The beginning of pride is when one departs from God, and his heart is turned away from his Maker.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 10:12 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 10
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
"Those who do such things deserve to die." Which things? Those he had previously listed as punishments. In fact, "God gave them up," he says, "in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, because they do that which should not be done. To be an adulterer is already a kind of punishment; to be a liar, a miser, a cheat, a murderer, these are already punishments. Punishments for which sin? Of the primordial apostasy, the supreme sin of pride. "The beginning of human sin is rebellion against God," and, "The beginning of every sin is pride." For the apostle had spoken of this antecedent of sin: "Although they knew God, they neither gave him glory nor rendered thanks to him; instead, they have become futile in their reasonings, and their obtuse minds have become darkened." A darkened heart is already a punishment. But from what does it derive? "While declaring themselves wise, they have become fools." They said that what they had received from God derived from themselves; or, if they knew from whom they had received it, they still did not give the glory to the one from whom they received it.
