Is Christianity basically fear based? I don't get it.

[timothyu]

a superstition is a belief that something bad will happen if you act—or don’t act—in a certain way.

Thought that was political media hype.

 

[timothyu]

I will add that the moment I became a true believer I found a peace that is impossible to explain to someone who has never found that peace for himself/herself.

Yes there is peace in knowing God will return to turn the world upside down and replace the governance of man with his own, even ironically as it creates outright rebellion and carnage by man unwilling to let go of the reins. The peace comes in knowing our time of self serving ways with their results has come to an end.

 

[Eloy Craft]

...and trust in His will over our own

Amen. Like a child.

 

[timothyu]

Amen. Like a child.

Yes (Are we there yet?)

 

[eleos1954]

I thought Christianity was supposed to be about love, but after reading some of the Bible and going to church, it seems to be largely fear based.

Having a relationship with Jesus is void of fear. No one should be afraid of Him.

The bible does have some "scary" stuff in it .... but we are to fear not.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

 

[timothyu]

Even notice how that sounds like political promises. Is that where we got the concept. The Adversary and God vying for our allegiance?

 

[Soyeong]

I thought Christianity was supposed to be about love, but after reading some of the Bible and going to church, it seems to be largely fear based.

The Hebrew word "pachad" refers to the type of fear that makes us want to run away and hide while the word "yireh" refer to the type of fear that makes us want to run toward someone. In other words, there is a type of fear where we don't want to be close to someone and a type of fear where we don't want to be separated from someone, and the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom is the latter, which is rooted in love.

 

[timothyu]

which is rooted in love.

and our respect

 

[Eloy Craft]

Even notice how that sounds like political promises. Is that where we got the concept. The Adversary and God vying for our allegiance?

Politics. Interesting.
Well, It happened at the beginning.
The law of death found in our members obstructs the will from serving the Law of God.
Paul taught about it.

Romans 7

21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

 

[ldonjohn]

Yes there is peace in knowing God will return to turn the world upside down and replace the governance of man with his own, even ironically as it creates outright rebellion and carnage by man unwilling to let go of the reins. The peace comes in knowing our time of self serving ways with their results has come to an end.

The peace of which I speak comes from knowing that my eternity rests not in anything I have done or must do to earn my salvation, but it rests in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

John

 

[timothyu]

not in anything I have done or must do to earn my salvation, but it rests in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Nothing you have done could create the Kingdom or life after death, true. Jesus did what was required to bring that about.

But we are told our allegiance must not be with the traditional self serving ways of man and the Adversary which is putting our will before God's. If they are, then there is no place for us in the Kingdom. Those who remain of the world have had their reward

 

[RileyG]

No. Christianity is about a relationship with God and being born anew.

 

[ViaCrucis]

There's not a lot of hope for many if that was true, as the Bible is 66 books.

Or 73, depending on who you ask.

Though I'm not convinced that even if one reads the entire Bible, cover to cover, that they would necessarily get everything from it they could.

The Bible was never meant to be read in isolation, but within the context and experience of Christian faith and life in the fellowship of the Church.

The Bible is a liturgical document, that is, the Biblical Canon came together within the context of Christian worship. When Christians met together, these are the books which were read. Because these books were received and believed to have God's inspiration behind them--that we should receive and hear Christ in their reading.

An academic approach to the books of the Bible is good and incredibly useful. But that's not the full picture of how Christians encounter them in the context of our "experience" of faith. There is a sense in which not only do we read the Scriptures, but, more profoundly, the Scriptures read us. Because we see here not a dry and dead letter of text, but the living, dynamic word of God.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[timothyu]

God's word was never meant to be difficult to follow (from the Garden on), His will before ours, love all as self. He even threw in some good news that man would no longer be allowed to be in charge or control/oppress fellow man, especially for gain as He was coming back to destroy the world we have made in our image and replace it with His own. That about sums it up. Our choice which side to proclaim allegiance to, and whether we allow ourselves to get side-tracked back into the world by fellow man
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

The Bible tells us that "God is love". He encourages us to love each other. Each of us is imperfect in that sense, we all do not love as deeply as we should. God gave us his Son to show us how to live and forgive, He also showed us that He forgives us if we will accept that fact and follow Him. God gave Jesus as a substitute a sacrifice for our sin, the penalty or fear of God's wrath is taken away for the person who will accept Jesus and give out forgiveness to others.

The Bible tells us, however, that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against people who will not receive His forgiveness, people who suppress the nature of kindness, so they can do evil. The Bible tells us that this anger is very severe, that God gives extreme mercy to the one willing to live in love, but wrath to the one who rejects this.

This is just. Mercy for the merciful or one seeking to live God's way, and wrath for the evil. The severity of the penalty can bring fear, but if we can focus on the good that God offers us, it will dispel all fear.

All of us have failed to live fully in God's way, and that is why we need Jesus and His forgiveness. We have all done imperfect, even rebellious things.

 

[drich0150]

I thought Christianity was supposed to be about love, but after reading some of the Bible and going to church, it seems to be largely fear based.

how is it fear based?

 

[dzheremi]

From the concluding prayer of every hour of the Agpeya (Coptic Orthodox daily prayer book, shaped by the ascetics in the monasteries of Egypt, 4th-5th century AD):

Have mercy on us, O God, and have mercy on us, Who, at all times and in every hour, in heaven and on earth, is worshipped and glorified. Christ our God, the good, the long suffering, the abundant in mercy, and the great in compassion, Who loves the righteous and has mercy on the sinners of whom I am chief; Who does not wish the death of the sinner but rather that he returns and lives, Who calls all to salvation for the promise of the blessings to come.

+++

The only fear I see here is fear of our own sins and the consequences of them, which Christ frees us from through His glorious resurrection whereby the chains of sin and death are broken. Christ our God truly "calls all to salvation for the promise of the blessings to come". I would say that is a positive message.

 

[rockytopva]

Glad I could create this thread with no references to fear...

Importantly Defining the Holy Spirit

 

[YahuahSaves]

It can be. After a while you find that it's not. We obey God out of love for him. And looking at that obedience we find that the world is a better place for it. But then for some we are told, "others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh", see Jude 1:23.

Wonder what version you're reading as mine says:

22And you must show mercy toh those whose faith is wavering. 23Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others,i but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.j

 

[Jonaitis]

I thought Christianity was supposed to be about love, but after reading some of the Bible and going to church, it seems to be largely fear based.

Well, that's not real Christianity, at least not in my "book." The fear-mongering motto of the modern Church has intensified the focus on escaping damnation and securing a spot in heaven, which these things are not an issue in themselves, but that this is not the original aim of the gospel message. The message of the bible is reconciliation with God. It should be that men and women are to come to God, not simply to appease their guilty conscience, but to find their whole fulfillment in their Creator. We should be Christians even if there was no Heaven or Hell. We should want God, because He is God, not so that we can get something out of Him. Our chief end isn't heaven, nor is it to flee from God's wrath, but to find our purpose and happiness and completion in God, which He provides a way through Christ's work. This is the substance of the Christian faith that carries on in glory when the fear of what happens after death is no longer relevant.