Humility and pride in the early church

Didache 3.9Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Be humble and keep company with the humble.
1 Clement 13.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Be humble, boasting only in the Lord, and remember Jesus's teaching.
1 Clement 13.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Obey Christ's words with humility.
1 Clement 13.4Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · God looks on the humble.
1 Clement 14.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The proud vanish, but the peaceable have a future.
1 Clement 16.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Christ belongs to the humble, not to those who lord it over his flock.
1 Clement 16.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Christ came in humility, as the Spirit foretold.
1 Clement 16.17Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · If the Lord was so humble, how much more should we be.
1 Clement 17.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Imitate the humble prophets.
1 Clement 17.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Abraham humbly called himself dust and ashes.
1 Clement 17.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Moses, though glorified, was humble.
1 Clement 19.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The humility of the saints has benefited every generation.
1 Clement 30.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.
1 Clement 30.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Be humble and self-controlled, justified by deeds, not words.
1 Clement 30.8Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Arrogance marks the cursed; humility, the blessed.
1 Clement 48.6Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · —the greater one is, the humbler one should be.
To the Ephesians 3.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius writes humbly, as one only beginning to be a disciple.
To the Ephesians 5.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Those who avoid the assembly are proud; to be subject to God, do not oppose the bishop.
To the Trallians 4.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius guards himself against pride and flattery.
Diatessaron, section 32Tatian · ca. 160-180
Diatessaron, section 40Tatian · ca. 160-180
Diatessaron, section 44Tatian · ca. 160-180
Against Heresies 3.20.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · As God let Jonah be swallowed in order to save him, so he let man be swallowed by the serpent, so that man, rescued beyond hope, would glorify God and not think his incorruption his own by nature.
Against Heresies 4.36.8Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The parables of the publican, the two sons, and the barren fig tree, and the lament over Jerusalem, all point to one God who visited his people through the prophets and calls the nations.
Against Heresies 5.3.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Paul’s thorn in the flesh shows that God’s power is perfected in weakness, so that man learns by experience his own mortality and God’s power.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 12.2Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · The philosophers who gave up wealth often grew proud and vain, so their souls were worse, not better.
Miscellanies 4.17.106Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Following 1 Clement, Abraham, Job, and Moses are models of humility: Abraham called himself dust and ashes, Job confessed no one is pure, Moses called himself slow of tongue; God gives grace to the humble.
On the Dress of Women 2.3Tertullian · ca. 197–206 · Even harmless beauty is useless to chaste women and not a proper object of glory; Christians glory in the flesh only when it suffers for Christ.
On the Dress of Women 2.9Tertullian · ca. 197–206 · Rich clothing serves vanity; like those who renounce marriage or wine for God, Christian women should use wealth as if not using it, since the time is short.
On Prayer 17Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · Prayer should be offered humbly and quietly, like the tax collector's, since God hears the heart, as Jonah's prayer from the whale shows.
Pistis Sophia 38Anonymous · 3rd century
2.6Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-204 · On Daniel 2:24–43: Daniel is brought before the king, gives God the glory for revealing the mystery, and recounts the dream of the great image and its interpretation.
Commentary on Daniel 3.4Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-204 · Nebuchadnezzar's dream rebuked his pride; like Antiochus Epiphanes and Sennacherib, proud kings are punished, so that all may know the authority of heaven.
Commentary on Daniel 3.5Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-204 · Twelve months after setting up the image Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom; the lemma of Daniel 4:19–35 gives Daniel's interpretation and its fulfilment.
Commentary on Daniel 3.10Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-204 · The seven times are reckoned by some as seven years, by others as seven seasons; the stump left in the earth was for the king's instruction in humility.
Commentary on Daniel 3.11Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-204 · Nebuchadnezzar reigned twenty-five years: eighteen before his pride, then his fall, then seven more after his repentance, as the lemma of Daniel 4:34–37 records.
Commentary on Daniel 3.17Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-204 · On Daniel 5:13–28: Daniel refuses the king's gifts, recalls Nebuchadnezzar's humbling, rebukes Belshazzar's sacrilege, and reads and interprets the writing.
Against Marcion 4.36Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The parables of the persistent widow and of the Pharisee and the publican, the rich young ruler, and the blind man who called Jesus “son of David” all show that Christ taught prayer to, and obedience toward, the Creator, and was truly David's descendant.
On the Veiling of Virgins 13Tertullian · ca. 208–213 · Virgins who veil themselves in public but go bareheaded in church are seeking the brothers' praise, whereas Christ commands that good deeds, and above all the offering of one's own body, be done in secret for God alone.
On First Principles 3.1.12Origen · ca. 220–230 (Rufinus's translation 398) · The prophets' “why have you hardened our heart?” means that God's sparing let sin grow; God corrects those he receives as sons and leaves others for a later cure, so that no one may think his goodness his own.
Fragment on Matthew 12:15Origen · ca. 220-254 · Jesus' withdrawal and his order to keep his healings quiet (Matt 12:15–16) show restraint and humility, not fear.
Fragments on Proverbs, column 169Origen · ca. 220-254 · Demons cannot reach the mind given to wisdom; almsgiving and meekness drive away terrors; the Lord resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.
PG 12:1065Origen · ca. 220-254 · The titles “for a pillar inscription” (humility, Psalms 55–56 LXX), “for a remembrance” (David’s sin), “a prayer,” and “do not destroy” (David’s forbearance toward Saul).
PG 12:1109 (Ps 2 LXX)Origen · ca. 220-254 · Christ is the rod for the more beastlike and the flower for those worthy of kindness; the shattering of the nations “like a potter’s vessel” is the beneficial breaking of the proud spirit and heart, as in Psalm 50 (LXX).
PG 12:1617 (Ps 118 LXX)Origen · ca. 220-254 · Notes on Psalm 119:152–157 (LXX 118): the testimonies as a living foundation, humility before God, salvation as the knowledge of God, and the need of even the most righteous for mercy.
PG 12:1643 (Ps 129–131 LXX)Origen · ca. 220-254 · Notes on Psalm 131 (LXX 130) and Psalm 132 (LXX 131): the humble-minded righteous man, the weaned child exalted to the Jerusalem above, David's meekness, and the priests clothed with the virtues.
Commentary on John 13.166Origen · ca. 230–248 · Jesus shows his humility by speaking of great things to a poor woman drawing water.
Commentary on John 13.167Origen · ca. 230–248 · We, in our pride, despise humble people, forgetting that each bears God's image.
Commentary on John 28.205Origen · ca. 230–248 · He was seized only because he humbled himself and chose to obey.
Commentary on John 32.46Origen · ca. 230–248 · The glorified Word humbles himself in washing the disciples' feet.
On Prayer 19.2Origen · ca. 233–234 · Jesus condemns praying for human glory; those who pray or give to be seen already have their reward, as the rich man had his good things in this life.
Homily on Luke 2Origen · ca. 233–250 · Zechariah and Elizabeth show that one who has ceased to sin can be called without sin, and that true righteousness is righteousness before God, done blamelessly and without vainglory.
Homily on Luke 8Origen · ca. 233–250 · Mary magnifies the Lord by making her soul, the image of Christ who is God’s image, great; the “lowliness” God regarded is the virtue of humility.
Homily on 1 Samuel 1.14Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · We are in danger even in good things, for the devil uses visions, miracles, and virtues to stir up pride; therefore no boasting should leave our mouth.
Homilies on Exodus 11.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Moses' acceptance of Jethro's advice to appoint leaders teaches church leaders humility and foreshadows the Gentiles bringing the spiritual sense to the law, which by its letter brings nothing to perfection.
Homilies on Ezekiel 9.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · Sodom’s chief sin was pride, the devil’s own sin and the greatest of all, a danger also for clergy; and to be “justified” only by comparison with worse sinners is no praise.
Homilies on Ezekiel 9.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · Sodom’s pride grew from plenty, like that of the rich man who ignored Lazarus; such arrogance makes anyone a “Sodomite” in the sense of Ezek 16:49.
Homilies on Ezekiel 9.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · Neglect of the poor and boasting are Sodom’s sins, found within us; both wealth and spiritual gifts breed pride, as Paul’s thorn and David’s fall after boasting of his purity show.
Homilies on Joshua 12.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Christ himself commands that the kingdom of heaven be taken by force; the kings of Makkedah, Lachish, and Libnah figure spiritual enemies and vices, and the soldiers of Jesus must return unwounded and without boasting.
Homilies on Joshua 20.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Anak means “empty humility,” the humiliation of sin and the lowly ideas of poets and philosophers about the divine; its three sons stand for the errors of idolatry, which the law cuts off, and Debir, “speech,” shows the letter of the Old Testament turned into spiritual speech in the church.
Homilies on Joshua 24.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Joshua, who distributed all the land, took his own portion last and received it from the people, an example of the humility commanded of leaders.
Homilies on Judges 3.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Israel's subjection to Cushan-rishathaim, "their humiliation," shows how God hands the proud, even now in the church, to a hostile power to humble and heal them.
Homilies on Judges 3.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Pride can infect even the clergy; God punishes in measure, and those who repent and cry to him of their own accord are delivered.
Homilies on Numbers 12.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Israel's request to pass through Sihon's land figures the baptismal renunciation of the devil, and victory over him comes by keeping Christ's commandments.
Homilies on Numbers 23.10Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The Day of Atonement shows that God’s feasts consist in afflicting and humbling the soul, as the bread of affliction and bitter herbs of Passover also teach, so that Christ the propitiation may come to it.
Homilies on Psalms 36-38 5.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The righteous will see sinners perish; the exalted ungodly vanish for one who “passes by” in mind from the visible and temporal to the eternal, and the heretics who set another God above the Creator vanish when the letter of the law is passed over for its spiritual sense.
Homilies on Jeremiah 4.4Origen · ca. 240 · Israel's fall should make us fear, since God is both kind and severe; the “high mountains” and “leafy trees” of Israel's idolatry are pride, like the Pharisee's, and the attractive but fruitless words of heretics.
Homilies on Jeremiah 8.4Origen · ca. 240 · God brings up his clouds, the saints, from the “end” of the earth, from those who make themselves last, like the apostles; lightning, which comes from clouds striking each other, is next explained.
Homilies on Jeremiah 11.4Origen · ca. 240 · Boasting in wealth, birth, fine clothes, or even wisdom is shameful; the only right boasting is Paul's, in the cross, in weakness, and in sufferings for Christ.
Homilies on Jeremiah 12.7Origen · ca. 240 · “Hear” refers to receiving Scripture's hidden meanings into the mind, “give ear” to its plain lessons; and both must be followed by humility, since pride is a common sin even over good things.
Homilies on Jeremiah 12.8Origen · ca. 240 · People are proud of birth, power, or wealth, which is absurd, and even of wisdom, chastity, or suffering for Christ, which is plausible but still dangerous; Paul was given a thorn in the flesh so that he would not be proud of his revelations.
Homilies on Jeremiah 17.5Origen · ca. 240 · Only Christ, the physician of souls, can truly be asked “heal me and I shall be healed,” as the woman with the hemorrhage found; the one who renounces every earthly boast can say to God, “you are my boast.”
On the Singleness of Clerics 21Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Clerics who cite the apostles to justify keeping women do not imitate their poverty, fasting, and sufferings, and presume to be their equals, against Christ's humility.
On the Singleness of Clerics 22Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul, though he labored more than all, refused to take a woman companion lest he fall into temptation; clerics must not overrate their strength, since each has his own gift.
Against Celsus 3.64Origen · ca. 248 · A repentant sinner is preferred only to a self-satisfied man who thinks himself righteous, as in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
Against Celsus 6.15Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus says Christian humility is a garbled borrowing from Plato's Laws, but Origen shows it is older, from the Psalms, and was taught above all by Christ, who humbled himself to death on a cross.
