Fear of God

"Fear of the Lord" or Fear of God refer to fear or a specific sense of respect, awe, and submission to a deity. People subscribing to popular monotheistic religions might fear divine judgment, hell or God's omnipotence.

Judaism

The first mention of the fear of God in the Hebrew Bible is in Genesis 22:12, where Abraham is commended for putting his trust in God. In Isaiah 11:1-3, the prophet describes the shoot that shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, A spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord." Proverbs 9:10 says that "fear of the Lord" is "the beginning of wisdom".[1]

The Hebrew words יִרְאַ֣ת (yir’aṯ) and יִרְאַ֣ת (p̄aḥaḏ) are most commonly used to describe fear of God/El/Yahweh.

Bahya ibn Paquda characterized two types of fear as a lower "fear of punishment" and a higher "fear of [divine awe] glory." Abraham ibn Daud differentiated between "fear of harm" (analogous to fear of a snake bite or a king's punishment) and "fear of greatness," analogous to respect for an exalted person, who would do us no harm. Maimonides categorized the fear of God as a positive commandment, as the feeling of human insignificance deriving from contemplation of God's "great and wonderful actions and creations." [2][3]

Christianity

According to Jerry Bridges, "There was a time when committed Christians were known as God-fearing people. This was a badge of honor."[4]

From a theological perspective "fear of the Lord" encompasses more than simple fear. Robert B. Strimple says, "There is the convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love, and, yes, fear."[5] In the Magnificat (Luke 1:50) Mary declaims, "His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him." The Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8) finds Jesus describing the judge as one who "...neither feared God nor cared for man." Some translations of the Bible, such as the New International Version, sometimes replace the word "fear" with "reverence".

It can also mean fear of God's judgment.

Roman Catholicism counts this fear as one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Proverbs 15:33, the fear of the Lord is described as the "discipline" or "instruction" of wisdom.[6] Writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Jacques Forget explains that this gift "fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread, above all things, to offend Him."[7] In an April 2006 article published in Inside the Vatican magazine, contributing editor John Mallon writes that the "fear" in "fear of the Lord" is often misinterpreted as "servile fear" (the fear of getting in trouble) when it should be understood as "filial fear" (the fear of offending someone whom one loves).[8]

Lutheran theologian Rudolf Otto coined the term numinous to express the type of fear one has for the Lord. Anglican C. S. Lewis references the term in many of his writings, but specifically describes it in his book The Problem of Pain and states that fear of the numinous is not a fear that one feels for a tiger, or even a ghost. Rather, the fear of the numinous, as C. S. Lewis describes it, is one filled with awe, in which you "feel wonder and a certain shrinking" or "a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant of or prostration before it". It is a fear that comes forth out of love for the Lord.

The Fear of God is felt because one understands the "fearful expectation of judgement". Still, this is not a fear that leads one to despair, rather it must be coupled with trust, and most importantly, love. In Psalms 130:3-4, it is said, "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared."

In the New Testament, this fear is described using the Greek word φόβος (phobos, "fear/horror"), except in 1 Timothy 2:10, where Paul describes γυναιξὶν ἐπαγγελλομέναις θεοσέβειαν (gynaixin epangellomenais theosebeian), "women professing the fear of God", using the word θεοσέβεια (theosebeia).

Bahá'í

In the Bahá'í Faith, "The heart must be sanctified from every form of selfishness and lust, for the weapons of the unitarians and the saints were and are the fear of God."[9]

Alternate views

Author Boyd C. Purcell and atheist Sam Harris have each compared doctrines promoting the fear of God to living under the Stockholm syndrome, where hostages feel a misplaced sense of connection and affection for the hostage taker.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The New Jewish Publication Society of America Version translates the Hebrew as discipline.
  2. ↑ "Fear of God". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Office of the Chief Rabbi Archived October 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Bridges, Jerry. The Joy of Fearing God, p.1, WaterBrook Press, 1997
  5. ↑ "The Fear of the Lord". Opc.org. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  6. ↑ The New Revised Standard Version translates the Hebrew as instruction.
  7. ↑ Forget, Jacques. "Holy Ghost." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 3 September 2016
  8. ↑ Mallon, John (April 2006). "The Primacy of Jesus, the Primacy of Love". ISSN 1068-8579.
  9. ↑ "Fear of God", Bahá'í Library Online
  10. ↑ Spiritual Terrorism: Spiritual Abuse from the Womb to the Tomb, by Boyd C. Purcell, page 199, 2008, ISBN 1434378888.
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