Where does “the fear of the Lord” sit on the ladder of the practical life of faith?

The answer

St. Philoxenus of Mabbug describes the ladder of practical faith for us. He starts with three stages: faith; simplicity; and the fear of God. There is no fellowship with God without faith, and there can be no faith except through the simplicity that God grants the soul to deal with Him as a simple child with her father. This simplicity which begets faith, guards the soul so that it remains steadfast in faith by the grace of God. Through this faith, the soul enjoys the fear of God. She believes in Him, realizes His greatness so that she fears Him, honors Him, and keeps His commandments. So, faith begets the fear of the Lord, so that the believer keeps the commandment and obeys it, fearing punishment. But as he grows in grace, he obeys the commandment as a son who fears only that he might hurt his Father’s feelings.

St. Philoxenus of Mabbug says, “They taught me that the true fear of God is born out of true faith. Whoever believes truly, also truly fears what he believes … for faith is born out of natural simplicity and moreover is established and guarded by this same simplicity … For in the same way that simplicity guards faith, the fear of God also guards the commandments of God.”³⁷⁰ He again says, “Now, let us approach the teaching of the concept of the fear of God with a mind that fears God.”³⁷¹

He does not want the “fear” of empty debates and discussions, but the fear of living spiritual experience. Human thought is a gift that God grants to humanity, who need to enter into the realm of the fear of the Lord, which can then lead us as little children under the care of their mothers and fathers — training us, helping us to grow and mature — and journey with us to the knowledge of the mysteries of life.

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty