Fear of God or theophobia may refer to

fear Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the ...

itself, but more often to a sense of awe, and submission to, a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

. People subscribing to popular

monotheistic religions Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

for instance, might fear

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

and

divine judgment Divine judgment means the judgment of God or other supreme beings and deities within a religion or a spiritual belief. Ancient beliefs In ancient Sumerian religion, the sun-god Utu and his twin sister Inanna were believed to be the enfo ...

, or submit to God's

omnipotence Omnipotence is the property of possessing maximal power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as ...

Christianity

In the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

, this fear is described using the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word

φόβος Phobos (Greek for "fear") most commonly refers to: * Phobos (moon), a moon of Mars * Phobos (mythology), the Greek god and personification of fear and panic Phobos may also refer to: Fictional characters * Phobos (Marvel Comics), several chara ...

('' phobos'', 'fear/horror'), except in , where

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

describes γυναιξὶν ἐπανγελλομέναις θεοσέβειαν (''gynaixin epangellomenais theosebeian''), "women professing the fear of God", using the word θεοσέβεια (''theosebeia'' ). The term can mean fear of God's judgment. However, 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." In the

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

() Mary declaims, "His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him." The

Parable of the Unjust Judge The Parable of the Unjust Judge (also known as the Parable of the Importunate Widow or the Parable of the Persistent Woman, is one of the parables of Jesus which appears in the Gospel of Luke ( Luke 18:1–8). In it, a judge who lacks compassion ...

() 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 The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

, sometimes replace the word "fear" with "reverence". According to

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

, “The fear of the Lord, the gift of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t mean being afraid of God, since we know that God is our Father that always loves and forgives us,... tis no servile fear, but rather a joyful awareness of God’s grandeur and a grateful realization that only in him do our hearts find true peace.” Roman Catholicism counts this fear as one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In some contexts it is called wonderand awe in

God's presence In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the univ ...

, such as the enumeration of the seven gifts in the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

of the sacrament of

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

. In , the fear of the Lord is described as the "discipline" or "instruction" of wisdom. Writing in the

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

Jacques Forget The abbé Jacques Forget (6 January 1852 – 1933) was a Belgian priest, biblical scholar and professor of Arabic at the Catholic University of Louvain.Urbain Vermeulen, Union européenne des arabisants et islamisants. Congress, J. M. F. van Ree ...

explains that this gift "fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread, above all things, to offend Him." 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). Lutheran theologian

Rudolf Otto Rudolf Otto (25 September 1869 – 7 March 1937) was a German Lutheran theologian, philosopher, and comparative religionist. He is regarded as one of the most influential scholars of religion in the early twentieth century and is best known fo ...

coined the term ''

numinous Numinous () means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring";Collins English Dictionary - 7th ed. - 2005 also "supernatural" or "appealing to the aesthetic sensibility." The term was given its present sense by the Ger ...

'' to express the type of fear one has for God. Anglican lay theologian

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

references the term in many of his writings, but specifically describes it in his book ''

The Problem of Pain ''The Problem of Pain'' is a 1940 book on the problem of evil by C. S. Lewis, in which Lewis argues that human pain, animal pain, and hell are not sufficient reasons to reject belief in a good and powerful God. Lewis states that his writin ...

'' 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 and our prostration before it". It is a fear that comes forth out of love for the Lord. A related concept (mostly present within

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

theology) is the 'Sin of Human Respect'. This occurs when the 'Fear of God' is replaced with a 'Fear of other people' (aiming to please other people more than God), leading to

sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

Islam

Taqwa ''Taqwa'' ( '' / '') is an Islamic term for being conscious and cognizant of God, of truth, "piety, fear of God." It is often found in the Quran. Those who practice ''taqwa'' — in the words of Ibn Abbas, "believers who avoid shirk with All ...

'' is an Islamic term for being conscious and cognizant of God, of truth, of the rational reality, "

piety Piety is a virtue which may include religious devotion or spirituality. A common element in most conceptions of piety is a duty of respect. In a religious context, piety may be expressed through pious activities or devotions, which may vary amon ...

, fear of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

". It is often found in the Quran. ''Al-Muttaqin'' ( ') refers to those who practice ''taqwa'', or in the words of

Ibn Abbas ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest Tafsir#Conditions, mufassir of the Quran, Qur'an. ...

, "believers who avoid

Shirk Shirk may refer to: * Shirk (surname) * Shirk (Islam), in Islam, the sin of idolatry or worshiping beings or things other than God ('attributing an associate (to God)') * Shirk, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province, Iran * Shirk-e Sorjeh ...

with Allah and who work in His obedience."

Judaism

The first mention of the ''fear of God'' in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

is commended for putting his trust in God. In , 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." says that "fear of the Lord" is "the beginning of wisdom". The

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

words יִרְאַ֣ת (''yir’aṯ'') and פחד (''p̄aḥaḏ'') are most commonly used to describe fear of God/ El/

Yahweh Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...

Bahya ibn Paquda Bahyā ibn Pāqudā (Bahya ben Joseph ibn Pakuda, Pekudah, Bakuda; , ), c. 1050–1120, was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived in the Taifa of Zaragoza in al-Andalus (now Spain). He was one of two people now known as Rabbeinu Behaye, the o ...

characterized two types of fear as a lower "fear of punishment" and a higher "fear of ivine aweglory."

Abraham ibn Daud Abraham ibn Daud (; ) was a Spanish-Jewish astronomer, historian and philosopher; born in Córdoba, Spain about 1110; who was said to have been killed for his religious beliefs in Toledo, Spain, about 1180. He is sometimes known by the abbrevia ...

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."

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.""Fear of God", Bahá'í Library Online
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia: Fear of God

* ttps://www.unitedfaithchurch.org/topics/fear-of-god/ The Fear of GodCompilation of Christian articles and sermons {{Authority control Religious belief and doctrine Christian terminology Positive Mitzvoth Fear God