Knowledge and fear

On the way home yesterday, happened to see the following words high up on one of the buildings in a Methodist secondary school:

“The fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

I find this very puzzling indeed! Can someone please explain the meaning of this to me?

I mean, where would knowledge come from if we were cowering under the “might of God”? I really believe, if anything, our sense of morality should be a derivative of fear. While governmental laws are a necessary evil we may not live without, the ultimate sense of right from wrong, be it of religious or philosophical origins, should be liberating, not shackles arising from fear…

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1 Comment

  1. yy

    OK, managed to find the source.

    Proverbs 1:7 (New International Version)

    “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

    Apparently “fool” here means someone who is morally deficient. However, still can’t understand the logic. Otherwise this is just another case of things taken out of context??? Talk about the blind (school) leading the blind (students)…

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