Fear 2.

You may wonder how people who pray five times a day, give alms, and observe a month of fasting each year can be violent, cold, and threatening.

The answer is that their faith has been enforced by violence and fear.

If you teach people to obey God with violence and fear, insisting that this is the nature of God, then you will create violent, threatening people.

Violence begets violence.

And fear begets fear.

So passages in scripture which inspire fear should be ignored.

In fact we should be actively preaching against them.

God's nature is Love.

And "perfect love casts out fear." 1 John 4:18 (NRSV)


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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