Against Celsus 7.24Origen · ca. 248 · Scripture's warnings against seeking glory and its promises that the righteous will be fed do not contradict Jesus' teaching on not worrying about food and clothing, since the promised food is nourishment of the soul.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 12Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Ambition for honour and titles is found in the Church too, among deacons, presbyters, and bishops; the true disciple seeks spiritual first places, calls no one on earth teacher or father, and follows Christ's humility.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 80Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Jesus did not name the traitor so that each heart might be tested; the faithful apostles were saddened because human nature can be turned to evil, and so everyone not yet perfect must fear his own fall and never boast, as Peter's denial shows.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 88Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · By promising never to stumble after Jesus had foretold that all would, Peter in effect made the Truth a liar, and so was left to deny him three times; had he prayed for help instead, he might have been kept from it; the other disciples promised only after a prophecy that did not concern them.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 90Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Jesus only “began” to be sorrowful, according to his human nature and not his impassible divinity, to teach the disciples, especially self-confident Peter, that the flesh is weak; he kept the three at a set distance, since each must remain in the rank of his calling.
Commentary on Matthew 11.15Origen · ca. 246–248 · Evil thoughts in the heart are the spring of all sin and can corrupt even good acts such as almsgiving, chastity, teaching, and seeking the office of bishop; eating with an unwashed heart, not unwashed hands, defiles.
Commentary on Matthew 13.16Origen · ca. 246–248 · In the simple sense, Origen explains becoming like children as reaching by reason the freedom from lust, anger, grief, pleasure, fear, grudges, and pride that small children have by age.
Commentary on Matthew 15.8Origen · ca. 246–248 · Mature believers must not despise the simple but become children with them; and Matthew’s wording raises the question why Jesus is said to lay on hands but not to pray.
Commentary on Matthew 15.26Origen · ca. 246–248 · “The first will be last” warns those proud of long Christian ancestry or clerical forebears, and applies to unbelieving Israel and to the believing nations, though not every Israelite is last nor every Gentile believer first.
Commentary on Matthew 16.8Origen · ca. 246–248 · Jesus forbids church leaders to lord it over others as Gentile rulers do, a fault Origen sees among bishops of his day; Christ came to serve and gave his soul as a ransom to the evil one, who could not hold it, his divinity not being the ransom.
Commentary on Romans 3.9Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Paul concludes that boasting is excluded and a person is justified by faith without the works of the law, as the penitent thief and the sinful woman show; but faith received is no license to sin, works without faith cannot justify, and the only just boast is in the cross of Christ.
Commentary on Romans 4.9Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Through Christ we boast even in tribulations, which are truly good because they produce patience, proof, hope, and love, unlike indifferent things such as wealth or strength; the tribulations of the righteous include self-discipline, while the sufferings of the wicked are 'scourges'; the love of God poured out by the Spirit is the greatest gift; and Christ's death for the ungodly moves martyrs to die boldly for him, refuting those who separate the 'just' God of the law from the 'good' Father of Christ.
Commentary on Romans 8.11Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Against the Valentinians' fixed natures, Origen holds that all rational beings share one nature and become good or wild olives by free choice; the holy root is Christ, and Gentile believers must not boast over the broken branches but fear God's severity.
Commentary on Romans 9.17Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Pride must be shunned in all things, and consenting to the lowly is to imitate Christ's self-humbling.
To Quirinus 2.13Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Isaiah's suffering servant, the Psalms, Zechariah's high priest, and Paul's hymn in Philippians show that Christ came first in humility.
To Quirinus 3.4Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Since everything we have is received from God, no one should boast.
To Quirinus 3.5Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Scripture commends humility and quietness: God looks on the lowly, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.
Letter 14.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian charges his clergy to care for the faithful poor and needy confessors, and to teach the confessors humility after the example of Christ and Paul.
Letter 59.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Threats are no reason to relax discipline; Scripture shows that the proud, who speak from the spirit of Antichrist, are brought low, and the tongue is punished for what it has spoken.
Letter 66.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · It is Puppianus, not Cyprian, who lacks humility in judging his bishop; Scripture shows God, Christ, and Paul upholding priestly honor.
On the Lord's Prayer 6Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 252 · The humble tax collector, not the self-satisfied Pharisee, is the model for prayer.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 21Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Confession under persecution is only a beginning; confessors must persevere in humility and unity, or their guilt will be greater.
Against Novatian 13Anonymous · after 251 (disputed) · Scripture warns against pride and judging others; Novatian, once compassionate, now drives the lapsed back to paganism, though Christ in Revelation calls even sinful churches to repent.
Symposium 11.1Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd century · Arete judges that true chastity governs every member and the heart, not only the body, and crowns all the speakers, giving Thecla the greater crown.
Apostolic Church Order 11Anonymous · ca. 300 · Against lying, love of money, grumbling and pride; be meek, merciful, humble, and accept what happens as from God.
Church History 5.2.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The confessors, imitating Christ's humility, refused to be called martyrs.
Letter to Zenas and Serenus 9Anonymous · 4th century (disputed) · Counsel on humility, quiet speech, sincere psalmody, listening, and avoiding contentiousness and boasting.
Divine Institutes 3.22.3Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · True equality comes from removing pride, not property or marriage.
Divine Institutes 5.15.6Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Those who make themselves lower will be raised higher by God.
Divine Institutes 5.15.7Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Contending for rank is contrary to wisdom.
Divine Institutes 5.15.9Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Christ taught that the humble will be exalted.
Divine Institutes 5.15.10Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · The humble are distinguished before God.
Divine Institutes 6.18.3Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Boasting of good works forfeits the heavenly reward.
Divine Institutes 6.25.12Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · The highest worship is humble praise from a just man.
Preparation for the Gospel 8.9.36Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Sacrificial animals must be tame, signifying humility.
Preparation for the Gospel 11.13.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Plato’s Laws: God holds beginning, middle, and end; Justice follows him, punishing the proud.
Preparation for the Gospel 11.13.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Scripture parallels Plato on the downfall of the proud; Eusebius turns to the second cause.
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 62.3Lactantius · ca. 314–320 · Always confess and give thanks; God exalts the humble.
Letter 2.5Antony the Great · before 356 · Antony prays that the brothers may discern the demons' hidden attacks, which sow unbelief, anger, self-justification, judging of others, and pride.
Letter 2.10Antony the Great · before 356 · Antony urges unceasing prayer, warns that the demons' chief weapons are pride, vainglory, and enmity among brothers, and points to Christ's washing of feet as the example of humility.
Theophany 5.38Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Book 4, lines 51–75Juvencus · ca. 330 · Jesus warns against the scribes and Pharisees: do what they teach, not what they do; one teacher and one Father; woes.
Demonstration 5.2Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 5.3Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 5.4Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 5.7Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 6.10Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 9.1Aphrahat · 337-345 · Humility rescues and bears much fruit, as Scripture testifies of Noah, Moses, and the meek.
Demonstration 9.2Aphrahat · 337-345 · A portrait of the humble: gentle, cheerful, chaste, loving, averse to strife, meditating on the law, and winning over even the proud.
Demonstration 9.3Aphrahat · 337-345 · Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Hezekiah, Mordecai, and Daniel overcame their enemies by humility.
Demonstration 9.4Aphrahat · 337-345 · The humble are free of envy and pride, put on Christ, build on the Rock, live as strangers in the world, and are sons of the Most High, as Mary's song shows.
Demonstration 9.6Aphrahat · 337-345 · Christ, born to angelic praise, taught humility; glory belongs to God alone, and humans should keep to their humble condition and let God exalt them.
Demonstration 9.7Aphrahat · 337-345 · Pride and humility cannot coexist; the rich man and Lazarus, and the Pharisee and the tax collector, show that God exalts the humble, whom the wicked always envy.
Demonstration 9.9Aphrahat · 337-345 · Envy houses the evil spirit as in Saul, while Christ dwells in the humble; the reader is urged to love humility, chastity, and patience and to shun anger.
Demonstration 9.13Aphrahat · 337-345 · The humble keep their standing and are loved; Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job were exalted for their humility.
Demonstration 9.14Aphrahat · 337-345 · Adam exalted himself and was humbled; Christ humbled himself and was exalted; the lover of God should remain in humility, whose fruits reach God's presence.
Demonstration 14.10Aphrahat · 337-345 · A catalogue of the proud brought low, from Adam, Cain, and Ham to Pharaoh, Goliath, Absalom, Haman, and Judas.
Demonstration 14.17Aphrahat · 337-345 · The clergy are called to humble themselves and not to despise God's ministry, lest they be rejected from the priesthood.
Demonstration 14.25Aphrahat · 337-345 · Church leaders prize rank in ordination and titles over the fear of God and good works; Aphrahat confronts a domineering leader whose life contradicts his teaching, citing Ezekiel's shepherds and Christ's woes.
Demonstration 14.33Aphrahat · 337-345 · Throughout history God has raised the lowly and younger over the proud and elder, including women to whom he gave prophecy and judgment.
Life of Constantine 4.10.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · God loves the meek and faithful and humbles the proud.
Life of Constantine 4.48.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine rebuked a cleric who said he would reign with Christ, asking instead for prayer that he be a worthy servant.
Letter 3Ammonas · ca. 340-360 · Works done to please men are not heard by God; Ammonas urges his disciples to fight the spirit of vainglory and to rekindle their fervour, as David did.
Homily on the Paralytic 10Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350-387 · Christ withdrew to avoid praise; his warning "Sin no more" is addressed to all, who must master the flesh and run to the forgiver of sins.
Long recension, Magnesians 12Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius commends the Magnesians' humility with scriptural examples.
Long recension, Hero 5Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius warns Hero against pride, lying and envy, gives counsel for wives and husbands, and charges him to lead the people of Antioch as Joshua succeeded Moses.
On Humility and Obedience 1Anonymous · uncertain (4th-6th century?) · Addressing monks, the preacher says the enemy within is overcome only by humility and love, after the example of Christ who humbled himself for love of us; humility makes one obedient to God.
On Humility and Obedience 2Anonymous · uncertain (4th-6th century?) · True humility is shown to God, not paraded before men; it should be followed by obedience and mutual love, as the members of a body help each other.
On Humility and Obedience 3Anonymous · uncertain (4th-6th century?) · Love, humility and obedience imitate Christ; the soul must side with Christ the physician and God's command against the sickness of sinful habit.
On Humility and Obedience 5Anonymous · uncertain (4th-6th century?) · Fasting and austerities are useful to tame the flesh but become pride if boasted of, like the Pharisee's works; the only way to God is humility, obedience and love.
Commentary on Matthew 20Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 353–355 · Hilary expounds the disciples’ fear and the apostles’ thrones in the regeneration, the laborers in the vineyard (hours as covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and the incarnation), the request of the sons of Zebedee (with Moses and Elijah as the two witnesses), humility in leadership, and the two blind men of Jericho as the nations.
Letter 173Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells the canoness Theodora that the gospel life requires faithful attention to the smallest commandments, and lists the virtues it demands.
Letter 277Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil, moved by a friend's report, praises a young man of noble family who has turned to the life of the Gospel, urging humility and the pursuit of the lasting good over youth, wealth, glory, and eloquence.
Homilies on the Psalms 33.12Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-378 · On Ps 34:17–19 Basil teaches that the righteous cry in the heart for heavenly things; the Lord's nearness to the brokenhearted foretells his coming in the flesh; spiritual humility differs from the degradation of sin; and afflictions are the athlete's contest from which God delivers.
Homilies on the Psalms 61.1Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-378 · Basil explains that the two psalms “for Idithun” (Pss 39 and 62) were composed by David for the temple singer Idithun, and that both teach endurance and humility, by which the humble man is not moved by insults; in Ps 62 the soul refuses to be the slave of the passions and declares that it serves only God, its true King.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 45Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's forty-fifth rule, that the kingdom belongs to those who treat one another as equals like children and love the lowest place, with Rule 46 on showing greater zeal in greater things, whose heading the scan lost.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 57Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Rules 55 (every good is God's gift, and thanksgiving), 56 (on persevering in prayer, and how to pray) and 57 (against pride in one's good deeds), preceded in the scan by a repetition of Rule 54.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 59Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's fifty-ninth rule: Christians must not seek human glory or excessive honour, and must correct those who give it.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 61Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's sixty-first rule: those who serve the Lord's grace must not be despised for their lowliness, since God delights in such people.
