fear of god, n.Definitions

Fear of God (n.) frees ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠you from fear of everyone else.

Fear of God (n.) shrinks ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠every empire to a phantom; Isaiah told Israel to dread only the Holy One.

The Fear of God (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠become a phobia: an old psychotic doctor spent a night disinfecting the whole heaven with mercury chloride and found no trace of God — we find neurosis instead.

The Fear of God (n.) knows ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠it is dangerous to make God a despot, and as dangerous to make Him a subject in reduced circumstances; alarming if He were shut in eternal silence, and as dangerous to audit His accounts speculatively and prance prophetically through world history.

The Fear of God (n.) would ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠vanish if only what looks good to us could be expected of him; eternal damnation hardly resembles goodness as we know it.

The Fear of God (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠fearing what is more than oneself; after it comes the fear of oneself, and the anguish of this fear is responsibility.

The Fear of God (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠greater where huts lie half a mile apart and among sailors than in the noisy town — because they experience something from which there is no escape: the wolf's howl in the tempest, the plank at sea.