HUMILIATION OF CHRIST. See Christology; Kenosis; Jesus Christ, Twofold State of.

HUMILITY: A virtue opposed to pride and ar rogance, best defined, according to St. Augustine, by Matt. xi. 29. It is clear from this passage that the model of mankind is humility in Jesus, who brought it to the world as a new virtue, whereas humility in the sense of mere self-abasement did not first appear in Christ, but forms a part both of all genuine religion and also of mysticism. According to St. Augustine, humilitm implies the complete bowing of the sinner and the creature before God. Religiously speaking, this can only be Augustine's a work of God in man, for inasmuch as

Definition. it is dependent on God, it can become intelligible to man only when God reveals it. Yet even in St. Augustine humility is construed not alone as contemplation of God, but also as study of self. This is, however, a fictitious humility, and not the attitude of the " lowly in heart," of whom Jesus speaks. Nevertheless, this very definition of humility as self-abasement pro duced through self-knowledge, taught both by St. Augustine and St. Bernard, has become the prev alent view, despite its divergence from the words of Christ. The New Testament clearly shows that Jesus gave his disciples an entirely new teaching regarding humility. The phrase " lowly in

Teaching heart " does not designate merely the of the pious, for in the few passages in the flew New Testament in which humility is

Testament. mentioned stress is laid upon abasement. Little that is definite, however, can be gained from this until it is determined how far Jesus voluntarily abased himself. It is clear, in the first place, that Jesus did not practise introspection, which would have been far different from the simple consciousness of his divine mission. His life was the recognition and the performance of the will of God, and he who loves God with all his heart is above conscious self-examination. Only when it becomes difficult for him to perform the divine will does the thought arise that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. In the second place, the. humility which the disciples learned from Jesus was a joyous devotion to humility, but such a feeling could not result from horror at one's own sin. The joyous desire of humility, in the third place, taught in the New Testament is by no means the result of selfknowledge. Despite the current definition of humility as the consciousness of falling short of the perfection of God, as well as of absolute dependence on divine grace and might, this does not imply the "lowly in heart." This connotes a task of the will which is solved in the following of Jesus, but the mental attitude produced by the self-knowledge resulting from the revelation of God can not be feigned.

If the impulse toward humility, of which Jesus was conscious and which he wished his disciples to learn from him, is not the joyous submission

Humility to the command of God, it can imply Defined as only that Jesus desired them to have Service. the same wish to serve God as he him self possessed. This is a humility springing from the heart, by which man seeks nothing for himself, but only to be a means to something higher. Such humility characterized the activity of Jesus and formed the thought and pur pose of his life. An imitation in this sense is by no means impossible, and such humility is declared by Christ to be the measure of greatness in the kingdom of heaven. While it is true that the man of humility is not inclined to think highly of himself, this is not because he consciously endeavors to

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despise himself, but because in his service and his devotion he forgets self. Here, however, as in certain other cases, the result is regarded as the cause and is made a task which can and should be solved directly. Yet this very preoccupation with self gives the ego an importance which is fatal to real humility, and involves the danger of Phariseeism. If, on the other hand, humility be construed in the light of the teaching of Christ, this peril disappears, and the full possibility of the true fulfilment of the command in Phil. ii. 3 becomes evident.

The humility taught by Jesus is apparent everywhere in Christian life. He bade his disciples learn of him hearty willingness to serve, but

Possibility he alone is able to do this who is either of abundant and joyous in himself, or Realizing has one near him whose personality can Humility. raise him above the necessity of thinking of himself. This the disciples found in Jesus, and hereby they were enabled to perform the impossibilities which he required of them, thus explaining such passages as Matt. xix. 26 and Luke xviii. 27. In his need, man is unable to conceive of service as the highest incentive to action, this motive being care for himself. Jesus, on the other hand, opposed this attitude with the requirement to serve, to deny one's self, and to lose one's life. The difficulty of the realization of this ideal is ob vious yet it may be attained by one who is over whelmed by the personal life of Christ, since he who alone is worthy to rule assumed the duty of service as necessary and thus inspires obedience. In like manner, the basal problem of history, the unity of a life of power and self-abnegation, finds its interpretation in the personal, historic life of Jesus. The humility inspired by the activity of the personal Christ is the beginning of faith, for the new life of actual faith is possessed by him alone who is over whelmed by the deeds of Jesus and is ready from his heart to live for others.

(W. Herrmann.)

Bibliography: A. Wuttke, Christian Ethics, i. 175, ii. 298, New York, 1876; J. Köstlin, Christliche thik, pp. 285, 549 Berlin, 1899; J. Brett Humility, London, 1905; W. A. Brown, Christian Theology in Outline, p. 386, New York, 1906; K. Thieme, Die christliche Demut, vol. i., Giessen, 1906; the lexicons under ra*etvot, rarawsopoodv,