Tractates on the Psalms 14.11Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The righteous man does not reproach his neighbour in pride but corrects gently, as the humble tax collector rather than the Pharisee was justified.
Tractates on the Psalms 14.12Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Humility must not become servility: the openly wicked, even powerful ones, are to be held of no account.
Tractates on the Psalms 51.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Boasting in iniquity is condemned, as opposed to boasting in the Lord and the cross; "all day" means a whole lifetime.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.3.14Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God rebukes the proud above all sinners, because pride scorns to obey him.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.3.15Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Pride wipes out good works, as the Pharisee's fasting and tithes were undone by his boast over the tax collector.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.3.16Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Even Paul was given a thorn to keep him from pride, and he forbade a new convert to be made bishop lest he grow proud.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.9.8Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Humiliation is good for the psalmist because through it he learns God's justifications.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.14.8Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The psalmist's oath is fulfilled in humility, the chief lesson Christ, who took a body from the virgin, taught by his example.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.14.10Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Christ, equal with God, humbled himself to the cross, and as the reward of humility the humanity he assumed was exalted into the Father's glory.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.14.12Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Though David had noble birth, kingship, wisdom, prophecy, and wealth, he was exceedingly humble, and so could safely ask for eternal life.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.20.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The twentieth letter: the head of all the commandments is humility, as Christ taught the apostles when they disputed who was greatest.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.20.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · David, though king, prophet, and ancestor of Christ, asks God to see only his humility, leaving vengeance to God.
Tractates on the Psalms 122.12Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The verse expresses the gospel reversal: either the despised faithful will later abound, or the proud and rich will be shamed at the judgment.
Tractates on the Psalms 123.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Since all good things are from God, we must not boast in strength, wealth, birth, or wisdom but in the Lord, as the psalm teaches us to confess.
Tractates on the Psalms 130.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · This short psalm teaches humility, the greatest work of faith: the heart must not be lifted up.
Tractates on the Psalms 130.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The psalmist is humble in heart, the source of evil thoughts, but lofty in soul and thought, which are directed to heaven.
Tractates on the Psalms 137.14Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God, though most high, regards the humble and is near them, while he knows the proud from afar, being absent from them.
Tractates on the Psalms 138.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Christ, in his assumed humanity, was proved by humble obedience unto the cross and so exalted into the Father's glory.
Tractates on the Psalms 138.6Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Christ was proved by humbling himself in baptism, temptation, and the passion, and each time acknowledged: by the Father's voice, by the angels, and at the transfiguration.
Commentary on Ephesians 4.2Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Humility, gentleness, patience, and magnanimity are to be joined to mutual forbearance in love and zeal for the unity of the spirit, since the church is one body with one spirit and one hope.
Commentary on Galatians 6.3Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Whoever thinks himself something in worldly terms is nothing and deceives himself, since God raises the lowly and the world’s wisdom is foolishness to him.
Commentary on Philippians 2.5Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Victorinus analyzes the precepts of Phil 2:2–4, unity of mind and love, no rivalry or vainglory, humility, and care for others, and shows that Christ, who emptied himself for others, is their pattern.
Oration 4.32Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Christians lost through prosperity what they had won in persecution; Gregory reproaches the dead Constantius for raising Julian, yet excuses him as acting from kindness.
Oration 14.20Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · No one should boast of wisdom, wealth, power, beauty, or youth, but only of knowing God and helping the suffering; God has made earthly goods unstable so that we may anchor ourselves in what is to come.
Oration 18.21Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory praises his parents’ unostentatious generosity, his father’s just and gentle government of the church, his genuine humility, and above all his freedom from malice.
Oration 32.19Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory says true humility is shown not in dress or austerities but in speaking modestly about God and yielding to those more competent.
Oration 38.14Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Those who belittle Christ for his humility charge God with his own kindness: the good shepherd, the woman seeking the coin, the one who washes feet and eats with tax collectors.
Oration 44.8Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory exhorts the married, virgins and the powerful, and all to humility and constant renewal, the true way to keep the feast of dedication.
Tractates 1.7.2Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno expounds 'Lord, my heart is not lifted up', urging humility after the example of Christ, gentle and humble of heart.
Tractates 1.7.4Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno expounds 'nor have I walked in great things' of worldly greatness, with David, the humble shepherd-king who spared Saul, as the example.
Tractates 1.7.5Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno expounds 'if I did not think humbly' with the parable of the Pharisee and the publican.
Homilies 10.6Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Rage directed by reason against sin is right, as in Moses, Phinehas, Samuel and Elijah; but anger against our brothers must be cured by the humility Christ taught and showed.
Homilies 20.1Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Man fell by seeking false glory, and humility is his cure; wealth, office, bodily gifts and even human wisdom only puff up, while the true boast is to know God and be justified by faith in Christ.
Homilies 20.4Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · All we have is received from God; Peter learned humility through his fall, the Pharisee lost his righteousness through pride; Basil sets Christ's lowliness from manger to cross before us as the pattern.
Homilies 20.7Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Practical counsel for humility in dress, speech, rebuke, and office, ending with Christ's call to learn from him, gentle and lowly in heart.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.20Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · No one is sinless (1 John 1:8): man wills and runs but God perfects; the Donatists, claiming perfect holiness while praying "forgive us our debts," are like the proud Pharisee of the parable.
Commentary on Galatians 6:3–4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Self-exaltation is self-deception; following Christ's humility, one should examine oneself, not despise sinners like the Pharisee.
Commentary on Philippians 2:1–4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul calls for unity and humility after the example of Christ, who, equal to God in the form of God shown in his works, emptied himself by withholding his power, took the form of a servant in his humiliation, and obeyed to death on the cross.
Commentary on Philippians 2:10–12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The name above every name given to Christ is the divine name he had by nature from his birth from the Father, made manifest after the cross; it was not given to a mere man or by adoption, against the Arians.
On Virginity 4Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 370–371 · Pride, greed, envy and the other passions spring mainly from the ties of marriage and the world; the one who withdraws from that torrent, like the angels who do not marry, is free to pursue virtue, a wealth that is never diminished.
Letter 12.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome begins his letter to the monk Antony with Christ's teaching and example of humility.
Letter 12.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome gives examples of pride brought low, from Satan's fall to the choice of fishermen as apostles.
Letter 21.34Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome argues that the elder son's claim never to have disobeyed is a boast like the Pharisee's, and that the father's reply implies mercy, not approval.
Letter 22.27Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome warns Eustochium against vainglory, especially the subtle pride of ostentatious humility and showy asceticism.
Letter 46.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · They describe the international community of monks and virgins at Jerusalem, united in humility and free of judgment of one another.
Letter 66.13Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome urges Pammachius to humility, pointing to Christ's sufferings and to Paula and Eustochium, who now do menial work in their monastery.
Letter 69.9Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome continues through Paul's list, warning against drunken, violent, greedy, luxurious, and newly baptized bishops.
Letter 78.40Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome interprets the thirty-ninth station, Dibon-gad, and the intervening places of Numbers 21 (the well, Mattanah, Pisgah) as stages of spiritual ascent that must end in humility.
Letter 79.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome praises Nebridius's chastity as a young courtier, his humility toward the emperors and palace officials, and his use of influence for the poor.
Letter 108.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome passes over Paula's famous ancestry to praise her own virtues, noting that by giving up Rome she became celebrated throughout the world, and that her humility earned the glory she fled.
Letter 108.15Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome describes Paula's humility, austerity, tears of penitence, and boundless almsgiving, which he confesses he tried to moderate, and which left Eustochium in debt.
Letter 116.22Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Augustine insists that the canonical writers never lied, so that Paul's account is true, and holds up Peter's humility in accepting correction as the better answer to Porphyry.
Letter 125.9Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome advises Rusticus to live in a community rather than alone, since untested solitaries fall into pride and self-will, and reserves the solitary life for those proved in the monastery.
Letter 130.12Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Demetrias should obey her grandmother and mother, from whom she learned virginity, and remain humble, since all is by God's grace.
Letter 148.17Jerome · ca. 370–419 · The writer warns against flattery and tells Celantia to seek praise from God rather than from people.
Letter 148.20Jerome · ca. 370–419 · The writer commends true humility and warns against a feigned humility that hides pride.
Letter 148.21Jerome · ca. 370–419 · The writer tells Celantia that noble birth counts for nothing before God, since all are redeemed by Christ's blood.
Letter 148.22Jerome · ca. 370–419 · The writer teaches that fasting is a help to holiness, not holiness itself, and is worthless if the soul is proud.
Ancoratus 3.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The first saying rebukes self-commendation.
Ancoratus 23.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · In humility they chose to offer praise.
On Cain and Abel 1.25Ambrose · ca. 375-378 · Cain's offering was faulty because it was late and not of the first fruits; vows should be paid promptly, and ingratitude takes the forms of forgetfulness, self-glory and self-righteousness.
On Cain and Abel 1.27Ambrose · ca. 375-378 · No one should credit himself with his good; Paul called himself least of the apostles and taught that we have nothing we did not receive.
On Cain and Abel 1.34Ambrose · ca. 375-378 · Humility commends prayer: the tax collector, not the boastful Pharisee, was justified; the proud like Pharaoh and the Assyrian were cast down, while the grateful, like Jacob and the Samaritan leper, give God the credit.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.5.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Malice and arrogance are forbidden.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.6.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Vainglory breeds arrogance; David's humility is the example.
On Noah 54Ambrose · ca. 378-384 · Allegorically, what God blotted out from the face of the earth is pride, which he removes from the book of life.
To a Young Widow, section 5John Chrysostom · ca. 380-386 · Chrysostom contrasts the widow's comfort at her husband's deathbed and tomb with the widows of the soldiers and the emperor lost in the war, and turns to the emptiness and tyranny of the glory that comes from the many.
To a Young Widow, section 6John Chrysostom · ca. 380-386 · Chrysostom tells the widow that God has freed her from the slavery of vainglory, and that she should cast her care on the Lord, who will protect her affairs and her soul.
On the Beatitudes 1199Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380–394 · As there are two kinds of wealth, so there are two kinds of poverty: lacking virtue is wretched, but being poor in vices is blessed; poverty of spirit is voluntary humility, the one divine trait humans can imitate, after the example of Christ who became poor for us.
On the Beatitudes 1201Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380–394 · Humility is the hardest of virtues, because the devil sowed arrogance, by which he himself fell, in human nature; the remedy is to imitate Christ, who emptied himself.
On the Beatitudes 1203Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380–394 · The cure for pride is to see what human nature is: made from clay, born in shame, and ending in a heap of bones; the young man proud of his looks and fine clothes should look at the skulls in the common grave and see himself.
On the Beatitudes 1205Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380–394 · Mature men in office grow arrogant, imagining themselves lords of life and death, though they are like actors in a stage procession and are often carried from their thrones to the grave; the ruler who is poor in spirit, seeing the equality of human nature, gains the kingdom of heaven.
On the Beatitudes 1217Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380–394 · The meek man who calms his anger is blessed, the angry man pitiable; meekness grows from humility, for one who knows the lowliness of human nature cannot be insulted, and honour belongs only to the soul.
On the Complaints of Job and David 2.17Ambrose · ca. 383-390 · Prosperity breeds pride and forgetfulness of God, as with the rich man in the Gospel, who thinks God does not see.
Second Apology of David 39Ambrose · ca. 384-397 · Third mystery: David means “humbled,” signifying Christ, humbled in the flesh yet one with the Father in divinity, the Lord in servant’s form.
On the Life of Moses 415Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · The bronze serpent figures Christ, who came “in the likeness of sinful flesh”: looking to the cross does not abolish desire but prevents its deadly bite; when desire is mastered, arrogance follows, as when Korah’s party seized the priesthood and went down into the earth.
On the Life of Moses 417Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · Every passion is a fall, so mastering pleasure does not excuse ambition for the priesthood; the budding of Aaron’s rod shows that the priesthood is from God, and its nut, hard outside and nourishing within, shows what a priest’s life should be, unlike the luxury of many clergy.
