They may have “haughty eyes” or "a proud look" (Proverbs 6:17; Psalm 101:5; Proverbs 30:13).

• It can affect how someone treats others:

  • They may treat others rudely (Proverbs 21:24). For example, how the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders treated and talked about those they saw as lesser (for example, Matthew 23:5–12; John 9:34). This was especially true of tax collectors and sinners.

Biblical Examples of Pride Leading to Downfall

The Bible gives several examples of pride leading to downfall:

• Pride was the downfall of King Uzziah, who, because of this sin, dared to offer incense on the altar of incense and was made sick with leprosy as his punishment from God (2 Chronicles 26:16).

• Hezekiah, after his healing by the Lord, became proud of heart and brought God’s anger upon himself, Judah, and Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:25–26).

• The Pharisee praying in the temple, comparing himself with the humble tax collector, is another example (Luke 18:9–14).

• Herod’s refusal to give God the glory for his greatness brought judgment from God; Herod was eaten by worms and died for his sin of pride (Acts 12:21–23).

• Ezekiel 28, which describes the pride of the leader of Tyre, is taken by many biblical scholars to refer, in a deeper sense, to the fall of Satan back in the beginning.

Pride not only causes personal downfall but can also affect nations. It was a key reason for the removal of Israel and Judah from Canaan (Isaiah 3:16; 5:15; Ezekiel 16:50; Hosea 13:6; Zephaniah 3:11). It also led to the downfall of the Assyrian king and Moabite king (Isaiah 10:12, 33; Jeremiah 48:29). Because of its deadliness, Israel is warned against pride and forgetting God (Deuteronomy 8:14).

God Hates Pride

Given this, it is clear why the Bible says pride is one of the seven things God hates (Proverbs 6:17). It also mentions that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5; see also Proverbs 3:34; 18:12). The hymn of Mary, the mother of Jesus, may summarize the attitude of God towards pride: “He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble” (Luke 1:51–52).

Aquifer Open Bible Dictionary © 2026 Mission Mutual, an adaptation of the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Arrogance or delusions of greatness on account of one's achievements, status or possessions. Scripture frequently speaks of God humbling the proud.

Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.