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About

Is pride a necessary tool to achieve significance? Is humility a form of self-hatred? In contrast to the world, the Bible consistently presents humility as the supreme virtue, while pride is the underlying depravity behind specific sins. Pride and humility are at war . . . and humility, not pride, has the advantage.

Humility’s surprising essence is God-centeredness—living for the glory of God rather than self. On the basis of this biblical principle, Christ’s example, and the contemporary need, J. Lanier Burns argues for an unfamiliar connection between true significance and a humble dependence on the Lord.

Endorsements

“Professor Lanier Burns has come to our help in this splendid biblical-theological and pastoral-theological study. . . . He invites us to grow in grace with him—growing downward into the presence of God so that we will grow upward in likeness to Christ. This book is a love gift to the church and breathes the spirit of an author who comes to us saying, ‘The Lord Jesus has given me this to share with you.’ May the ‘loaves and fishes’ he brings here be blessed, broken, and multiplied in our lives!”

—Sinclair B. Ferguson, Chancellor’s Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary

“Dr. Lanier Burns, along with Dr. Howard Hendricks, has been one of the most sought-after professors at Dallas Theological Seminary. His integrity, his spiritual maturity, and his biblical insight make him more than qualified to pen Pride and Humility at War. . . . While his professional and academic credentials are without question, I would like to commend him to you as one who genuinely practices what he preaches—with humility.”

—Anne Graham Lotz, Author, The Daniel Prayer

“The early church fathers and the medieval scholastics regarded pride as the worst, most insidious of the seven deadly sins. Lanier Burns explains why—straightforwardly and with an eye to practicality that can disguise the profundity of his insight. . . . Not every book inculcates godliness of character into the reader who meditates on its thesis—but this is one such book.”

—R. Todd Mangum, Clemens Professor of Missional Theology, Biblical Theological Seminary

The Author

J. Lanier Burns

J. Lanier Burns (ThM and ThD, Dallas Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Texas, Dallas) is senior research professor of theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. Since 1973, he has served as the president of the Asian Christian Academy in Bangalore, India.

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