On Naboth 54Ambrose · ca. 386-390 · The rich man's pride in birth and luxury is vain; all are born alike, and the gold he displays is dug by the poor, who are denied it.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.5Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · When provoked, the just man stays silent and conquers by yielding, rather than letting the tempter stir him to retaliate.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.17Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · A counsellor must be a pattern of virtue, humble and content like Joseph and Paul, free from deceit and greed.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.34.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · On verse 21: pride, whose author is the devil, is opposed to Christ’s obedience.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.35.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows that pride offends more than the lack of virtues.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.35.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The devil let the Pharisee rise in virtue so that pride might bring him down the harder.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.36.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The devil tried to make Paul proud too, but God used the angel of Satan to keep him humble.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.36.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Though truthful, the Pharisee was condemned, for pride is worse than adultery.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.37.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · God resists the proud, above all those who despise their poor brothers.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.41.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · On verse 22: what the world despises, such as humility, is precious to God.
Exposition of Psalm 118 7.8.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · On verse 51: pride is the greatest sin; by it Adam fell and passed guilt to us.
Exposition of Psalm 118 7.8.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The devil fell through pride and sought man as partner in his guilt.
Exposition of Psalm 118 7.9.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · God himself fights against pride, as against his own adversary.
Exposition of Psalm 118 7.9.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Paul says that pride, as in the heretic, is the source of many sins.
Exposition of Psalm 118 7.9.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Pride breeds many sins; David kept clear of the proud and their excessive wickedness.
Exposition of Psalm 118 7.10.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · God’s law is the remedy for the poison of pride.
Exposition of Psalm 118 9.13.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · He was humbled through sin; humiliation often means adversity.
Exposition of Psalm 118 9.19.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Envy and pride curdle the heart; the righteous man is humbled by meditating on the law.
Exposition of Psalm 118 9.20.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · On verse 71: like Paul content in weakness, the psalmist is glad to be humbled by trials; Symmachus’s version makes the sense plain.
Exposition of Psalm 118 9.20.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The humbled should grow through humility, as Christ, enduring insults, healed us by his wounds.
Exposition of Psalm 118 10.3.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Patience under blows is a sign of humility, as desolate Jerusalem must learn.
Exposition of Psalm 118 10.47.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · No one may boast of a pure heart; God makes it spotless, and confession forestalls shame.
Exposition of Psalm 118 11.2.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Jeremiah’s verses under the same letter show that God has mercy on those he humbles.
Exposition of Psalm 118 11.2.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The groaning people of Lamentations show that humility leads to God’s mercy.
Exposition of Psalm 118 13.17.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · There are feet of pride, of iniquity and of weakness, which must be kept back.
Exposition of Psalm 118 13.28.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Hatred of worldly things guards against lust and pride; Christ became poor and sought no praise.
Exposition of Psalm 118 13.28.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Man, made from earth and dust, should not boast of nobility or wealth.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.19.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · David rejoices in being humbled; humility, praised even in Christ, is better than power.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.19.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ glories in his humility; David humbled himself to share Christ’s sufferings.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.20.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ himself may speak the verse, he who said, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble.”
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.20.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Only Christ can teach humility; it is hard to keep it in every respect.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.20.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Pride brought man’s fall; Christ humbled himself to the cross and was exalted.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.20.4Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ won our worship and gathered the church through his humility on the cross.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.21.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · David stayed humble; Hezekiah fell through pride; Joseph suffered for being preferred.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.46.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ humbled himself in the incarnation and calls us to learn humility from him.
Exposition of Psalm 118 14.46.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ teaches humility, which we can imitate, and its reward is the kingdom and paradise.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.31.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Humility is no wonder in the old; it is admirable in the young.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.31.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Youth is prone to pride, so humility in the young needs great maturity.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.32.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Humility and obedience, lost in paradise, came down with Christ, who emptied himself.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.33.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · As the church says “black and comely,” the believer says “young and despised,” stressing humility.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.34.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · God honors the despised: Lazarus, Moses and Jeremiah.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.34.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Jeremiah and the tax collector, though despised, were chosen and heard.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.3.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The head is the sum of our effort: humility and truth, holding to Christ.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.3.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ is beginning and end; his humility, the head of all virtues, was despised by unbelief.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.4.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Humility commends the lowly; pride debases even the noble and gifted.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.4.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The Pharisee lost his virtues through pride; the humble tax collector was justified.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.7.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The psalmist glories only in humility, as Paul gloried in weakness.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.7.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The psalmist does not boast but asks God’s grace, as in Ps 25.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.15.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Even those who think themselves gold will be tested in the fire; let them be humble.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.15.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Keep humility now so as to pray at the judgment, “See my humiliation and deliver me.”
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.16.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · There is also a humility of virtue, kept by the righteous even in prosperity.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.16.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Paul, the chosen vessel, called himself the least of the apostles.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.17.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Abraham called himself dust; Christ called himself a worm, seeking others’ good.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.17.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Imitate Christ, who emptied himself; despise no one for lowly station.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.17.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ’s obedience to death undid Adam’s disobedience, and God exalted him.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.18.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Paul’s point is the power of humility, which even exalted Christ.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.18.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ’s humility served our salvation; if it exalted him, it will exalt us.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.18.4Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Humility costs nothing; Christ, emptied, is in glory, and Ambrose now worships him.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.20.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ taught humility by word and deed; the believer can say, “See my humiliation.”
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.21.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Like an athlete showing his limbs, show your humility, and the judge will award the crown.
On the Happy Life 3Augustine of Hippo · 386 (November) · Before the harbor of the happy life stands a dazzling mountain, the proud pursuit of empty glory, which lures and swallows those approaching philosophy.
Letter 22.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says strife and jealousy, born of pride and love of praise, are worse among the clergy, and that a cleric should accept honour only for the good of others.
Letter 22.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reflects on the difficulty of not delighting in praise, confessing that he himself is often wounded in this struggle.
Letter 27.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine introduces the bearer, his friend Romanianus, warns Paulinus not to trust his praise, and asks him to pray for his faults, since whatever is good in his books is God's.
Letter 69.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Alypius and Augustine praise Maximian, a convert from Donatism, for resigning as bishop of Bagai to avoid dissension in the church.
Letter 82.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine insists that the authors of canonical Scripture never lie, and praises Paul’s just freedom and Peter’s humility in accepting correction as the better answer to Porphyry.
Letter 94.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus praises the humility and charity of Melania's son and defers to Augustine's praise of Melania.
Letter 95.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine agrees that one must die to the world, but asks how to live among worldly people without being drawn into their pleasures, and notes the temptation of inner self-praise.
Letter 118.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine points out that Dioscorus fears only to be thought ignorant, and warns that one who fears such opinions is dry wood.
Letter 118.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that the mind is not its own highest good, since it is changeable and made wise by the unchangeable Wisdom, which is God; the Stoics erred in placing the good in the mind.
Letter 118.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that the Platonists lacked the example of Christ's humility and so could not lead the crowds to belief in the invisible God.
Letter 118.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells Dioscorus that the way to truth is humility, first, second, and third, as the orator said of delivery.
Letter 121.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus asks what Psalm 16 means by the “saints in his land,” suggesting it refers to the Jews who glory in descent and the law, like the Pharisee in the parable.
Letter 121.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus contrasts the proud Pharisee with the humble tax collector, and righteousness from the law with the righteousness of faith reckoned to Abraham.
Letter 127.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges that this life be made the servant of eternal life by taking Christ's easy yoke, under which a good will finds rest.
Letter 128.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Catholic bishops propose that former Donatist bishops share sees with Catholic bishops, or that both resign for the sake of unity.
Letter 140.59Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · God did not despise the prayer of the poor and humble one; though he 'forsook' Christ in temporal things, he heard him and did not depart from him.
Letter 140.61Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Christ's 'vows' are the sacrifice of his body, the Eucharist; the poor who eat it and imitate his humility are satisfied, and their hearts live for ever, whereas pride is the beginning of sin.
Letter 140.66Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The nations will turn to the Lord; the 'rich of the earth', the proud, also come to Christ's table and receive his body and blood, but are not satisfied because they do not imitate his humility.
Letter 140.68Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · 'My soul lives for him': believers must live not for themselves in pride but for Christ, doing his will as he did the Father's, and so become the good seed that serves God.
Letter 140.79Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · At the judgment human praise will vanish; the foolish virgins, who trusted in their own righteousness, find no oil, while the wise trust only in God's mercy and glory in the Lord.
Letter 143.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rejects friends' claims that he never erred: Cicero's praise of a man who never said anything he wished to recall fits a fool, or else the inspired writers, not himself.
Letter 231.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains, from Paul, that praise should be sought not for oneself but for the good of those who praise, and says Darius's praise spurs him to become what he is praised for.
Letter 266.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells Florentina he is no perfect teacher, that it is better to be taught by God, and that learning is safer for humility than teaching.
Homilies on Matthew 3.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Matthew omits Esau's line because the Arab peoples have no share in Israel; he names Tamar to show that Christ was not ashamed of our sins and to humble Jewish pride in ancestry; the patriarchs born of slave women show that only virtue counts.
Homilies on Matthew 3.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The foreign and sinful women in the genealogy show that Christ came as physician and bridegroom of a church that had played the harlot, as Ruth figures; moral exhortation on humility, forgetting one's good deeds, and David's meekness toward Shimei and Saul.
Homilies on Matthew 4.10John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Seeking glory brings ridicule, as Nebuchadnezzar's image did; the three youths, captives with nothing, outshone the king by philosophy alone and answered him briefly and without insult at the furnace.
Homilies on Matthew 9.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Archelaus's reign explains the move to Nazareth; Chrysostom harmonizes Matthew with Luke (the return to Nazareth after the purification came before the flight); 'he shall be called a Nazarene' comes from lost prophetic books; Christ's lowly origins rebuke human pride.
Homilies on Matthew 11.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Homily 11 opens with Matt 3:7: the Pharisees came to John with hostile intent and did not truly believe; John, knowing their hearts, rebuked their pride in ancestry, mixing praise with rebuke, and first spoke to them of the wrath to come.
Homilies on Matthew 15.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ withdraws to the mountain to teach, speaking to the disciples but for all, and begins with the blessedness of the poor in spirit, that is, those who humble themselves by choice.
Homilies on Matthew 15.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Humility is the foundation of the new life because pride is the root of all evil; then those who mourn for sin, the meek, and those who hunger for righteousness are called blessed, with rewards both present and to come.
Homilies on Matthew 18.6John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Praying for persecutors crowns the commands; Christ uses the rewards more than threats, shaming his hearers by comparison with tax collectors and Gentiles, and Christians are urged to greet their enemies first.
Homilies on Matthew 19.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ forbids almsgiving done to be seen, judging the intention rather than the outward act, and mocks the hypocrites who trumpet their alms while seeking their own glory.
Homilies on Matthew 19.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Alms are to be given in such secrecy that the left hand does not know, with God as spectator and future rewarder before the world; the hypocrites who pray in public to be seen already have their reward.
Homilies on Matthew 20.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ forbids fasting for show, which some Christians outdo the hypocrites in by feigning fasts; anointing the head means hiding the fast, as Christ himself fasted unseen, and the actor’s glory lasts only while the theater sits.
Homilies on Matthew 25.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The crowds marvel at Christ’s authority, which he confirms by cleansing the leper with “I will” and a touch; sending him to the priest honors the law, and the homily closes on thanksgiving, the Eucharist, and humility.
Homilies on Matthew 26.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The two Gospel accounts complement each other; the centurion, though a man of rank, humbly asks only for a word, and is honored with the kingdom, while the leper too was praised in his own way.
Homilies on Matthew 38.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Chrysostom lists the ways Christ has drawn the people to faith, and explains his thanksgiving that the Father hid these things from the wise and revealed them to babes as joy for those who believed, not at the loss of others.
Homilies on Matthew 38.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ explains that all things are delivered to him by the Father and that he alone knows the Father as the Father knows him; he then calls the weary to his kind yoke and light burden, which is lighter than the burden of sin.
