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Pride...Good or Bad?- Jamie Peters

The main thing I want to talk about today is one quote from this week's reading: "Pride, then, seems to be a sort of crown of the virtues; for it makes them greater, and it is not found without them" (Aristotle 38). The word pride is a trigger word for most Christians. In the Renaissance Period, it was considered tot worst of the Seven Deadly Sins. In Biblical terms, pride was almost always the downfall of great leaders, like Samson (jeez), King Nebuchadnezzar, and Moses. It is almost like pride is completely abolished in the Bible in favor of the other virtues because of its volatility and unbalanced nature. 

And yet, just as Aristotle says, pride really is the crowning virtue of Christianity. Our pride, however, is not placed in our own accomplishments like the Ancient Greeks. Our pride is placed in the fact that we know where our allegiance is. Additionally, the pride we feel in being in the fold of Jesus is widely proclaimed like the gossip of Aristotle's rules. We are, however, able to walk confidently, or slow, as he puts it (39) and we are able to put our time and effort into beautiful yet fruitless things as long as it serves the purpose of boosting Jesus' greatness. Somehow, the pride of a Christian is simultaneously the complete opposite and eerily similar to Aristotle's idea of the virtue of Pride. What do you guys think?


I commented on Abbie's and Hailey Morgan's posts.

Comments

  1. Lily CaswellOctober 26, 2020 at 10:29 PM

    Amen, sister! I think Christians sometimes switch the terms pride and boastfulness. We are called to boast in Christ but not boast about ourselves and our accomplishments.

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  2. Braylan StringfellowOctober 26, 2020 at 10:36 PM

    Pride is a tricky subject to talk about because there is so many forms of pride. The type of pride most of us think about is the bad kinds. However there is some things to be proud about like the fact that you are a Christian or what God has done. Pride is bad when it focuses on ourselves.

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  3. Rachael GregsonOctober 27, 2020 at 12:20 AM

    I think for something to be considered 'good' or 'bad', in this case we're talking pride, two things should be taken into deep thought. One is the amount. Like Aristotle's golden mean, things should not be excessive, nor should they be insufficient. Secondly, the source of the pride should be tracked down to its root, and the intentions behind it laid bare. Because intentions will always tell everything.

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