I was talking to someone about the parents of one of our mutual friends, and he said something along the lines of, " His parents scare me, because I'm afraid that I'll do something wrong around them."

Our mutual friend's parents are THE nicest people that I have ever met.

So, that got me thinking; oftentimes in the Bible, it talks of the "fear of God."

Maybe it doesn't mean "fear what God can do to you," but that you should fear his disappointment for its own sake.

The people living in the early parts of the Bible, when presumeably it was written, lead very harsh lives; it's not inconceivable that the meaning could have been twisted just this much.

Well, toss in your two cents; I'm intrigued as what others have to say.

Once when I was talking to a christian, he said he fears God, just like a child fears parents. I said that a child should love parents, not fear them, he said we were talking about different things.

However fearing to disappoint or upset someone you will disappoint yourself and your personality, you will think about the others and you will doubt all the time.

But I might be wrong, it's just my was of thinking...

Gilli I agree with you, ppl don't realize words have more than just one meaning/use. Fear doesn't always mean to be affraid of something, as in you feel you're in danger of being harmed.

When it comes to the Christian religion, words get miscontrued a lot. It makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE to fear a supposedly 'Omnibenevolent' creature. But to fear their disappointment or disapproval of you is another thing.

Like I said b4, the religion does NOT need to change, the way ppl look into it/interpret it, and accept it needs to change.

...Now if God is omnibenevolent, then fearing Him makes sense in the way you put it. As in, the situation with you, a friend, and a -mututal friens'- parents.

You described the mututals' parents as 'THE nicest ppl you've ever met'(lets say...omnibenevolent).

Your other friend's not affraid OF them, he's affraid of disappointing them and I believe that's the way it is with God. There's no need to fear Him harming you, as I pointed out, Satan's done a lot of shit, yet God has not once harmed him.

I think the fear is of His disapproval; see, Christianity makes sense when you question things and don't just follow what someone else has said, like dumb sheep. http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

:Best post I've seen in a while in this forum:

Since you're asking for 2 cents, here's mine. (3.5 cents after inflation)

-disclaimer: I have nothing against christians, and it's fine with me if you believe-

The problem with your hypothesis/statement is the existence of the Old testament. There are many references to the wrathful God, vengeful God, plague of locusts, deaths of firstborn and the like. It sort of implies that if you don't fear his disappointment, then you'll be made to fear him literally.

Speaking of contradictions, when God decided on the experiment of free will, why police it? It's not free will if you make someone be Christian through threats or bribes. Of course, since God hasn't appeared in person to strike the wayward or reward the pious, he's still in the clear. But someone in the Christian chain of command is lying in that case.

no