In the latest episode of the TNT (Theology Nerd Throwdown) Tripp and I discuss the christo-centric and love-centric lens (hermeneutic) of reading the Bible.
We put forward the audacious claim that if God is (at least) as nice as Jesus then you have to look at the rest of Scripture (including the OT and the book of Revelation) a little differently. This is a radical departure from what many would classify as ‘a plain reading of the text’ or ‘it says what it means,stupid’ ( a slight but important deviation from “Keep It Simple Studip: K.I.S.S.) readings.
I both sensed and was waiting for someone to bring up the passage from the OT … and jb00m brought the thunder!
The question raised to me after discussion about this TNT was, “how do we understand ‘fear of God’ with respect to a non-violent God? What would/does it mean?”
I’m not sure what the answer is. Though, my thinking goes along: living the transformed life is living with the fear of God, working out faith with fear and trembling…because of the responsibility inherent in it, with the ambiguity that can be there in figuring out how to act in the individual circumstance. Something like that. Any thoughts?
What a great question! I promised that I would put it out there for discussion. If the being of wisdom is fear of the Lord, we are suppose to work out our salvation with fear and trembling – then how do we reconcile that with this life transformation perspective that was proposed on the TNT?
look forward to your thoughts and responses -Bo