Humility and Truth

The virtue of humility asks that we listen to the witness of God in every person. Nowadays humility is often confused with the sin of self-abnegation, the abuse of God’s gift of life. And it is contrasted unfavorably with the sin of pride, taken in Romantic theory to be a virtue. In science and scholarship--for example in the science of economics--humility is necessary for excellence. But it is rarely practiced, and stands out when it is. Oddly, a “conservative” species of economics, so-called “Austrian” economics, recommends that we see successful businesspeople as simultaneously humble and great-souled, in balance. Romantic Pride, as in Milton’s Lucifer, persists in the idol-worshiping of modern atheists. As the self-flagellating nun is proud she is not proud, the modern secularist is proud that he is not humble before God. Both are mistaken.