Caput XV. De timore Domini
The Fear of the Lord Is Wisdom's Beginning
The fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom, a great safeguard against sin, and the path to eternal reward, calling the faithful to live always in God's sight.
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Ps. 110, 10). It is a great safeguard against sin to fear God as always present. Whoever fears God perfectly guards themselves carefully against sins. For the one who fears God, things will go well on the last day, and their reward remains forever (Eccli. 1, 13). If someone is ashamed to sin in the sight of another person, how much more should they be ashamed to commit iniquity in the sight of God, who considers not only deeds but also hearts. Those who fear God with holy fear seek out what is good and pleasing to him.
Childlike Fear and the Inescapable Presence of God
The author distinguishes servile fear from the loving fear of God's children, grounding this love in the truth that no one can flee from God's all-seeing presence.
There is one kind of fear that belongs to children, and another that belongs to servants. Servants fear their masters because of punishment, but children fear their fathers because of love. If we are God's children, let us fear him out of the sweetness of love, not from the bitterness of dread. A person who is wise in all their work fears the Lord, knowing they can never escape his presence, as the Psalmist says to God: Where can I go from your Spirit, and where can I flee from your presence?✦ Psalm 139:7. Again: There is no escape from the East or from the West — Psalm 74:7 — the implication is clear: there is no place to flee from God. Whoever fears God will receive instruction, and those who keep watch over his commandments will find everlasting blessing.
Blessings and Virtues Born of Holy Fear
Drawing on Proverbs and Sirach, the text teaches that the soul which fears God is blessed, safe from temptation, turned from vice, and made virtuous and cautious.
XXXII, 18). Blessed is the soul that fears God (Eccli. XXXIV, 17), and remains safe from diabolical temptation. Blessed is the man who is always fearful (Prov.✦ XXVIII, 14), and to whom it has been given to have the fear of God always before his eyes.✦ Whoever fears the Lord turns away from the crooked path and directs his ways onto the path of virtue.✦ The fear of the Lord drives away sins and adds virtues. Fear makes a person cautious and anxious lest they sin.
From Fear to Perfect Love
Where the fear of the Lord is absent life collapses, yet God's discipline is merciful; therefore we should fear God so as to love Him, since perfect love casts out servile fear.
Where the fear of the Lord is absent, life falls apart. Whoever does not fear God in times of prosperity should flee to him in times of trouble — to the one who disciplines in order to heal. Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in his commandments (Ps.✦ 111:1).✦ The fear of God drives out the fear of hell. So let us fear God in order to love him—because perfect love casts out servile fear (1 John✦1 4:18).✦
Read the original Latin
Initium sapientiae timor Domini (Psal. CX, 10). Magna est cautela peccati Deum semper praesentem timere. Qui perfecte Deum timet, diligenter se a peccatis custodit. Timenti Deum in novissimo die bene erit, et merces ejus in aeternum permanet (Eccli. I, 13). Qui erubescit in conspectu hominis peccare, quanto magis debet erubescere in conspectu Dei iniquitatem agere, qui non solum opera, sed et corda considerat. Qui timore sancto Deum metuunt, inquirunt quae bona placita sunt illi.
Alius est timor filiorum, alius est timor servorum. Servi enim propter tormenta dominos timent, filii vero propter amorem patres timent. Si filii Dei sumus, timeamus eum ex charitatis dulcedine, non de timoris amaritudine. Homo sapiens in omnibus operibus suis metuit Dominum, sciens se nunquam ejus praesentiam fugere posse, sicut Psalmista Deo dicit: Quo ibo a spiritu tuo, et quo a facie tua fugiam (Psal. CXXXVIII, 7)? Iterum: Quia neque ab Oriente, neque ab Occidente (Psal. LXXIV, 7), subauditur, patet locus fugiendi Deum. Qui timet Deum, accipiet doctrinam ejus, et qui vigilaverint in mandatis illius, invenient benedictionem sempiternam (Eccli.
XXXII, 18). Timentis Deum beata est anima (Eccli. XXXIV, 17), et a tentatione diabolica tuta remanet. Beatus homo, qui semper est pavidus (Prov. XXVIII, 14), et cui donatum est Dei timorem semper ante oculos habere. Qui timet Dominum, recedit ab itinere pravo, et ad virtutis semitam vias suas dirigit. Timor Domini repellit peccata, et adjicit virtutes. Timor cautum facit hominem et sollicitum, ne peccet.
Ubi vero timor Domini non est, ibi dissolutio vitae est. Quisquis Deum in prosperis non timet, vel in adversis refugiat ad illum, qui flagellat, ut sanet. Beatus vir, qui timet Dominum, in mandatis ejus cupit nimis (Psal. CXI, 1). Timor Dei timorem gehennae expellit. Sic ergo timeamus Deum, ut diligamus eum; quia perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem servilem (I Joan. IV, 18).
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.139.7 — Where can I go from your Spirit? And where can I flee from your presence?
- ↩Prov.28.14 — Blessed is the one who fears always, but the one who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
- ↩Prov.28.14 — Blessed is the one who fears always, but the one who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
- ↩Prov.28.14 — Blessed is the one who fears always, but the one who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
- ↩Ps.111.1;Ps.113.1 — Praise the LORD. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and the congregation. Ps.113.1 — Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
- ↩Ps.111.1 — Praise the LORD. I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and the congregation.
- ↩1John.4.18 — There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
- ↩1John.4.18 — There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
Notes
- 1 ↩Charity (caritas) is rendered as 'love' per the default lexeme policy; the theological-virtue sense is preserved. 'Servile fear' (timor servilis) denotes fear of punishment rather than reverential awe — a distinction the passage itself draws.
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