Fear of the unknown and fear of change are both common ideas, and together cover a broad spectrum of the fears we tend to have in natural life. In a sense, they also lie behind the spiritual meaning when people are described as being “afraid” in the Bible.
According to Swedenborg, fear is an illustration of the feeling we have when we are in lower, more external spiritual states and come in contact with more exalted, more internal spiritual states — we can see the need for that part of ourselves to be reformed and elevated. That’s true of the description of the shepherds in the Christmas story, reacting first with fear when angels came to tell them of a whole new spiritual era. It’s true of Moses at the burning bush, Jacob after the vision of the ladder, even the disciples seeing Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee – all cases showing the need for lower states to be set aside so that higher states could be embraced.
And while that may seem odd — shouldn’t it be exciting? — it makes sense. We are typically comfortable in our lower states, at home and unchallenged, feeling like we’re “good enough” and can stay good enough without too much effort or risk. So the higher states may hold promise, but it’s a promise that comes with challenges, and we have to be willing to leave old things behind.
Swedenborg says fear is also used in a more negative sense, when states of evil and false thinking come into contact with spiritual things and feel threatened by the revelation of their own wretchedness.
The Bible also speaks frequently of people fearing God, a related but different idea which is covered elsewhere.
Passages from Swedenborg:
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3718
- ‘And he was afraid’ means a holy change. This is clear from the meaning of ‘fear’ as a holy change, as is evident from what follows directly after this. For Jacob’s words, ‘How awesome is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven’, dearly imply a holy change that took place. For what is meant in the internal sense by ‘fear’, see 2826. In general there are two kinds of fear – fear that is not inspired by holiness, and fear that is inspired by it. Fear that is not inspired by holiness fills those who are evil, whereas fearthat is inspired by it fills those who are good. The latter kind offear – that which fills the good – is called holy fear and is that which accompanies reverential awe of the Divine and also love. Love devoid of holy fear is like something insipid, or like food that has no salt in it and so no flavour, whereas love accompanied by fear is like food which is salted but does not taste of salt. The fear that goes with love is a fear lest harm is done to the Lord in any way, or to the neighbour in any way, and so to good and truth in any way. Consequently it is a fear lest harm is done to the holiness present in love and faith, and so in worship. But such fear can vary; it is not the same with one person as it is with another. In general the more love anyone has for what is good and true, the more fear he has lest what is good and true will suffer harm, though the less that fear manifests itself as fear. But the less love anyone has for what is good and true, the less fear he has for their safety and the more this manifests itself not as love but as fear. And with the latter kind of person the fear of hell is present. But with one who has no love at all of what is good and true, no holy fear at all is present, only the fear of losing honour, gain, and reputation on account of these; also the fear of punishments and execution. This kind offear is external, affecting principally the body and the natural man, and his thinking there. But the other kind of fear – holy fear- affects principally the spirit or internal man, and his conscience there.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2543
- ‘The men were very much afraid’ means until they should become averse. This is clear from the meaning here of ‘beingafraid’ and from the meaning of ‘men’. As with every emotion, being afraid or fear includes many things within it, even though it looks to be simple and without parts. That is to say, this fear includes loss of life, or reputation, or position, or gain in worldly things, but also loss of good and truth, and so of life, in heavenly things. And because it includes these, it also includes aversion to those things which endeavour to destroy them; and this is all the more the case when an affection itself for what is good and true exists with a person. Such aversion is the opposite of the affection and therefore ‘being afraid’ here means feeling aversion. The greatness of the Lord’s aversion is clear from the strong feeling with which things are stated in the next verse, a strong feeling that doctrine should not be debased by anything of a rational or factual kind. For ‘men’ means rational concepts and factual knowledge, that is, everything that belongs to the understanding part of the mind, as has been shown in 158, 265, 749, 915, 1007.
AE 677
[4] In the Word “they became afraid,” “they were dismayed,” and similar expressions, are often used both of the good and the evil; and fear and dismay signify a disturbed and changed state of mind resulting from an imminent or manifest danger to life; but this is one thing with the good and another with the evil. With the good it is a disturbance of mind, and change of state, resulting from an imminent and manifest danger to the soul, but with the evil it arises from an imminent and manifest danger to the bodily life. The reason of this is, that the good regard the life of the soul as the chief and final thing, and not that of the body, but the evil regard the life of the body as the chief and final thing, and not that of the soul. Indeed, they do not in their heart believe the latter, and those who do believe, still love only the things which belong to the body, such as appetites, and pleasures of various kinds; but with the good the contrary is the case.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5647
- ‘And the men were afraid’ means a drawing back. This is clear from the meaning here of ‘being afraid’ as a drawing back, a drawing back from being joined to the internal. Fear arises from various causes, such as those dangerous situations when people can lose their lives, the gains they have made, and also both their positions and reputations, as well as the fear that they may be led into some kind of slavery, resulting in the loss of freedom together with the delight life holds within itself. This matter is dealt with below, for the men’s fear was that they would become linked to the internal, which would cause them to lose their own identity, and with their own identity their freedom, and with their freedom the delight life holds within itself since that delight depends on the existence of freedom. This is the reason why ‘the men were afraid’ means a drawing back, a drawing back lest they should become linked [to the internal].
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5534
- ‘And they were afraid’ means a holy influence. This is clear from the meaning of ‘being afraid’, when happenings such as those that are attributable to Divine Providence take place, like the one here involving the free gift of truths, meant by ‘each man’s bundle of silver was in his sack’. The holy influence at work at this time leads to a certain kind of fear that is coupled to a feeling for what is holy and to be reverenced.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6569
- ‘And Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid’ means renewal by the internal. This is clear from the representation of ‘Joseph’ as the internal, dealt with above in 6499; and from the meaning of ‘do not be afraid’ as that they should not be anxious. And because in what now follows Joseph removes their anxiety by comforting them and ‘speaking to their heart’, ‘do not be afraid’ here means renewal.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 5662
- ‘And he said, Peace to you, do not be afraid’ means that all is well, they should not despair. This is clear from the meaning of ‘peace’ as what is well, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘do not be afraid’ as they should not despair. The subject in the internal sense is a change of state. No longer were they by their own power acquiring truths; now they were acquiring good by means of truths, which however were truths given them by the Lord. But because they imagined that they would then be losing their selfhood, and so would be losing their freedom and consequently their entire delight in life, they were plunged into despair, as is evident from what has gone before. So it is that here ‘do not be afraid’ means that they should not despair; for fear arises from various different causes, 5647, and therefore has various different meanings.