Anyone who has interacted with a Christian in America is familiar with the phrase “God-fearing Christian.” What exactly is meant by fear in this context? Does God want his devout followers to be afraid of him? The Bible frequently mentions fearing God. According to some, the Bible contains more than 300 instances of this. For the purposes of answering these questions, I limited myself to some fifty different cases from both the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament. In pursuit of answers, I attempted to determine in every case whether the fear of God (or the Lord in some instances) mentioned in the verse came in the form of a command or simply as an idea within the author’s religious views. Additionally, I considered the Greek words that corresponded to the usage of “fear” in modern translations. For simplicity’s sake, I referenced the English Standard Version for the verse in its context and Strong’s Greek/Hebrew Concordances for its meaning.

It comes as a surprise to some people as they explore the history of the Christian and Jewish faiths that these traditions have not always held monotheistic views – strictly believing that only one god exists and that god is the Lord, God. Their surprise is wholly justified, as both of these traditions have held these beliefs for many centuries at this point. That said, Judaism, and later Christianity, struggled internally to come to consensus, and these evolving perspectives help paint a picture of when and how these faiths came to accept their modern-day beliefs.

Practitioners of many religious traditions have one or more powerful entities with which they associate the machinations of the world or the powerful forces within the world. These beings are ordinarily called gods in Western discourse of religion. Christianity is no exception to this practice, although it does muddy the waters to outside interpreters. In the Christian faith, there is only one God, but this God also has a divine son – Jesus, as well as a divine spirit – the Holy Spirit. A majority of Christians subscribe to the idea of a trifecta God, that is to say that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are coeternal (all three existed before time and are eternal) and cosubstantial (all three are of the same substance, yet different in aspects) divine persons; this belief is called Trinitarianism.[1] In contrast, Unitarian Christians affirm that God is singular and unique in his role. Consequently, Jesus is not equal to God, nor is the Holy Spirit.

The Legend of the Dogwood Tree, as it is often called, owes its origins to a poem by an unknown author.

In Jesus’ time, the dogwood grew To a stately size and a lovely hue. ‘Twas strong and firm, its branches interwoven. For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen. Seeing the distress at this use of their wood Christ made a promise which still holds good: “Never again shall the dogwood grow Large enough to be used so. Slender and twisted, it shall be With blossoms like the cross for all to see. As blood stains the petals marked in brown, The blossom’s center wears a thorny crown. All who see it will remember Me Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree. Cherished and protected, this tree shall be A reminder to all of My agony.”