Back to series
May 2003
C.S. Lewis called it The Great Sin. Thomas Aquinas and Augustine called it the essence of all sin. It holds first place among the Seven Deadly Sins. The Bible suggests it was the cause of Lucifer’s fall from heaven. It also led to the fall of mankind. And all of us suffer from it in some measure, whether we know it or not.
“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through pride that the devil became the devil: pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind….it is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.”1
Lewis tells us that pride is “essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature—while the other vices are only competitive, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only having more of it than the next man….it is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest.”2
Because of its nature, pride eats away at our relationships. “…pride always means enmity—it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man but enmity to God….as long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”3
The remedy for our pride is humility. “If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited, indeed.”4
Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts;
and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
PSALM 139.23-24
1 Mere Christianity, McMillan, p. 109, 110-111
2 ibid, 109, 110
3 ibid, 111
4 ibid, 114
COPYRIGHT: This publication is published by C.S. Lewis Institute; 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 301; Springfield, VA 22151. Portions of the publication may be reproduced for noncommercial, local church or ministry use without prior permission. Electronic copies of the PDF files may be duplicated and transmitted via e-mail for personal and church use. Articles may not be modified without prior written permission of the Institute. For questions, contact the Institute: 703.914.5602 or email us.
-
Recent Podcasts
Dismantling Atheism – Daniel’s Story
by Jana Harmon, Daniel on August 30, 2024Former atheist Daniel’s questions about the world and...Read More
-
How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism
by Joseph Loconte on August 23, 2024
-
The Side B Stories – Exciting News for Side B Stories
by Jana Harmon on August 16, 2024
-
Recent Publications
A Christian Response to Anti-Semitism
by Darrell Bock, Randy Newman, Thomas A. Tarrants on August 15, 2024A distinctive panel discussion with Darrel Bock, Randy...Read More
-
What Scientific Proof Do We Have That There Is a God?
by Christopher L. Reese on August 1, 2024
-
Hasn’t Science Proven That Belief in God Is an Outdated Superstition?
by Sharon Dirckx on July 1, 2024
0
All Booked
0.00
All Booked
0.00
All Booked
19625
Join Us On A Journey Of Faith – Live Online Small Group Classes 8PM Eastern Africa Time
https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/?event=join-us-on-a-journey-of-faith&event_date=2024-09-12®=1
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
2024-09-12
![](https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Journey-featured-image-600x360.png)
Next coming event
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Join Us On A Journey Of Faith – Live Online Small Group Classes 8PM Eastern Africa Time
On September 12, 2024 at 1:00 pmSpeakers
C.S. Lewis Institute
Author