Is any sin as prevalent and destructive as pride? Is any other sin the underlying and perhaps unseen cause of so many other sins as is pride? Dante Alighieri placed pride first on his list of seven deadly sins because he felt that it is the father of all the others. Good, scriptural reasons support this notion. The first recorded sin in all of God's creation involved pride, as Ezekiel 28:17 states, Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. Pride blinded lucifer to its own existence and to the impossibility of what he was trying to do, setting in motion a reaction to God that continues today. A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin, confirming that pride gives birth to more tangible sins. As plowing prepares the earth to produce crops, so pride prepares the way to produce other sins. The father and king of pride is an adversary, and whenever contention disrupts unity, where confusion and frustration are being produced, we can be sure that his dominant attitude is infecting the group. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Pride always moves us toward things that we feel will benefit us in this life but brings us into contention with others, while humility focuses on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, producing peace and joy.

The being known as Leviathan, described in Job 41:34, is portrayed as a figure of immense power and influence over mankind, ruling as the king over all the children of pride. This entity, also identified as Satan, is the spiritual father of pride, leading the masses of unconverted people who resist submission to God. These individuals, often unaware, are forcibly inducted into his service, swayed by his worldwide influence as the god of this age, as noted in II Corinthians 4:4. His ultimate aim is to destroy God and His creation, particularly mankind, by inducing sin through the driving forces of deceit, hatred, anger, competition, and destruction, all rooted in an overweening pride. This pride, originating from him, corrupts wisdom and spreads enmity against God, embedding resistance within human hearts to God's law and purpose. Pride, as the father of all other sins, motivates self-centeredness, competitiveness, and a lustful enmity that destroys loving unity, further separating individuals from the Creator if permitted to persist.