Theology of Fear

The following question was posed to me and I found the subsequent
mediation beneficial.
"Can the emotion of fear exist without the evil nature of sin? Did
Adam experience fear before the fall? If the Lord experienced fear,
was it in the garden before sin was placed on his shoulders or on the
cross when God forsook Him?"

My initial response:
Fear is one of those primal motivators ingrained in nature itself. It
is the trigger for the fight/flight reaction. This begs the question,
before the fall was there any need to fight off or run from anything?
We know there was evil in the world--the serpent is a representation
of that fact. But there was no evil in man. In Genesis 3, Eve does not
appear to be afraid of the serpent. She does not even distrust it.
Fear does not show up until after the fall, when God comes looking for
man. Fear, then, is a result of sin. That being said, the result of
sin is not necessarily sinful. Perhaps fear becomes a grace of God (a
tool, if you will) that is deployed for our protection in a sinful
world. As for life in the Garden of Eden (perfect state), we do not
have detailed descriptions. Certainly, an evolved state of fear like
terror would not have been present in perfection.
As for Christ and fear. I cannot imagine that a fully human being who
knows what kind of death he would die--and that death being
crucifixion--would be able to resist the natural urges of fear.
Remember that feeling the affects of sin is not the same as
participation in sin. So when Christ prays that the cup pass from Him,
He is feeling fear. Note that he neither fights nor flies in the face
of this fear but submits to the Father's will. I think here is where
Christ rises above temptation and remains free from sin. The fear was
temptation to deviate from the plan of salvation. And praise God,
Christ did not.
Feel free to leave your comments below.
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Christopher M. Jimenez
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