C HRISTIAN L IVING

V OLUME 2

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S ERIES
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Spiritual Concepts

The four volumes of the Christian Living Series are the

fruit of a catechism class that the late bishop Youanis
used to teach to university students who came to Cairo
from other states to study. The Chapters of these
volumes have been a hand book for many Christians who
are pursuing their spiritual path and a source of
direction to many over the last fifty years, now we
present it to you in the English language.
The Arabic edition of this book is originally titled The
Paradise of the Spirit and contained more chapters yet
we decided to bring you most of the chapters that were
included in the original book and rearrange some of them
for the spiritual benefit of the English readers. We
would love to give a special thanks to those who laboured in the translation and
proof reading of this book, who asked to remain anonymous. May the Lord reward
them for their labour of love.
Volume two, Spiritual Concepts, explains some of the Christian concepts that are
often misunderstood. Chapters include: Humility, Pride, Dignity, the Narrow gate,
and the Life of submission.

Vol: 7 Issue: 1

Tuba 1729 / Jan 2013

The Fear of God

Objections & Reply
H.H. Pope Shenouda III
So many people flee from the words Fear of God,
seeing that such words are not suitable for the
covenant of grace which we live. On what bases do
they build their claim?
1.
They say: why should I fear God while He
accepted Augustine who had been ungodly for a long
time? God also accepted Moses the Black who was
cruel and a murderer, and accepted Mary the Copt
who was in deep filthiness and corruption. He likewise
accepted Mary Magdalene who had seven demons
(Mk 16: 9), and the adulterous woman who met Him
in the Pharisees house (Lk 7: 37)
It is a blessing, my son, that you know all these examples. But let us
discuss them: do you have such true repentance like those saints? Do
you have the kind of repentance of Augustine and Moses the Black
who never returned to sin again but continued in spiritual growth and
became guides to many people for generations after them? Do you
have the contrite heart of that adulterous woman who humiliated
herself very much and poured her tears before all people?
Do you know how God led Mary the Copt through fear, when His
hand shut the doors of the church against her and nailed her to the
ground that she might not reach the holy icon? Do you know that she
struggled for seventeen years after her repentance, persisting firmly
against the continued fearful wars of the devils? Do you have such
love as the Magdalene Saint had, such great and amazing love that
could keep away fear from her?

Youth group from St Marks Church

Be like those in their repentance and love, and you will not fear.
Think of how they attained and how much time did they take to reach
such levels. Do not put yourself in the same level of such saints. There
is a big difference between you and them, between your beginning
and their end!

However put them before you to give yourself hope, and try with all your power to
follow their way with the same seriousness and true intent, and with the same fear with
which they started. Only then you will not be afraid.
2.

I hear you saying: Why should we fear while God is a Father having
compassion upon us?

Yes, He is a Father with all the significance that the word bears. The Psalmist said
about Him, He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according
to our iniquities ... As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us. (Ps 103: 10, 12) It is good, my son, that you used this Psalm
and these verses in particular, but let us read them together to see what do they
mean: The Psalmist says, As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who
fear Him. He did not say that God pities those who continue in their sins or in breaking
His commandments, but those who fear Him (Ps 103: 13). And about His mercy and
forgiveness the Psalmist says, For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great
is His mercy toward those who fear Him. (Ps 103: 11)
I see that you have quoted the verses that suit your mind and ignored the rest! You
quoted the verses (10 & 12) of (Ps 103) and left the verses (11 & 13). You ought to
have quoted the whole Psalm to understand the full meaning with respect to Gods
dealing with us. It is true that God is Merciful, Compassionate, and Longsuffering, but
in order that we may repent. Then He will pity those who fear Him and will not deal
with them according to their sins. Because of the fear of God they repented, and
through repentance their sins were blotted out, so He did not punish them for iniquities
which He had already forgiven, and did not deal with them according to sins they had
already repented for.
God deals with you as a Father, but you ought to deal with Him as a son. He is truly
a Father, but He has no partiality. See what St. Peter the Apostle says in this context:
If you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each ones work,
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your sojourning here in fear. (1 Pet 1: 17)
He is a Father with all the significance that the word bears, but He is a Holy Father
who is not pleased with sin. He also is a Just Father who does not take the side of His
children. Therefore, since He will judge us according to our works without partiality, we
ought to fear making Him angry lest we lose His love.
God is our Father, and as a Father He blames His children for their disobedience.
The prophecy of Isaiah the Prophet starts with the words, Hear, O heavens, and
give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: I have nourished and brought up children,
and they have rebelled against Me. (Isa 1: 2) And in the Book of Malachi (1: 6), the
Lord says, A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father,
where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?
Can we say then that disregarding Gods honor and reverence is an evidence of
lack of fear of God in the heart, which is against the teaching of the Scripture? If you
are a son of God, where is His honor as a Father?

