by Adriane Evans Adams
In some people’s minds, it is the terror of an ever-looming threat of the wrath of God, who is watching from the heavens, ready to afflict. This hardly seems to fit the God we know to have loved the world so much that though we were sinners, Christ died for us; a God whose mercies are new every morning; a God that takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked; a God who wishes all men to be saved; a God who welcomes the repentant prodigal with open arms, a God who is Love. I do not think God means for us to be overcome with fear of Him. How could we love Him under those circumstances? There are differing opinions about what “the fear of God” is meant to express. It seems to be a complex topic, and I have wondered about it myself.
Look at what Scripture and the Church Fathers have to say. Look at what early Christians understood it to mean. The Bible says,
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth for ever.”
When we consider Creation, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, how can we not be awed by such intelligence, love, holiness, and power? He is all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful. This “fear” is the beginning of wisdom. That word “beginning” seems to be key in this context. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Living a Christian life brings understanding.
Job said,
“Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven— what can you do? Deeper than Sheol— what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth And broader than the sea.”
It is beyond our comprehension. That’s a bit intimidating.
But further down in Job, chapter 11:
If you would prepare your heart, And stretch out your hands toward Him; If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away, And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; Then surely you could lift up your face without spot; Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear; Because you would forget your misery, And remember it as waters that have passed away, And your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be like the morning. And you would be secure, because there is hope.
St. Paul the Apostle said,
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
But further in the chapter, he speaks about hope and salvation. Interesting how these passages start with the fear of God and continue on to talk about hope.
In Exodus 20, Moses told the children of Israel,
“Fear not: for God has come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that you sin not.”
Did you catch that? The fear of God was for their benefit.
St. Maximos the Confessor (580-662) said,
“Dispassion engenders love, hope in God engenders dispassion, and patience and forbearance engender hope in God; these in turn are the product of complete self-control, which itself springs from fear of God. Fear of God is the result of faith in God.”
He also explained,
Fear of God is of two kinds. The first is generated in us by the threat of punishment. It is through such fear that we develop in due order self-control, patience, hope in God and dispassion; and it is from dispassion that love comes. The second kind of fear is linked with love and constantly produces reverence in the soul, so that it does not grow indifferent to God because of the intimate communion of its love.
1 John 4:18 tells us
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.” So it seems one can be a God-fearing person without living in fear.
Abba John the Dwarf (4th century) said,
“Humility and the fear of God are above all virtues.”
St. Isaac the Syrian said,
There is a humility that comes from the fear of God, and there is a humility that comes from the fervent love of God. One man is humbled because of his fear of God, another is humbled because of his joy. The man humbled from fear of God is possessed of modesty in his members, a right ordering of his senses, and a heart contrite at all times. But the man humbled because of joy is possessed of great exuberance and an open and insuppressible heart.
Saints Barsanuphius and John: Guidance Toward Spiritual Life, trans. by Fr. Seraphim Rose, says,
“The beginning is humility and the fear of God: ‘The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom’ (Proverbs 1:7). And what is the beginning of wisdom, if it is not to remove oneself from everything hateful to God?”
St. Kosmas Aitolos said,
“Acts of kindness and generosity are spoilt by self-esteem (pride), meanness and pleasure, unless these have first been destroyed by fear of God,” and “The fear of God compels us to fight against evil; and when we fight against evil, the grace of God destroys it.”
Hermas said in the 2nd century,
“Only those who fear the Lord and keep His commandments have life with God. But as to those who do not keep His commandments, there is no life in them…. All, therefore, who despise Him and do not follow His commands deliver themselves to death, and each will be guilty of his own blood. But I implore you to obey His commands, and you will have a cure for your former sins.”
St. Theodoros the Great Ascetic (9th century) said,
“The greater our longing for God the greater grows our fear; and the more we hope to attain God, the more we fear Him… For as nothing is more blessed than to attain God, so nothing is more terrible than this great fear of losing Him.”
