The Bible describes pride as sin. Pride goes before destruction (Prov. 16:18), puts one out of an unsatisfactory relationship with God (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6), and definately will yield a regrettable end (Prov. 29:23). Nebuchadnezzar was judged for his proud spirit (Dan. 4), Haman was beset with pride (Esther 5), and Pharaoh fell for doing this. God plans to humble the proud (Matt. 23:12).
Christian theologians have addressed the thought of pride mainly from the tradition of Augustine, who viewed pride since the first sin and so spent plenty of his energy on discussing it. The keystone of his argument would have been a text in Ecclesiasticus that reads, “pride may be the beginning of sin.” The verse has later been viewed as questionable in meaning. Nonetheless, on this basis Augustine proceeded to look at late Satan as portrayed in Ezekiel and Isaiah as principally motivated by pride. “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty” (Ezek. 28:17, NIV). What led Satan to his fall was likewise the undoing in the human race inside the garden of Eden. Augustine felt that pride in the extreme may be the unpardonable sin (Green, 1949). He wrote extensively about his own struggles with pride, describing it his greatest temptation.
Study regarding pride has also been the subject of great interest to Christians in monastic traditions and later on for the Pietists. Bernard of Clairvaux within the Steps of Humility declared that people will take steps upward should they pursue humility; however, if they pursue pride, their steps will lead downward, following the course of Satan. Bernard points too you can find 12 steps that can lead one through the beginnings of pride-curiosity-to its undesirable expression, habitual sin. The intervening steps are frivolity, foolish mirth, boastfulness, singularity (gonna all ends to show oneself superior), conceit, audacity, excusing of sins, hypocritical confession, defiance, and freedom to sin. The first step of pride (curiosity) is the last step of humility (downcast eyes). The past step of pride (habitual sin) ought to be the reasons for true humility (worries of the Lord).
Bernard’s outline is actually sermonic in tone and designed just as one instructive tool for aspiring monastics. But with all of its medieval format, his description of pride rings true. Modern psychology doesn’t need much to increase his outline. Pride elevates the self, seeks to own one’s worth identified by others, which is unaware of obvious personal faults. The proud person has difficulty functioning interpersonally, since she or he does not receive or process feedback from others within a satisfactory manner. Nor does the proud person fare well from the task to become other-centered. Pride forms an important aspect in the psychological construct of narcissism.
Pride, psychologically considered, is defensive naturally. By definition pride isn’t a fair and true estimate of self; it becomes an overestimate. Hence the proud person is motivated to cover up a subconscious sense of inferiority or perhaps motivated to overcompensate for actual inadequacies. Pride may be part of an ill-formed approach to social interaction; the proud person may genuinely feel her or his pride to be the best way to working with self and others and could be not aware flaws that preclude the pride. Pride thrives on deference and praise from others. It may well have its roots in parental overindulgence or in a credentials that created deep personal insecurities in which the pride is compensating.
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