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RE: Love & Fear in the Bible, I'm Confused...
The problem is - you dont speak King James English (I dont either but i've studied it). Fear means respect OR fear in the KJV - you have to look at the context. The first verse means if you dont know love you dont know God. You've mixed old and new Testament verses for some reason. Fear in the old testament is almost always "respect".. Fear the lord means respect the lord. The language is the least challenging part of Christianity - the whole issue of faith is where most people get tripped up. Try reading another sacred text and finding one that is as easy to read as the Bible (you wont). Good luck with your account - nice to see someone posting something a little different!
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. I do understand that meaning gets lost in translation, especially when I comes to biblical texts. This is why I clarified that it was KJV. I am definitely no expert in the field. I'm sure we could get more in depth if I were to visit a proper library, or even break out other bibles that I own, like the Arabic, for example. I grew up attending a Southern Baptist church, however, for much of my childhood, and always felt that love and fear were contradictory emotions, and we were taught to feel each simaltaniously with regard to God.
Arabic would be a translation (and probably a poor one). The OId Testament is Hebrew and the New Testament Greek . Love and Fear are contradictory emotions - Love and Respect are not. Careful to not to confuse your experience with what the text actually says.