Homilies on Matthew 40.5John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The man of popular repute is enslaved to as many masters as the crowd has heads, and pleasure harms the soul more than grief; Christians should flee the glory of the many for the glory that abides.
Homilies on Matthew 47.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Harvest and sowing name different things; the treasure and the pearl teach that the preaching must be preferred to everything, and the net warns that faith without a good life does not save; the scribe of the kingdom brings out old and new, and Chrysostom draws the members of virtue, whose head is humility.
Homilies on Matthew 52.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The Canaanite woman, rebuffed by silence and called a little dog, turns Christ’s words into her plea with humility and faith, and Christ, who delayed in order to reveal her virtue, praises her great faith and heals her daughter.
Homilies on Matthew 58.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · By making the sea pay the tax Christ shows himself Lord of nature and honors Peter, whose humility Mark’s silence shows; when the disciples, jealous of Peter, ask who is greatest, Christ sets a child before them as the pattern of humility needed to enter the kingdom.
Homilies on Matthew 58.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The child is a pattern of natural virtue, refuting the Manichaeans; receiving the humble is receiving Christ, and harming them deserves worse than drowning with a millstone; arrogance, the devil’s captivity, makes men pride themselves even on their ancestry, whether noble or humble, though every lineage contains both.
Homilies on Matthew 58.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Lineage is an empty name, since every family mixes the humble and the illustrious, and war, sickness and death make no distinction; true nobility is the freedom of soul of John the Baptist and Elijah, whereas the courtier with wealth and rank is more a slave than the slave of a slave, surrounded by masters and rivals.
Homilies on Matthew 58.5John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Worldly honors make masters into enemies and rivals, while among Christians each member shares the joys and griefs of the others; the glory of office adds nothing to body or soul but breeds vice, and only the one freed from passions is truly free and royal.
Homilies on Matthew 62.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Chrysostom explains “those to whom it is given” as help given to the willing, then turns to Christ’s blessing of the children, praising the child’s guilelessness, and contrasts Saul’s malice with David’s simplicity.
Homilies on Matthew 62.5John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Saul’s envy ruined him while David’s gentleness spared his persecutor; the love of glory defeats itself and makes a man a slave, so Christians should lay aside such passions and love virtue.
Homilies on Matthew 64.5John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Chrysostom urges almsgiving as the oil that strengthens the soul, and tells his hearers to look to Christ and the saints, not to the rich who give nothing, and to judge themselves rather than others.
Homilies on Matthew 65.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ answers that the seats at his right and left are given not by favor but to those whose works make them worthy, since the throne at the Father’s right belongs to the Son alone; he rebukes the ten’s indignation by contrasting Gentile rulers with his own example of service unto death.
Homilies on Matthew 65.5John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · True height belongs to the humble, who are free of the passions and honored by choice, while the boaster, who despises men yet craves their honor, is low and easily caught like a bird that flies on the ground.
Homilies on Matthew 65.6John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The devil fell by pride and Pharaoh was humbled by it, while the humble, like Abraham, stand with the angels and are loved by God and men; pride brought mortality on the first man, humility gains what we lack.
Homilies on Matthew 69.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The monks’ life of mutual service, untroubled evenings and heavenly conversation shows them equal to the angels, while worldly Christians are worse than ants or beasts; Chrysostom urges his hearers to go to the monks and put on the clean garment.
Homilies on Matthew 72.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The Pharisees’ vainglory shows in their love of display: broad phylacteries, large fringes, first seats and greetings; Chrysostom explains these customs and laments the evils that love of precedence has brought on the churches.
Homilies on Matthew 72.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ forbids the disciples to be called Rabbi, father or leader, since God is the true teacher and father and Christ the one leader (which shows the Father and the Son share these titles); humility is the cure, and Chrysostom finds it among the monks, who serve one another with one table and no “mine and yours.”
Homilies on Matthew 72.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Among the monks one soul of love removes all ground for pride: they compete to serve, care for the sick and the poor, and are kept humble by manual work and solitude; Chrysostom urges his hearers, who have the examples of Scripture and of living saints, to visit them often.
Hexameron (Exameron) 5.52Ambrose · ca. 387-390 · The cranes' rotation of duty mirrors an early human commonwealth corrupted by the lust for permanent power.
Hexameron (Exameron) 6.49Ambrose · ca. 387-390 · God rested only after making man in his image; he rests in humble souls, which he has fortified like a walled city.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 35.26.1Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · David prays against pride, which tripped Adam even in paradise.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 35.26.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · The proud fall because they lack the eye that guides; let the church and Christ light the way.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 35.29.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Pride leads to sin, fall and expulsion, as for Adam.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 36.39.1Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · The Greek past tense shows the exalted wicked already failing; the humble are exalted.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 36.40.1Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Paul kept his revelation secret fourteen years, to teach humility.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 36.40.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Paul speaks of himself as another, glorying only in that other.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 36.77.1Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · The ungodly exalt themselves like the devil, but are nothing.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 37.35.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · David bowed himself in prayer, for the humble man's prayer pierces the clouds.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.78.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Christ humbled himself to teach humility and to be exalted from the gates of death.
On Free Choice of the Will 3.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 387–395 · God rightly made every grade of creature, as the moon beside the sun; not sin but souls able to sin complete the universe, and just punishment fits sinful souls into its order, while the proud who refuse the humility shown by Christ share the punishment of the fallen angels.
On Free Choice of the Will 3.25Augustine of Hippo · ca. 387–395 · The will is moved only by what it perceives, from higher things (God's command) or lower (the serpent's suggestion); the devil fell through pride, envied man into the same pride, and Christ gave an example of humility; one day in the light of truth is worth more than all the years of this life.
On the Catholic Way of Life and the Manichaean Way of Life 1.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 387–389 · Paul's phrase “any other creature” shows that the mind too is a creature; it becomes like God by humble submission in love, not by proud claims to equality, and must not be drawn from him by love of the sensible world.
On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 388–390 · Augustine interprets the spring that watered the earth as God's inner truth satisfying the soul before pride drove it outward; now it needs Scripture's rain, until Christ restores the inner spring and we see face to face.
On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 388–390 · Paradise signifies the happy life: its trees are spiritual joys, the tree of life is the wisdom by which the soul keeps its middle place under God and over bodies, and eating from the forbidden tree is the proud turning to self that is learned by its punishment.
On Genesis against the Manichaeans 2.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 388–390 · The serpent persuaded the first couple through pride to want to rule themselves without God; the eyes then opened were the eyes of cunning, and the fig-leaf aprons signify the itch of lying that hides simplicity.
Tractates on Matthew 3.2Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius explains that the blessed poor are those who renounce worldly riches for God, like the apostles, or who keep humility of spirit.
Tractates on Matthew 12.3Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius teaches that righteous deeds must be done to please God alone, not to win human praise.
Tractates on Matthew 12.5Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius interprets the left and right hands as sinners and the just: good works should not be paraded before unbelievers.
Tractates on Matthew 13.2Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius teaches that prayer is heard for faith and humility, not many words, as in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
On True Religion 38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 389–391 · Augustine argues that even those who worship nothing are slaves to the threefold desire of pleasure, pride and curiosity (1 John 2:16), which Christ overcame in his three temptations.
On True Religion 45Augustine of Hippo · ca. 389–391 · Even bodily pleasure and pride, rightly understood, point back to the unity and power that belong to God, and it is better to be conquered by a man than by a vice such as envy.
Sermon 9.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christians, redeemed by Christ's blood, give less than the Pharisee's tithe; they measure their giving against those who give less, though in wealth they always compare themselves with the richer.
Sermon 13.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The righteous must serve God in fear, crediting their righteousness to him; whoever trusts in himself perishes from the just way, and to trust in another man is as ruinous as to trust in oneself.
Sermon 14.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The great danger of riches is pride; the humble rich man, like Zacchaeus, is the truly poor.
Sermon 14.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Lazarus was carried into the bosom of Abraham, a rich man who was poor because he was humble, believing God and crediting all his good to God.
Sermon 22.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The proud, who defend their sins, vanish like rising smoke; the penitent, who confess them and struggle against them, are forgiven what remains, so long as the last day finds them still fighting.
Sermon 25.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The old Law “gives birth to slavery” for those who serve God for earthly rewards; those of the New Testament hope for a new inheritance and lift up their hearts to the Lord in humility.
Sermon 26.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · If it troubles us that one is baptized and another perishes, we must hear “O man, who are you?”; we should claim nothing for ourselves but give glory to God for what we have received.
Sermon 30.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · What Christ teaches us to learn from him is not creation but humility: God emptied himself to become man, so we should acknowledge that we are sinners and come to him.
Sermon 32.27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The psalm’s picture of many children, adorned daughters, full barns, and flocks is the “happiness” of the proud, Goliath-like man; like the rich fool in the Gospel, those who rest in it are rejected, however innocently they gained it.
Sermon 36.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Scripture commends humble rich people, since pride is the disease of riches; the proud rich man is like a wineskin blown up with air, not filled.
Sermon 36.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Believers are rich within, as a living root in winter, and their riches will appear when Christ comes; the rich of this world too belong to Christ if they are humble and do not trust in uncertain wealth but store treasure in heaven.
Sermon 36.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The proverb’s next verse shows that it speaks of inner riches: the hypocrite pretends to righteousness he lacks, while the truly rich are humble, the poor in spirit.
Sermon 36.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · We should come as beggars to God, who alone makes us rich; the tax collector who confessed his poverty went home justified, while the Pharisee, who thought himself rich, asked for nothing.
Sermon 43.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ chose a fisherman first, not an orator, senator, or emperor, so that no one could boast of his own merit and all might learn humility.
Sermon 54.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The difference lies in intention: one who wants his own glory breaks both commands, while one who lets his works be seen so that God is glorified keeps both.
Sermon 54.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Those who let their works be seen while counting their justice as God’s gift keep both commands; Paul pleased people not for himself but for their salvation.
Sermon 61.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Scripture condemns not riches but the greed to become rich; the rich are charged above all not to be proud, for pride is the worm of riches.
Sermon 62.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The centurion, calling himself unworthy to receive Christ under his roof, showed himself worthy to receive him in his heart, unlike Simon the Pharisee.
Sermon 62.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ turned away a proud volunteer but called a reluctant man away from burying his father, for unbelievers are the dead who bury the dead; God is the soul’s life as the soul is the body’s.
Sermon 67.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The “wise and prudent” are the proud and the “little ones” the humble; we must confess that we are no light to ourselves.
Sermon 68.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God hid himself from the proud philosophers and revealed himself to the humble; Peter the fisherman holds what Plato lost.
Sermon 77.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Canaanite woman teaches humility; Christ was sent in bodily presence to Israel, a people winnowed, not condemned, from whom came the apostles.
Sermon 77.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Saul the proud persecutor became Paul, “the least,” struck down and healed by Christ; he and the first witnesses came from the Jewish people.
Sermon 77.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Canaanite woman accepted being called a dog and was praised for great faith; humility grafts the Gentiles into the olive tree, while pride broke off the natural branches.
Sermon 77.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Gentiles are grafted in by humility and the unbelieving cut off by pride; we must learn and keep humility.
Sermon 87.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ chose fishermen rather than the powerful, so that we might despise the friendship of the great when it stands in the way of salvation.
Sermon 91.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Because the mystery requires a cleansed heart, Christ turned at once to the scribes’ pride; church leaders may rightly take the first seat but must not love it, which God alone can judge.
Sermon 96.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Self-love was man’s first ruin and drives him out to love external things, like the prodigal son; to return he must come back to himself and go on to the Father, denying himself and trusting God, not man.
Sermon 96.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ is to be followed into heaven, where he ascended, but by the road of his cross; humility is the step, as he told the sons of Zebedee who wanted the highest seats.
Sermon 97.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Mortality, the punishment of sin, should humble us rather than leave us proud like the devil; death is certain and its hour uncertain.
Sermon 112.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The three excuses hinder all who refuse the supper; the first, the bought farm, signifies the pride of lordship, the first vice, by which Adam wanted to be lord and have no lord.
