Since Saint John assures us that perfect love casts out fear, it is instructive that one of the first consequences of Eve and Adam’s disobedience is fear and the desire to hide from God. One presumes that prior to their disobedience, Eve and Adam did not fear God and lived in peaceful and trusting harmony with their creator. Now although a slavish fear of punishment (because of one’s sins) renders one far from perfect love, the simple absence of fear is no guarantee of possessing perfect love. Indeed, the absence of any fear of God can betoken a complete rupture with God, following the steady and inexorable numbing effect of sin and the resulting deadening of the fear of its consequences. Indeed, in those deeply enmeshed in the web of sin, fear of God not only subsides, but is replaced by defiance and a recalcitrance that is spiritually treacherous. Good reason then, to monitor our own level of fear of God and to ensure that any lessening of that fear is accompanied by deepening love and not deeper entanglement in sin, and a descent into demonic rebellion and a stony, impenetrable heart.
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