Here is what St. Nikolai Velimirovich had to say:
“Beholding the undreamed-of richness of God’s gifts, an obedient man is filled with fear and amazement both at God’s almightiness and his own sin. He would then want to hide from God, that God should depart from him and he himself return to his old spirit and his old life. But as soon as God’s splendor and His mercy are revealed to a man, his own sinfulness, unworthiness and long estrangement from God are instantly revealed to him.”
He also said,
How can he who has not begun correctly, finish correctly? Whoever started out on a wrong path from the beginning must turn back and must take-up the correct beginning… He who does not have the fear of God cannot have the love for God. What are we talking about? He who has no fear of God has no faith in God. The greatest ascetics, those who mortified themselves and who for a period of forty or fifty years daily and nightly lived a life of mortification until death, were filled with the fear of God and these, the most sinless among mortals, cried out in their hour of death: “O God, have mercy’ on me a sinner!”
Fr. Dimitru Staniloae said,
“Faith which hasn’t reached fear or isn’t accompanied from the beginning by fear hasn’t gained a high enough degree of efficiency to lead to action.”
St. John Climacus (6th century) said,
“Like the sun’s rays passing through a crack and lighting up the house, show up even the finest dust, the fear of the Lord on entering the heart of a man show up all his sins,” and “He who has obtained the fear of the Lord has forsaken lying, having within himself an incorruptible judge – his own conscience.”
St. Diadochos of Photiki (5th century) said,
“No one can love God consciously in his heart unless he has first feared Him with all his heart. Through the action of fear the soul is purified and, as it were, made malleable and so it becomes awakened to the action of love.”
Faith in God, the belief He exists and is present and is what the Scriptures say He is, can lead one to see his own shortcomings, feel remorse for wrong-doing, and want to change. Not just awe of what God can do, but realization of His unfathomable love for us. And it seems the more we change and grow in faith and understanding of His love, the less we live in fear. Yet this doesn’t diminish our reverance or humility. We don’t forget who God is and what He can do. He is still Almighty God. We still know He is to be feared.
St. Anthony (ca. 251–356) said,
“Always have the fear of God before your eyes. Remember Him who gives death and who gives life,” and “Die daily, that you might live eternally, for one who fears God will live forever,” and “If a man wishes to attain to love of God, he must have fear of God. Fear gives birth to mourning, and mourning to courage. When all this has ripened in the soul, it begins to bear fruit in all things.”
He also said,
“I no longer fear God, but I love Him, for love casts out fear.”
When you read what the scriptures and Church Fathers have to say, this isn’t a contradiction.
St. Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022) said,
When a man walks in the fear of God he knows no fear, even if he were to be surrounded by wicked men. He has the fear of God within him and wears the invincible armor of faith. This makes him strong and able to take on anything, even things which seem difficult or impossible to most people. Such a man is like a giant surrounded by monkeys, or a roaring lion among dogs and foxes. He goes forward trusting in the Lord and the constancy of his will to strike and paralyze his foes. He wields the blazing club of the Word in wisdom.
St. Dorotheos of Gaza (6th century) said,
Holy Scripture says of the midwives who kept alive the Israelites’ male children, that through the God-fearing midwives they made themselves houses. Does it mean they made visible houses? How can they say they acquired houses through the fear of God when we do the opposite, and learn in time, through fear of God to give up the houses we have? Evidently this does not refer to visible houses but to the houses of the soul which each one builds by for himself by keeping God’s commandments. Through this Holy Scripture teaches us that the fear of God prepares the soul to keep the commandments, and through the commandments the house of the soul is built up. Let us take hold of them, brothers, and let us fear God, and we shall build houses for ourselves where we shall find shelter in winter weather, in the season of storm-cloud, lightning, and rain; for not to have a home in winter-time is a great hardship.
He also explained,
“Goodness itself [is] knowing what it is to be with God… This is the man who has true love, which St. John calls perfect love, and that love leads a man to perfect fear. Such a man fears and keeps to God’s will, not for fear of punishment, not to avoid condemnation, but because he has tasted the sweetness of being with God; he fears he may fall away from it; he fears to be turned from it.”
And here is something all Orthodox Christians will recognize that ties it all together perfectly. It can be heard all around the world every Sunday:
“With the fear of God, with faith and love draw near.”