Sermon 112.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Putting away pride, curiosity, and fleshly pleasure, let the poor, weak, lame, and blind come to the supper; the Gentiles came from the streets, and heretics are to be compelled to come in from the hedges of division, for will is born within once necessity is applied outside.
Sermon 115.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Pharisee in the temple asked God for nothing but praised himself and despised the tax collector, who stood far off, beat his breast, and asked for mercy, and so went home justified, for the humble are exalted.
Sermon 117.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ, the Wisdom of God, teaches first not the secrets of creation but humility; as a tree roots downward to grow upward, believers must humbly keep God’s commandments in love to grow in understanding.
Sermon 123.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ’s humility is the medicine for human pride; he who changed water into wine at the wedding refused to turn stones into bread at the devil’s suggestion, because his disciples would believe but the devil would not.
Sermon 131.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Whoever trusts in his free choice to keep him on the right way is like the psalmist who said “I shall not be moved” and was troubled when God turned his face away; strength must be kept by God.
Sermon 131.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Psalm 2 warns those already on the right way to rejoice with trembling, lest pride make them perish from it; blessed are those who trust in God, not in themselves.
Sermon 137.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To enter by the door is to enter through Christ in humility, as the tax collector did; the Gospel names three persons, the shepherd to be loved, the hireling to be tolerated, and the thief to be guarded against.
Sermon 137.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The robbers who climb in another way are the Donatists, who exalt themselves as those who sanctify; the hireling flees in spirit when he fails to rebuke an influential sinner for fear of losing his advantages.
Sermon 141.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God manifested himself to the philosophers through creation, which answers all who question it, “God made us”; but they did not glorify him, and in their pride became fools.
Sermon 142.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ’s humility, the way back to the exalted Christ, was made necessary by our pride and weakness; the soul that left God for many pleasures is like an unfaithful wife, rebuked by the prophets but not given up.
Sermon 142.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God rebukes the soul to heal her shame: the soul that left God for self and the world must be shown her sins, forget herself by loving God rather than the world, and return.
Sermon 142.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Pride’s swelling cannot pass the narrow gate until the cup of humility reduces it; Christ, the way and the door, loved us while we were ungodly, and in him the humble will possess all things.
Sermon 142.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God gives all things with Christ; Christ the physician drank the bitter cup first though he needed no healing, and he invites the burdened to come and learn from him.
Sermon 142.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Creator does not ask us to learn from him how to create or to work miracles, gifts given only to some, as different members have different powers; what all must learn from him is meekness and humility of heart.
Sermon 144.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ’s coming in humility to the cross was mercy, his exaltation and return to the Father righteousness, as Phil 2:3–11 shows; so righteousness is fulfilled in us only through showing mercy.
Sermon 145.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The disciples, still prone to desire, asked for small things like power over demons, which is “nothing” compared with God’s promise; we must ask in Christ’s name for what makes joy full, the vision of the Father in Christ.
Sermon 156.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Lest anyone trust his own spirit to mortify the flesh, Paul adds that those led by the Spirit of God are God's sons; self-reliance makes one a Stoic, not a son of God.
Sermon 160.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To boast in the Lord is to boast in his righteousness, not one's own; the Jews who refused the New Testament sought their own righteousness, and boasting in oneself is boasting in a fool.
Sermon 160.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Jews had zeal without knowledge because they sought their own righteousness; the believer must recognize that his righteousness is received, as the river of the Spirit flows only in one who first thirsted.
Sermon 160.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Paul boasted in the cross rather than in Christ's wisdom or majesty, because humility is the way to the heights: where there is weakness and death, there is power and life.
Sermon 163.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Paul, fearing pride, received the angel of Satan as a remedy, like theriac made from the serpent; God was present even in refusing his prayer, as a physician is present when he cuts.
Sermon 164.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ asks us to learn from him not his divine works or miracles but gentleness and humility; his burden is light as feathers are to a bird, not a weight but wings.
Sermon 168.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Paul's name means “little,” and he called himself least of the apostles; he owed all he was to grace, and when he said he labored more than all, he at once added “not I, but the grace of God with me.”
Sermon 170.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Compared with the angels' righteousness in the resurrection, where there will be no desire, present righteousness is loss and dung; whoever thinks he has fulfilled it stops on the way, and a humble sinner is better than a proud righteous man.
Sermon 174.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Zacchaeus, small and hindered by the proud crowd, climbed the sycamore, the “foolish fig,” as the humble climb the cross that seems foolish to the world's wise, and so see Jesus.
Sermon 175.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Paul, the worst of sinners, was healed as a sign that no one should despair; but sinners must not stay in sin's bed, rising instead to health and crediting it to God, since self-praise makes one sicker.
Sermon 177.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · One who is already rich must not want to be rich nor be proud: the rich and poor are equal before birth, death, fever, and decay; the rich should possess without love and not be possessed.
Sermon 179.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine, preaching at his bishop's command, confesses that he rejoices more securely in hearing than in preaching, since hearing humbles and preaching risks pride, like John the Baptist who stood and heard the Bridegroom.
Sermon 179.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet, chose the better part of hearing, as John stood and heard the Bridegroom; Martha's hospitality to Christ and the apostles was a great good, still possible through serving the least.
Sermon 206.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Lent signifies the present life as the time of humility, to be followed by the joy of Easter; Christians should be more fervent in prayer, fasting, and alms.
Sermon 274.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Vincent conquered in every torment, but his patience was God’s gift and his cause, not his pain, made him a martyr; the last temptation, pride in victory, is conquered by being praised in the Lord.
Sermon 279.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ shows himself both “gentle and humble of heart” and the God who is “not silent nor gentle”; his gentleness appears above all on the cross, where he prayed for those who killed him, as a physician for the delirious sick.
Sermon 283.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Spirit of God makes us know his gifts and be grateful; the proud lose what they have, while the humble who thank God for little receive more, and must hope in him alone.
Sermon 285.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Peter, presuming on his own strength, was left to himself and denied Christ, then was looked upon, wept, was entrusted with the sheep, and later by grace achieved the martyrdom he had promised.
Sermon 287.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Both births are miraculous, but John humbled himself before Christ, as the shortening days after his birthday and his beheading show, while Christ, conceived without lust, is exalted.
Sermon 288.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · John, so great he could have been taken for Christ, humbly bore witness as the bridegroom’s friend; foretold by Isaiah, he called himself the voice, while Christ is the Word.
Sermon 289.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · John, so great he was taken for the Christ, called himself the voice crying in the wilderness of Isaiah 40; Augustine distinguishes voice from word and applies the leveling of mountains and valleys to the humbling of the proud and lifting of the humble.
Sermon 289.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · John could have deceived the Jews by claiming to be the Christ, but he knew himself to be only a lamp, not the true light that enlightens everyone, and so guarded against pride.
Sermon 289.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · John, the greatest of men, humbled himself so that Christ might be known as more than man; John and the apostles are lamps that shine from the fountain of Christ’s fullness, set on the lampstand of the cross, and must keep humility.
Sermon 290.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ testified that none born of women is greater than John, and John that Christ is greater than he; John knew himself and humbled himself rather than accept being taken for the Christ.
Sermon 290.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Zechariah spoke in despair, Mary in inquiry; her grace and the incarnation are pure gift, and her words ‘he has filled the hungry and sent the rich away empty’ are illustrated by the Pharisee and the tax collector.
Sermon 292.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · John had his own disciples and even baptized Christ, yet humbly confessed he was not the Christ; this shames those (the Donatists) who boast ‘I baptize’, and shows the greatest of men recognizing the God-man.
Sermon 292.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ was baptized out of humility, as he became man out of humility: equal to the Father by nature, he took the form of a servant without losing the form of God.
Sermon 292.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The voice baptized the Word, the creature the Creator, the lamp the sun of justice; John confessed his own need of Christ the Savior of all, and Christ was baptized to fulfill all justice by humility.
Sermon 292.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine urges the Donatist to hear John, who called himself only a minister of water and a disciple of Christ, the one who baptizes in the Spirit; a minister must serve Christ as food, not set himself in Christ’s place.
Sermon 293.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The voice carries the word to the hearer and then passes, as John’s baptism passed and Christ’s remains; John, taken for the Christ, humbly called himself the voice preparing the Lord’s way.
Sermon 293.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Most High, above all creation, came in exceeding humility to the unworthy, taking human nature but not human fault, so as to heal it, and appeared as man while hiding as God.
Sermon 304.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christians can follow Christ without martyrdom by imitating his humility and obedience even to the cross, by not seeking revenge, and by setting their minds on things above.
Homily 1.6 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom warns against the passion for glory, urging his hearers to look to God's verdict rather than human praise and to welcome dishonour as a protection.
Homily 1.7 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom urges his hearers to reject human glory as empty, like a stage mask, and to seek only the praise of God.
On Faith and the Creed 6Augustine of Hippo · 393 · Augustine reads “The Lord created me” of Christ's humanity, the humble way back to God, and distinguishes the only-begotten Son by nature from sons by adoption.
The Lord's Sermon on the Mount 1.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 393–396 · Augustine argues that the Sermon on the Mount contains the perfect pattern of the Christian life, explains the mountain as the greater precepts of righteousness, and reads the poor in spirit as the humble who fear God.
Historia monachorum, chapter 1Rufinus of Aquileia · Greek original ca. 394-395; Rufinus's Latin ca. 404-406 · John of Lycopolis: his prophecies to Theodosius and others, healings, and a long discourse to Rufinus’s party on boasting, purity of heart, and solitude, with stories of monks who fell or repented.
Historia monachorum, chapter 25Rufinus of Aquileia · Greek original ca. 394-395; Rufinus's Latin ca. 404-406 · Cronius, a disciple of Antony aged a hundred and ten, notable for his humility.
On Continence 13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 395 · Continence is also needed against the pride that excuses one's sins instead of confessing them to God.
On the Christian Struggle 12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 396–397 · Augustine answers those who ask why the Wisdom of God had to become man and suffer: the incarnation is the medicine that heals every vice and honors both men and women.
Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental 37Augustine of Hippo · ca. 396–397 · Only the Son, begotten of the Father, is supremely good; creatures made from nothing are lesser goods, and the rational soul should accept its place below God, while earthly things that now trouble it are a just punishment and a call to return.
On Christian Doctrine 1.0Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · Augustine defends the usefulness of giving rules for interpreting Scripture against those who will not understand them, those who cannot apply them, and those who claim to need only a divine gift.
On Christian Doctrine 1.23Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · Four things are to be loved, God, ourselves, our neighbor, and our body; no command is needed to love ourselves and our bodies, though self-love that seeks to dominate is really hatred.
On Christian Doctrine 2.41Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · The student must remember that knowledge puffs up while love builds up; the Passover hyssop signifies humility, and the cross's dimensions describe the Christian life.
On Christian Doctrine 3.23Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · The recorded sins of great men warn the reader against pride and self-righteousness.
Life of Saint Martin 25Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · Sulpicius describes his visit to Martin, who washed his feet and urged him to follow the example of Paulinus in renouncing wealth.
Confessions 3.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Augustine turned to the Scriptures but despised their humble style in comparison with Cicero, being too proud to become a little one.
Confessions 7.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Freed from astrology but still anguished over the origin of evil, Augustine held firm to faith in God, Christ, and Scripture, while his pride kept him bound to bodily images.
Confessions 7.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The Platonist books taught the eternal divinity of the Word, but not his incarnation, humiliation, and death for sinners, which God hid from the proud and revealed to the humble.
Confessions 7.27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Reading Paul, Augustine found the truths of the Platonists together with grace, confession, and the way of Christ, which those books lack.
Confessions 10.59Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The third temptation, the desire to be loved and feared by men, is a snare of the devil; praise must be referred to God.
Confessions 10.60Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Augustine cannot test his love of praise, since he cannot give it up without giving up a good life.
Confessions 10.63Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Love of praise tempts even those who condemn it, who then boast of their contempt for vainglory.
