Fear (Christianity)

Without belief in God, men do not simply not trust each other, they do not trust themselves; they are not just afraid of each other, they are afraid of everything. Only love, and therefore humility, can exorcize fear.

Dread arises from the experience of contradiction between the actually possible and socially barred freedom and is combatted in the struggle for emancipation. However, dread is a fundamental condition for man in the history of his personal salvation, in the dread of God's demands which are both inescapable and unattainable. The root of dread is original sin. If it were not for original sin dread would not exist. Attempting to escape it through independence, through flight from God, is unsuccessful. Accepting fear in hope, which is sharing in the saving dread of Jesus, is the only alternative.