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remotely concerned about His justice, we are not concerned about His gifts - we trust
that all of that is taken care of - and those are nothing compared to Him and our desire
to be with Him and live for Him.
This is why in the quote from the Paradise , St. Antony responds to Abba Besarion the
way he does. It seems that Abba Besarion was vigilant because he thought God
required it of him, that God would be less happy with him if he did not stand up for forty
nights without shutting his eyes. St Antony s God is one who just wants love. If you
stand up for forty days, let it be because you want to sacrifice every waking hour to
your Lord and King, that you dont want a moment of pure bliss with Him to be stolen not because you think God wont like it if you do not.
Antonys image of God is a loving One, One that knows we are weak: I heard that the
blessed man Antony used to say, God doth not permit wars to wax as fierce in this
generation as He did in the generation of old, for He knoweth that men are more feeble
now, and that they could not bear them.
A God that can be challenged, be reprimanded by, but not be even slightly phased:
Abba Antony besought God to inform him why young children died whilst so many old
men lived, and why upright men were poor whilst the wicked were rich, and why some
were blind and others had their sight, and why the righteous suffered from illness
whilst the wicked were healthy, and a voice came, which said, Antony, take care of
thine own self, for these matters are the judgements of God.
St. Antony doesnt reject the proper fear of God, as another saying from the Paradise
says, Abba Poemen also said that Abba Antony said concerning Abba Pambo, This
man feared God so greatly that he made the Spirit of God to dwell in him.
And another quote that shows his fear of God: Abba Antony used to say, Let us put
God before our eyes continually [often translated Always have the fear of God before
your eyes]; remember death and Christ our Redeemer; hate the world and everything
which is therein; hate the world and all bodily pleasure; die unto this life, so that thou
mayest live unto God, for God will require it of thee in the day of judgement. Be
hungry, and thirsty, and naked; weep and mourn; watch and groan in thy heart;
examine thyself and see if thou art worthy of God. Love labour and tribulation, so that
thou mayest find God, and treat with contempt and despise the body, so that thy soul
may live.
So the proper fear includes recognizing His authority, but having a such a perfect
relationship with Him that youre not concerned with all of the side- stuff - youre not
afraid of any of that - all you want is Him; to have what Adam had with God- unity:
They used to say that one of the old men asked God that he might see the fathers,
and he saw them all, with the exception of Abba Antony; and he said unto him that
shewed [them] to him, Where is Abba Antony? And he said unto him, Wheresoever
God is there is Antony .
(from: www.coptichymns.net)

Meditations on the Fear of God

according to Saint Antony and other fathers.
By: Mena Rizkalla
I no longer fear God, but I love Him. For love casts out fear.
After reading this quote from Saint Antony,
some of us wonder how it could be possible
that we not fear God. Isnt the fear of God
the beginning of wisdom? What is the proper
way to fear of God? This is a difficult
question, but hopefully we can understand
this through some of the sayings of the Great
Saint Antony.

