Pride as sin and virtue

This paper examines a tension in Christian thought between the traditional critique of pride as a sin and the more recent affirmation of pride as a virtue. By analyzing where each locates the fundamental evil to be overcome, it shows how this critique and affirmation are conflicting goods that need to be held together. It concludes by indicating how the eschatological Christian hope and the preferential option for the poor help achieve this goal, and points to a dynamic understanding of God's relationship to the world that can undergird both the affirmation and the critique of pride.