Confessions 10.64Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Self-satisfaction, even over God's gifts, is a further form of pride.
Confessions 12.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Those who insist that only their reading is Moses' meaning love their own opinion, not the truth, which belongs to all.
Confessions 13.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · No other books so destroy pride and move the heart to confession as Scripture.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 5.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine turns each beatitude Faustus claimed against him, showing how Manichaean doctrine contradicts poverty of spirit, meekness, peace, purity, mourning, and hunger for righteousness.
On Catechizing the Uninstructed 4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–405 · Christ came chiefly to show God's love so that people might love him and their neighbour in return; all Scripture points to this love, and the catechist should narrate so that the hearer believes, hopes, and loves.
Against Secundinus the Manichaean 17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399 · Augustine distinguishes the first sin, loving a creature above the Creator, from the second, persuading others to it, and explains the devil's fall as pride, a falling away of a good substance rather than an evil nature.
On the Trinity 4.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–419 · Augustine contrasts the devil, the mediator of death, who leads the proud to ruin through pride, false philosophy and magical rites, with Christ, the humble Mediator of life.
On the Trinity 4.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–419 · Augustine criticizes philosophers who think they can purify themselves by their own power because they have glimpsed unchangeable truth: they see the homeland from afar but in pride refuse the wood of the cross that carries the humble there.
On the Trinity 8.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–419 · The key to knowing God is true love; love of God and of neighbour imply each other, and God, who is love, is found not by seeking powers outside us but within, by humble love.
On the Trinity 12.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–419 · The soul's love of its own power makes it fall from the common whole to a private part, so that it becomes entangled in bodily things and their images.
On the Trinity 13.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–419 · Other benefits of the incarnation: it shows man's place in creation, commends grace without prior merit, heals pride by God's humility, gives an example of obedience, and defeats the devil through the race he had conquered.
The Harmony of the Gospels 1.44Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–400 · Augustine quotes Isaiah 2:5–21 on the Lord alone being exalted and idols being hidden and cast away.
The Harmony of the Gospels 4.20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–400 · Christ's word that John should 'remain until I come' signifies that the contemplation John's Gospel offers is perfected only at Christ's coming; meanwhile we walk by faith, active and humble, with the three evangelists.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 3.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Paul’s rebuke of the Corinthians’ boasting shows that pride over another’s sin is the leaven that corrupts; Christ, our Passover, taught humility, and the law of Christ is to bear one another’s burdens and keep unity in the bond of peace.
Commentary on Daniel 4, scholion 8Polychronius of Apamea · ca. 400-430 · The king's 'greatness' grew into pride against God.
Commentary on Daniel 4, scholion 30Polychronius of Apamea · ca. 400-430 · The king's humiliation followed his boast immediately, as punishment for his whole pride.
Commentary on Daniel 5, scholion 20Polychronius of Apamea · ca. 400-430 · Nebuchadnezzar's pride against God cost him his kingdom.
Commentary on Daniel 5, scholion 21Polychronius of Apamea · ca. 400-430 · Belshazzar outdid his father's pride by profaning the temple vessels.
Commentary on Daniel 7, scholion 24Polychronius of Apamea · ca. 400-430 · The boastful mouth shows Antiochus's beastlike arrogance against God.
On the Good of Marriage 35Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Augustine urges consecrated virgins to humility, reminding them that they will share the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who married for Christ's sake.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 8.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Augustine weighs senses of “to work and to keep”: man keeping paradise by obedience, or, preferably, God working and keeping man so that he may be just and happy.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 8.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Adam learned good and evil by the experience of disobedience; evil is the loss of good, and Christ alone chose the good without experience of evil, the singular example of obedience.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 10.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Ps 104:29–30 fits either view of the soul's origin, but is better understood of grace, by which the proud are humbled and renewed by God's Spirit.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 11.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · A hidden pride in the man's soul preceded the temptation, and the fall taught by experience that no creature fares well apart from God.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 11.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Pride, a general avarice for one's own excellence, is the beginning of all sin; the two loves, holy and private, first divided the angels and now form the two cities of the just and the wicked.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 11.30Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · The woman's answer shows she remembered the command, making her transgression inexcusable; she believed the serpent only because pride was already in her mind.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 11.35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Adam and Eve, questioned, blame God and the serpent instead of confessing; their pride is contrasted with the psalmist's “I have sinned against you.”
Literal Commentary on Genesis 11.39Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · The garments of skin were a real deed with a meaning; “one of us” refers to the Trinity, and the words turn the serpent's promise back on proud Adam as a warning.
On Holy Virginity 1Augustine of Hippo · 401 · After his book On the Good of Marriage, Augustine sets out to praise consecrated virginity while warning virgins against pride.
On Holy Virginity 31Augustine of Hippo · 401 · The greater the gift of virginity, the more humility is needed, since pride and envy make the devil what he is.
On Holy Virginity 32Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Augustine gathers Christ's teaching on humility: the Beatitudes, the centurion, the Canaanite woman, the Pharisee and tax collector, the child, and the washing of feet.
On Holy Virginity 33Augustine of Hippo · 401 · All Christians must be humble, but most of all those, like virgins, who possess a great good.
On Holy Virginity 34Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Augustine sets aside vowed women who regret their vow or live loosely, and addresses his warning about pride to those who keep their profession well.
On Holy Virginity 35Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Christ, to whom all things are given, teaches above all 'Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.'
On Holy Virginity 38Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Virgins should learn humility not from repentant sinners but from Christ, who humbled himself out of love, lest they become like the proud Pharisee.
On Holy Virginity 39Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Virgins need the chaste fear of God that goes with love, not servile fear, so that they may not grow proud.
On Holy Virginity 47Augustine of Hippo · 401 · No one prefers virginity to martyrdom, and since the readiness for martyrdom is hidden until tested, virgins must think others possibly better than themselves.
On Holy Virginity 52Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Humility is the dwelling of love, the guardian of virginity; humble married people follow the Lamb more easily than proud virgins.
On Holy Virginity 53Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Augustine urges virgins to follow the Lamb humbly, trusting God to keep his gifts, praying against temptation, and confessing their sins.
Dialogues 1.10Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · In the monasteries of the Thebaid the monks live under strict obedience; two boys carry a captured asp back in triumph and the abbot punishes them for boasting.
Dialogues 1.20Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · A famous exorcist, tempted by vanity, prayed to be possessed by a demon for five months and was thereby cured of pride.
Dialogues 1.21Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Postumianus contrasts this humility with clerics in the West who grow proud of small honors and live in luxury; Gallus asks for the lesson on false righteousness.
Dialogues 1.25Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Martin matched each desert saint’s miracles and also resisted vanity, refusing even to host the prefect Vincentius at his monastery.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 1.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · John could speak of Wisdom only because his heart rose above the merely human; God calls us to become 'gods', but only through first humbly acknowledging that we are men.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 4.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · John the Baptist, great yet humble, was granted not only to foretell Christ like the prophets but to point him out; yet the proud did not know the humble Christ and crucified him.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 4.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · John, the lamp lit for Christ, showed his humility by confessing that he was not the Christ, though his excellence could have made people believe he was.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 4.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · John came 'in the spirit and power of Elijah': figuratively he was Elijah, properly he was not, so both he and the Lord spoke truly; his greatest merit was his humility in refusing to be taken for the Christ.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 4.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ received a servant's baptism so that no proud catechumen, however ascetic, should disdain to receive the Lord's baptism, without which his sins remain.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 10.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Augustine closes by urging humility and joy in hope, with all desire directed to Christ.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 12.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Ishmael was disinherited not for his birth from a slave woman but for his pride, so the worth of the baptizer matters less than the humility of the baptized.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 12.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ's rebuke of Nicodemus was meant to humble his pride, since only the humble are born of the Spirit, after the example of Christ's own humility.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 13.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · When John's disciples disputed about baptism, John did not claim his baptism was greater for having baptized Christ, but humbly confessed Christ as God, from whose fullness all receive.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 14.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · John confessed that he was not the Christ but the bridegroom's friend, rejoicing in Christ's voice, not his own, and owing all he had to the true light.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 14.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ must increase and John decrease, signifying that man's glory must yield to God's; this was shown even in John's beheading and Christ's lifting up, and in the seasons of their births.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 16.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ praised the humble Gentile centurion's faith above Israel's, showing that the proud branches would be broken off and the wild olive grafted onto the root of the patriarchs.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 25.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ casts out none who come because he came to do the Father's will, not his own; the soul went out from God through pride and returns through humility.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 25.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Pride is the root cause of all sin; the Son of God came humble, doing the Father's will, to cure it and to make humble those who come to him.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 25.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Psalms 36 and 73 show that God's inner fountain is for the humble and upright of heart; pride drove the wicked out, while humility keeps the hearer standing within.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 25.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ, teacher of humility, incorporates those who come to him as his members; only pride casts out.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 25.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · None of the humble whom the Father gave to Christ will be lost; they rise now by faith and will be raised in the flesh on the last day.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 28.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · “My time has not yet come” means the time of Christ's glory, which must be reached by the lowly way of his passion.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 29.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Antichrist will seek his own glory; Christ, though equal to the Father, sought the Father's glory and so gives us an example of humility.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 44.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Those who confess their blindness and seek the physician are made to see, while the proud who claim to see remain blind; this separation is the judgment Christ came to bring now.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 53.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · "Could not believe" means "would not": their pride in their own righteousness blinded them.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 55.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The foot-washing figures the incarnation and passion: Christ emptied himself, washed us with his blood, and taught humility by example.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 57.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The bride's fear of defiling her washed feet is the fear of the Church's preachers, who must tread the earth and risk pride in order to open to Christ.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 57.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Hearing the truth guards humility, and the Church's "sleep" with a waking heart is the quiet leisure of those who listen and study.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 58.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ rightly calls himself Master and Lord, for the Truth cannot be arrogant in speaking the truth, and we profit by knowing it.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 58.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ's example calls Christians to wash one another's feet, in the heart and preferably also literally, as many did in hospitality.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 85.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · There are two fears and two servitudes: servile fear, which love casts out, and chaste fear, which endures; Christ's friends know that the Lord makes them righteous.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 104.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ's glorification is his resurrection, the reward of the humility of his passion; it was done in the form of a servant, while in the form of God his glory is eternal.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Confessing our sins, even the many light ones, is the beginning of light in us; love then covers sins, while claiming to be sinless makes God a liar.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 7.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Believers overcome the antichrist, who violates love, not by their own strength but by Christ in them; they must humbly carry the Lord like a beast of burden.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 8.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Good works should be seen so that God, not the doer, is praised, as the churches glorified God for Paul's conversion; Paul, once proud Saul, became 'small'.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 8.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Pride is a kind of greed, going beyond measure, as Adam did; man, made in God's image in his rational mind, was given power over beasts, but by deserting God became subject to lower things.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 8.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · A Christian should not seek to be above other men but wish them his equals, as Paul did; to want superiority over men is the greed of pride.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 8.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Pride can do all the outward works of love, even martyrdom, so the test is the root within; good works should be seen so that God is praised and others imitate them.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 2.27Augustine of Hippo · 411–412 · Pride is the cause of all human vices; its remedy is the humility of God in Christ, whose union with the Word came from grace, not merit, teaching us that knowing and delighting in good are God's gifts.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 2.33Augustine of Hippo · 411–412 · Grace opens what was hidden and makes the good delightful; pride and its penal consequence make obedience hard, and God heals even saints slowly so that they remain humble and give him thanks.
On the Spirit and the Letter 11Augustine of Hippo · 412 · Augustine meditates on Psalm 36: righteousness is drawn from God as fountain and light, and pride, which claims God's work for oneself, drives one into darkness.
City of God 1.28Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine consoles Christian women who were raped, suggesting that God permitted it to humble hidden pride or to correct the error that chastity belongs to the body rather than the will.
City of God 5.14Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine urges that the love of human praise be overcome by love of righteousness, as the apostles and martyrs sought God's glory rather than their own.
City of God 5.20Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine argues that virtues made to serve human glory are as degraded as the Epicurean picture of virtues serving Pleasure.
