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Fear is not the best way to describe the ideal attitude toward God but the reason that it is not simply respect is because you can respect anyone right? This is something a bit different, we are talking about God. It is a respect that comes from a tremendous sense of awe.
Imagine if you were suddenly taken up to heaven and placed in the presence of God himself. Do you think you would just be chilling out? No you would be overwhelmed awe-struck, probably even trembling. This would not be because God was going to do something bad to you but in response to the greatness and scope of the site before you. Well that is the kind of attitude that they are talking about observing in daily life..
Emotions such as love and respect cannot be forced, but they can be feigned. Such as the mentioned "respect" for a dictator.
Respect cannot be commanded but is something that must be earned. Not from thin air, but by actions.
Fear can be induced. Usually by the threat of or application of physical force.
My guess is that Christians fear God the same way they feared their parents as small children. They respected the spanking whenever they disobeyed their parents. It sure is true that if you want the pain to stop, you should at least respect those who hurt you, and ask yourself why they spank you in order to avoid any future spanking.
The spanking is merely used to force the child to reflect on it's past behaviour. This is generally how all animals teach their young; if you do not want to listen you’ll have to be taught through the experience (sometimes of a spanking).
People pray to god so that he doesn't squash them like bugs. - House M.D.
Personally, I've traveled around a lot as well; and have heard this more in the southern U.S. than anywhere else. I think it stems from a typically more agressive view of God who is going to either allow you to live forever in his eternal kingdom or torture your rotten no good soul in the fiery depths of hell for an eternity. I think, that if one believed in that version they would most definitely fear him.
On that note, I always wondered if it is with fear that they worship him or if it is with genuine love. In my neck of the woods, I often see or hear people preaching about fire and brimstone and it makes me wonder how different it is than any dictator such as Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, etc... Aren't the people "loving" the dictator in these countries so that the dictator doesn't destroy them? I think it was pretty evident in Iraq when Saddam left that there was genuine hatred/ill will towards him and it was no secret that he put "the fear of God" in those who were against his particular political agenda.
So is it fear that really makes the case for your Christian faith or is it that you actually REALLY believe that there is a God out there that is so loving and yet so vengeful? I think to a certain degree, to believe in hell is to essentially be god-fearing especially since you believe he's the one making the ultimate decision on your "eternal soul".
I'm not a believer in any god, but I cannot get past the part where if I was convinced there were a god it most certainly wouldn't be the Christian god. Furthermore, I still wouldn't worship him/her/it because things greater than I should be content with their stance or role in the grand scheme of things, no? After all, it is a divine deity, what does my mere human gesture of worship mean to him? How altogether human and selfish of said deity!
As a former fundamentalist, evangelical Southern Baptist, I can, and do, understand what some of the other folks on here are saying, that "God-fearing" means having a respect, an awe of our Creator. I know I am quite awed, especially when I hold a newborn baby, or when I'm outside at night, looking upon a wonderous universe; things of that nature. On the flip side, I also see your point, and have often thought some of the same things. For many people, respect and awe are tangled up with, if not altogether replaced by, an actual fear of God. Much can be commanded by someone, (God or otherwise), who holds all the cards, so to speak. Particularly if one believes that if one loses the "game", one loses not only the pot, but their eternal soul.
This thread reminds me of a story about my great-grandmother, whom I knew, (she died when I was 13). She was a wonderful lady, and had one of the best truly Christian spirits I've ever known. But, she was also God-fearing, as in she was fearful of God. When my mother was a little girl, my granny was in an accident. Another car rear-ended the car she was getting out of, and the door slammed on her leg. The cars in those days were much heavier than ours, and the damage to her leg was so bad, that they were unable to fix it, (this was back in the 40's). Because of that accident, she wound up in a wheelchair. Now, most people would have attributed this accident to the carelessness of the other driver, or something along those lines. But, my poor Granny! Out of fear of God, she actually believed she was being punished, because on that day, she had on a new pair of pretty shoes! She believed that she was punished for vanity! My granny was normally a very sensible woman, quite intelligent, fun, and witty. Yet, when it came to her belief in God, she mixed her theologies of Jesus' love, and God's (OT), wrath. I was always horrified that she would think that God would punish her for such a trivial thing. Now, having been born in 1882, she was definitely raised old-school, and I think that also had much to do with her thought process, (and she wasn't even from the South). But, I still see much of that same thought process in many Christians today, and it is troublesome.
What wonderful replies to this post! Thank you all for your input. It is really interesting to read different views.
I always attributed the "God fear" as actual fear (as in, if I do something wrong I will be banished to hell). I wondered how people could worship a God who they thought would punish them severely for a simple mistake, but as some of you have mentioned, a lot of folks think respect and fear equal the same.
I do remember as a young child, if I did something that would upset my parents, sometimes my step-dad would say "I will put the fear of God in you..." Of course I never really knew what that meant until I got older, but it sounded pretty bad!! LOL!
Fear is not the best way to describe the ideal attitude toward God but the reason that it is not simply respect is because you can respect anyone right? This is something a bit different, we are talking about God. It is a respect that comes from a tremendous sense of awe.
I can't think of a Western religious belief that doesn't 'fear' God in some sense or another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by perceiver
Imagine if you were suddenly taken up to heaven and placed in the presence of God himself. Do you think you would just be chilling out? No you would be overwhelmed awe-struck, probably even trembling. This would not be because God was going to do something bad to you but in response to the greatness and scope of the site before you. Well that is the kind of attitude that they are talking about observing in daily life..
To hypothesize and say that I got whisked away to heaven one day, I don't think I'd be fearful of god even though most of my life has been spent denying his actual existence. Personally, I label it right up there with UFO's. If I were taken aboard a UFO, I might actually be more apt to fear for my well being because they would be creatures of this universe (however godlike in appearance or abilities) and thus prone to materialistic evil behaviors. No, if I met a god I don't think I'd have anything to fear. It's only something that people in this part of the world have culturally instilled in their children... i.e.- "Fear God for he is more powerful and he CAN do things to your soul that are horrible." The great thing is I don't HAVE to believe in god, and if I did I don't have to prescribe to the same ideals of a god that everyone else does. I can make him however friendly or unfriendly I want to and I think it's pretty obvious that people do this all the time. Check out the heaven and hell thread sometime and you'll see all sorts of different descriptions of what hell is like. Some people throw a little 'fire and brimstone' in there, some people throw a little 'darkness for eternity' with a dash of 'emptiness' in there as well.
Personally, I think the fear of a supernatural being is what keeps people believing in the first place. Again, to me, it's kind of like why people "were communists" in the USSR during the days of Stalin. It was absolute terror.
Sure doesn't make sense to me why those who claim God loves them, would fear Him. If your parents love you, then do you fear them? If the word "fear" is supposed to mean something else, i.e., respect, then that's the word that should be used.
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I respect God, but see no reason to fear Him, since my God=Love.
This is generally how all animals teach their young; if you do not want to listen you’ll have to be taught through the experience (sometimes of a spanking).
My granny was normally a very sensible woman, quite intelligent, fun, and witty. Yet, when it came to her belief in God, she mixed her theologies of Jesus' love, and God's (OT), wrath. I was always horrified that she would think that God would punish her for such a trivial thing. Now, having been born in 1882, she was definitely raised old-school, and I think that also had much to do with her thought process, (and she wasn't even from the South
). But, I still see much of that same thought process in many Christians today, and it is troublesome.
