After the election of the new Pope, there was a lot of talk about “humility”. The local media editorialised about it, and Malta’s prelates extolled the “virtue” of humility. I was reminded of Uriah Heep in Dickens’s David Copperfield who announced to all and sundry how “humble” he was!

At best, humility is the “virtue” of timid men with a servile disposition. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not think of humility as a virtue at all. They regarded it as a characteristic of servants and slaves, of whom the early Christians comprised a large number. Virtue, to an ancient Roman, was not humility or gentleness or poverty but virility, manliness and courage.

In his Discourses, Machiavelli criticised Christianity for diverting too much attention to heaven, and for enfeebling men by preaching to them the feminine virtues. “Our religion has glorified meek and contemplative men rather than men of action. It has placed the supreme good in humility and poorness of spirit and in contempt of worldly things; whereas the ancients placed the supreme good in greatness of mind, in bodily strength, and in all that gives men daring.”

In The Social Contract, Rousseau argued that, if the Christian took his religion seriously, he would focus his attention upon the afterlife, while putting little value upon this one. He went on to say that Christianity preaches servitude and docile dependence. “True Christians are made to be slaves.”

Perhaps recalling Rousseau, Nietzsche described the Christian ethic as a “slave morality”. In Christianity, the typical characteristics of slaves are hailed as virtues: docility, self-effacement, self-abnegation and a servile disposition. Nietzsche urged his readers to discard this slave mentality, and challenged them to “Dare to become what you are”.

John Guillaumier

ST JULIAN’S