City of God 5.24Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine defines the true happiness of Christian emperors as just, humble, and merciful rule directed to God and eternal life, not earthly success.
City of God 9.20Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine explains that 'demon' derives from knowledge, and that knowledge without love puffs up, making demons proud; against their pride stands the humility of God in Christ.
City of God 10.28Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine argues that Porphyry, who held that only the paternal Mind purifies, rejected Christ, the Wisdom of God, out of pride at the incarnation and the cross.
City of God 14.3Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · The corruptible body burdens the soul, but it is the punishment of sin, not its cause; the devil, who has no flesh, commits “works of the flesh” like pride and envy, so living according to the flesh means living according to oneself.
City of God 14.13Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · The evil deed was preceded by an evil will, whose beginning was pride, a self-pleasing turning from God; humility lifts up and pride casts down, and love of God and love of self distinguish the two cities.
City of God 14.14Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Worse than the sin was Adam's and Eve's proud excuse-making, blaming the serpent and the woman instead of seeking pardon.
City of God 16.4Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · The tower of Babel, built by Nimrod's proud city Babylon ('confusion'), was punished by the confusion of tongues; humility, not pride, builds the way to heaven.
City of God 17.4Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Hannah's song (1 Sam 2:1–10) goes beyond thanks for Samuel: it prophesies the Church, the humbling of the proud, Christ's death and resurrection, his ascension and judgment, and the new priesthood.
City of God 19.27Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine says that in this life the peace and righteousness of the saints consist more in the forgiveness of sins than in perfect virtue, as the Lord's Prayer shows, while in the final peace God will rule the whole person without conflict.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.16Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Knowing that no one is free of sin, all must listen humbly and not be lifted up in pride.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.25Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Jerusalem's idols are everywhere, and though she professed God's name she was never cleansed; the proud who will not humble themselves under God remain unclean.
On Nature and Grace 31Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine explains that God heals in his own order, leaving Paul his thorn to guard against pride, and that we work out salvation with fear because God works in us.
On Nature and Grace 33Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine rejects Pelagius' claim that every sin is pride, while agreeing that pride was the beginning of sin in the devil and in Adam.
On Nature and Grace 35Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine confesses he does not know why God does not quickly heal pride, and teaches that God's mercy both goes before and follows us, so that we work together with him as he works.
On Man's Perfection in Righteousness 15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 415 · God justly does not impute sin to those who forgive and ask forgiveness; sin is any lack of due love, avoidable only by a humble will helped by grace.
On Man's Perfection in Righteousness 33Augustine of Hippo · ca. 415 · “Who will boast of a chaste heart?” refers to the moment when the righteous King judges, before whom even unnoticed faults appear.
Apologetic Book 17.1Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Pelagius protests his humility.
Apologetic Book 17.2Orosius · ca. 415–416 · His words are humble, his writings proud.
Apologetic Book 18.9Orosius · ca. 415–416 · The righteous are humble; Pelagius is sure.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 6.17.9Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Pride caused the civil wars; one ruler taught humility.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 6.17.10Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Christ was born to teach humility.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.35.22Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Heaven judged between humility and arrogance.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.12Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Even Paul, given great revelations, needed the 'angel of Satan' to curb his pride, because his love was not yet perfect; revelation alone is not grace.
The Institutes 2.3John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · In Egypt no one may lead a monastery until he has renounced everything, learned obedience, and been trained in the elders' teaching; hence the uniformity of their rule.
The Institutes 4.24John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · John obeyed his elder by watering a dry stick every day for a year, fetching water from two miles away.
The Institutes 4.29John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · A count's son was made to peddle baskets one by one in the streets, and obeyed gladly for Christ's humility.
The Institutes 4.30John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Abba Pinufius, an honoured priest, fled in disguise to Tabennesi to live as a lowly novice until he was recognized three years later and brought back.
The Institutes 4.39John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Pinufius traces the path from the fear of the Lord through renunciation to humility, gives ten signs of humility, and says humility leads to love that casts out fear.
The Institutes 11.1John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · The seventh vice, vainglory, is so varied and subtle that it is hard even to detect.
The Institutes 11.2John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Vainglory attacks spiritual as well as fleshly life and, when repelled, returns disguised as virtue.
The Institutes 11.3John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Vainglory attacks through every aspect of the monk's life, like a hidden rock that wrecks ships sailing in fair weather.
The Institutes 11.4John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · The monk must keep to the royal road between right and left, for vainglory turns even humility, plainness, silence, and hidden prayer into occasions of pride.
The Institutes 11.6John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Vainglory pursues even the hermit, using his own virtues as snares on the very road of perfection.
The Institutes 11.7John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Unlike other vices, vainglory grows stronger when defeated, attacking its conquerors through pride in their victory.
The Institutes 11.10John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Hezekiah, after great miracles including the sun's return, was cast down by pride and restored only by humility.
The Institutes 11.11John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Uzziah likewise fell through pride after his victories; prosperity is more dangerous than adversity.
The Institutes 11.12John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Paul, Christ, and David all condemn seeking human glory.
The Institutes 11.19John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Vainglory is overcome by never acting for human praise, avoiding singular practices, and remembering that works done for glory are lost and punished.
The Institutes 12.1John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Pride, the eighth and last vice, is first in origin and attacks above all the perfect.
The Institutes 12.2John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Pride has two kinds: spiritual pride against God, which tempts the perfect, and carnal pride against men, which tempts beginners.
The Institutes 12.3John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Other vices destroy one virtue each; pride destroys them all, like a tyrant who seizes the citadel and razes the city.
The Institutes 12.4John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Lucifer fell by pride, believing his glory came from his own nature and free will rather than God's grace.
The Institutes 12.6John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Pride is the beginning of all sin and attacks the strongest; even David, though humble, prayed for God's help against it.
The Institutes 12.7John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · God himself resists the proud, because pride, unlike other vices, is directed against God.
The Institutes 12.8John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · God heals pride by humility: Cassian contrasts the proud boasts of the devil and his agents with Christ's humble words.
The Institutes 12.15John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · The truly holy fathers grew more aware of their sins as they grew purer, and hoped for salvation by God's mercy, not their works.
The Institutes 12.19John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Humility before God, confessing our dependence on grace, is the simple faith of the fathers, learned by experience, not by philosophy.
The Institutes 12.21John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Joash, after allowing himself to be worshipped, was handed over by God to shameful treatment by the Syrians, showing that pride is punished by shameful passions.
The Institutes 12.22John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · The proud soul is handed over to fleshly passions so that, humiliated, it may recognize its uncleanness and return to fervour.
The Institutes 12.23John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Perfection comes only through true humility towards the brothers and towards God, depending on his help at every moment.
The Institutes 12.24John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Spiritual pride attacks only the nearly perfect; Cassian now turns to the carnal pride that endangers beginners.
The Institutes 12.25John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Carnal pride keeps a monk from humility and poverty, making him fear illness and prefer to live on his own means.
The Institutes 12.27John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · The carnally proud monk cannot bear spiritual teaching, fidgets during conferences, takes everything as aimed at himself, and is either insolently merry or sullenly silent.
The Institutes 12.28John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · A young Gallic monk asked whether he had humbled himself only to be subject for ever; his abbot could only sigh and think of Christ, obedient unto death.
The Institutes 12.29John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Cassian lists the outward signs of carnal pride: loud or bitter speech, mocking laughter, impatience, lack of love, disobedience, and trusting one's own judgment over the elders'.
The Institutes 12.31John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · The foundation of perfection is the fear of God and humility, which requires poverty; only on the humble does God's Spirit rest.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 3.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine uses Paul's thorn in the flesh to show that even the apostle lacked angelic perfection and needed a remedy against pride.
The Conferences 1.22John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Discernment tests thoughts in four ways, lest vainglory eat away our treasure; the heart must be searched constantly and ploughed with the remembrance of the cross.
The Conferences 2.5John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · The old monk Hero, after fifty years of rigorous solitude, trusted his own judgment, took a demon for an angel, and died after throwing himself into a well.
The Conferences 2.10John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · True discernment comes from humility: opening every thought to the elders, for an evil thought loses its power once it is confessed.
The Conferences 4.15John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · The struggle of the flesh benefits us by rebuking slackness and, through involuntary nocturnal emissions after long purity, by humbling our pride and teaching that purity is God's gift.
The Conferences 4.16John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · The fallen angels, who had no flesh, fell by pride alone; the goad of the flesh keeps us humble and watchful against spiritual vices.
The Conferences 4.20John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Many renounce the world outwardly but keep money, seek to rule others as abbots, or show pride in feigned gravity or frivolity; vices disguised as virtues are the hardest to cure.
The Conferences 5.7John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Vainglory and pride need no bodily action; Lucifer's fall was accomplished by thought alone.
The Conferences 5.10John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · The first six vices form a chain, each growing out of the one before, so they must be fought from the root, beginning with gluttony; vainglory and pride, by contrast, grow out of victories over the others.
The Conferences 5.12John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Vainglory can usefully restrain beginners from lust, and it can sustain great fasts, as Macarius observed, but it holds its captive more firmly; pride is fleshly or spiritual, the latter attacking the advanced.
The Conferences 5.15John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Victory over the vices must not make us proud, for, as Deuteronomy says, it is God who drives out the nations; our triumphs are due to his help, not to our own strength or free will.
The Conferences 9.2John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Isaac teaches that unceasing prayer is the monk’s goal and is bound up with all the virtues, which must be built like a tower on the foundation of humility and simplicity.
The Conferences 9.3John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Pure prayer requires first cutting away worldly cares, idle talk, anger, sadness, lust, and avarice, laying the foundation of humility, and preparing the mind beforehand, since whatever occupies it before prayer returns during prayer.
The Conferences 14.9John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Nesteros tells Cassian (John) that spiritual knowledge requires purity of heart and practical discipline; he must keep silent, learn from the elders, act before teaching, and not mistake eloquence for spiritual knowledge.
The Conferences 14.10John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · True knowledge of Scripture requires humility and constant meditation, which makes the mind like the ark of the covenant; memorized Scripture guards against evil thoughts and yields its meaning later, even in sleep.
The Conferences 14.17John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · The mysteries of Scripture should not be thrown before the impure or taught for vainglory, but given to penitents who are weighed down by sorrow; teaching for human praise is lending the Lord’s money at usury.
The Conferences 15.7John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Christ told his disciples to learn humility from him, not miracles; love and humility mark his disciples, and monks who advertise themselves as exorcists are vainglorious.
The Conferences 18.11John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Piamun warns against feigned humility, illustrated by Abba Serapion’s exposure of a self-abasing young man who resented a mild rebuke, and says true humility shows in patience under insult.
The Conferences 19.2John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Cassian and Germanus meet the aged Abba John, who has left the desert for Paul’s coenobium, and ask him why.
The Conferences 20.1John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Cassian recalls how the famous abbot Pinufius twice fled his honors to live as an unknown novice, first at Tabennesi and then in Cassian’s own monastery in Palestine, and was twice discovered.
The Conferences 23.19John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Anyone who claims sinlessness should test it by whether he has kept even one synaxis without a single distraction; the purer the mind, the more faults it sees, and John says that claiming to have no sin is self-deception.
The Conferences 23.21John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Awareness of sin should not keep monks from communion; they should receive it every Sunday humbly as a remedy, rather than once a year as if they could become worthy.
The Conferences 24.16John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Their longing comes from vainglory in the rational part of the soul, which made them think themselves fit to teach others; the cure is humble recognition that they still need a teacher.
Part 2, chapter 31Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Elisha’s raising of the Shunammite’s son and his other signs (the bears, the blinded army, Naaman, Gehazi) figure Christ raising sinners, baptism, free grace, and heresy that sells grace; (chapter 32) Hezekiah’s boastful display warns against pride in good works.
Part 2, chapter 34Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Daniel’s fifth to eighth visions (Nebuchadnezzar’s tree, the four beasts, the ram and goat, Belshazzar’s feast) show God humbling and restoring the proud, the Antichrist to come, and the judgment on kings who profane sacred vessels.