Bishop Zakharia Mar Theophilos

Bishop Ashaia visit to the monastery

The quote can be found in The Paradise of

the Holy Fathers - however, there are two
versions of it: Sister Benedicta Wards, and
Wallace Budges Paradise. Sister Benedicta
Wards:
Abba Antony said, I no longer fear God, but I love Him. For love casts out fear.
The one that is in the full Paradise of the Fathers (translated by Wallace Budge) is
this:

St Marks Yr 12 Class visit the monastery

Youth from different churches

Abba Besarion said, I stood up for forty nights and did not sleep. Abba Antony said,
I do not fear God, on the contrary I love Him.
Now, in the case of the first quote, we need only to see the passage he refers to,
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love. ( 1 Jn. 4:18 )
People often preach about a God that you have to fear , fear in terms of always
watching your back for punishment, always thinking Hes upset with you or waiting for
you to fall so that He can rub it in when He saves you - this is truly wrong, and can be
perfectly summarized in the classic quote, Baba Yasoo hay izzaal minnek (Father
Jesus will get upset with you.). That is the kind of fear that is wrong.
We love God because He first loved us, as the Bible says - and we fear Him in that
we revere Him, we acknowledge His authority over us - while still loving Him as a
Father. We should be so in love with God that our fear isnt even heaven or hell! If we
are truly Intoxicated by God, as St. Macarius says, then we love Him so much that
we know that He does not WANT us to end up in hell, that every win for Satan is a loss
for Him. In this sense, we have lost our fear for God in that we are not even

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Pharmacy students from Orange

Year 12 Students during their special

dinner before their results

Canberra youth having a retreat

From the Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Abba John (the Dwarf) said, Humility and the fear of God are above all virtues.

Left: Boys from

Archangel
Michael Church

Abba Poemen said, As the breath which comes out of his nostrils, so does a man
need humility and the fear of God.
Die daily, that you might live eternally, for one who fears God will live forever.
St. Anthony the Great
Fear of God is of two kinds. The first is generated in us by the threat of punishment. It
is through such fear that we develop in due order self-control, patience, hope in God
and dispassion; and it is from dispassion that love comes. The second kind of fear is
linked with love and constantly produces reverence in the soul, so that it does not
grow indifferent to God because of the intimate communion of its love. The first kind
of fear is expelled by perfect love when the soul has acquired this and is no longer
afraid of punishment (cf. I John 4:18). The second kind, as we have already said, is
always found united with perfect love. The first kind of fear is referred to in the
following two verse: Out of fear of the Lord men shun evil (Prov. 16:6), and Fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10). The second kind is mentioned in the
following verses: Fear of the Lord is pure, and endures forever (Ps. 19:9), and Those
who fear the Lord will not want for anything (Ps. 34:10).
St. Maximos the Confessor
If a man wishes to attain to the love of God, he must have fear of God. Fear gives birth
to mourning, and mourning to courage. When all this has ripened in the soul, it begins
to bear fruit in all things. And, seeing these beautiful fruits in the soul, God draws it to
Himself, like choice incense, takes joy in it with His Angels for all time, fills it with
rejoicing, and protects it in all its ways, to let it reach its place of rest without harm.
Then, seeing the Most High Guardian encompassing it, the devil no longer attacks it;
indeed he fears to come near it owing to this great power. Obtain this power that the
demons may fear you, your labors be light and Divine things a sweet joy. This
sweetness of Divine love is far sweeter than honey. Many monks and virgins, living in
communities, having had no taste of this Divine sweetness nor received Divine power,
have thought that they had it already. But, since they had made no effort to gain it,
God did not give it to them. He who strives to obtain it will surely gain it through Gods
mercy; for God is no respecter of persons. When a man wishes to have in himself the
light of God and His power, and so disregards both the abuse and the honors of this
world, hates all things of the world and ease of the body, and purifies his heart of all
bad thoughts, when he unceasingly brings to God fasting and tears day and night, as
well as pure prayers, then God enriches him with that power. Strive to obtain this
power - and you will do all your works with calm and ease, will receive a great daring
towards God and He will grant all that you ask.
St Anthony the Great

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Right: Youth from

St Marys Church
spending time in
the monastery

Fr Pavlos Hanna with the Year 12 class from St Abanoub church