Avatar,
First off, your sad treatise on the destruction of your country by evil Christians is very pointless. Evil done in Jesus' name does not make Jesus evil. Jesus taught the concept of love and meekness. This is a fact that a Biblical scholar such as yourself should know well.
Still, I enjoy the fact that you have left the silly inanities behind, and decided to make clearly stated mature posts. This is good.
However, you say you ARE NOT mistaking fear (as in reverence) with fear (as in being scared), and yet you persist in mischaracterizing Biblical fear.
It is not fear as in being terrified. It is fear as in honor respect, revere. Or most clearly "standing in awe". In the Hebrew it is "yare" meaning "to be afraid, stand in awe, fear". This word can connote "dread" but in this sense it is usually used with the word "not" as in "fear not", or "do not dread".
In the Greek the word "phobos" literally means "that which causes flight", and is often used to connote "reverential fear", or "respect" for God. There are many forms of the word "fear". Can you cite a verse in the Bible that best sums up your example of God attempting to scare the bigeezuz out of us, using the word "fear"?
His purpose is not to terrify us for his amusement. We should be scared of God in the sense of deep and abiding respect. He is Holy. We are not. When we come to a Holy God, unholy as we are, there had better be some grace involved.
For someone who claims to be an expert at Christianity and Theology, you betray precious little affinity with the scripture. Others may think your post was wonderful, but respectfully, I found it to be very misinformed and mostly laboring under a gross misunderstanding of the Biblical definition of "fear".
Before you make decisions that effect your eternal soul, why not go ahead and do a legitimate indepth word study? Aww, I know you won't so why do I bother? I guess because somewhere deep inside I care about you.
-Mike
PS. Emily Litella was a character on the 70's American T.V. show Saturday Night Live. She would go on and on about things, only to be told she had misunderstood a word. Here is one such sketch:
Chevy Chase: Weekend Update recognizes its obligation to present responsible opposing viewpoints to our editorials. Here to reply to a recent editorial, is Emily Litella.
Emily Litella: I'm here tonight to speak out against busting schoolchildren. Busting schoolchildren is a terrible, terrible thing. I hear this is going on all over the country. Mean policemen arrest little children and put them in jail in the wrong neighborhood, so they can't even play with their little friends. Imagine, busting schoolchildren! The food in jail isn't good, and even though they get bread, I don't believe they can get toast. Or nice cake. Now, who will tuck them in? Where will they hang their leggings? Where will they set up their little lemonade stands? Well, they don't have toys in jail, except maybe..
Chevy Chase: [ interrupting ] Miss Litella?
Emily Litella: Yes?
Chevy Chase: I'm sorry. The editorial was on bussing schoolchildren. Bussing. Not busting.
Emily Litella: Oh. I'm sorry. Never mind.
Your post on fear reminds me of this.
-M
First off, your sad treatise on the destruction of your country by evil Christians is very pointless. Evil done in Jesus' name does not make Jesus evil. Jesus taught the concept of love and meekness. This is a fact that a Biblical scholar such as yourself should know well.
Still, I enjoy the fact that you have left the silly inanities behind, and decided to make clearly stated mature posts. This is good.
However, you say you ARE NOT mistaking fear (as in reverence) with fear (as in being scared), and yet you persist in mischaracterizing Biblical fear.
It is not fear as in being terrified. It is fear as in honor respect, revere. Or most clearly "standing in awe". In the Hebrew it is "yare" meaning "to be afraid, stand in awe, fear". This word can connote "dread" but in this sense it is usually used with the word "not" as in "fear not", or "do not dread".
In the Greek the word "phobos" literally means "that which causes flight", and is often used to connote "reverential fear", or "respect" for God. There are many forms of the word "fear". Can you cite a verse in the Bible that best sums up your example of God attempting to scare the bigeezuz out of us, using the word "fear"?
His purpose is not to terrify us for his amusement. We should be scared of God in the sense of deep and abiding respect. He is Holy. We are not. When we come to a Holy God, unholy as we are, there had better be some grace involved.
For someone who claims to be an expert at Christianity and Theology, you betray precious little affinity with the scripture. Others may think your post was wonderful, but respectfully, I found it to be very misinformed and mostly laboring under a gross misunderstanding of the Biblical definition of "fear".
Before you make decisions that effect your eternal soul, why not go ahead and do a legitimate indepth word study? Aww, I know you won't so why do I bother? I guess because somewhere deep inside I care about you.
-Mike
PS. Emily Litella was a character on the 70's American T.V. show Saturday Night Live. She would go on and on about things, only to be told she had misunderstood a word. Here is one such sketch:
Chevy Chase: Weekend Update recognizes its obligation to present responsible opposing viewpoints to our editorials. Here to reply to a recent editorial, is Emily Litella.
Emily Litella: I'm here tonight to speak out against busting schoolchildren. Busting schoolchildren is a terrible, terrible thing. I hear this is going on all over the country. Mean policemen arrest little children and put them in jail in the wrong neighborhood, so they can't even play with their little friends. Imagine, busting schoolchildren! The food in jail isn't good, and even though they get bread, I don't believe they can get toast. Or nice cake. Now, who will tuck them in? Where will they hang their leggings? Where will they set up their little lemonade stands? Well, they don't have toys in jail, except maybe..
Chevy Chase: [ interrupting ] Miss Litella?
Emily Litella: Yes?
Chevy Chase: I'm sorry. The editorial was on bussing schoolchildren. Bussing. Not busting.
Emily Litella: Oh. I'm sorry. Never mind.
Your post on fear reminds me of this.
-M
