You should regulate your life and conduct by the commandments of God, which we have received to enable us to lead a good life, beginning with a religious fear, for “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” whereby human pride is broken down and weakened. Second, with a mild and gentle piety you should refrain from objecting to passages of the holy Scriptures which you do not yet understand and which seem to the uninstructed devoid of sense and selfcontradictory. And you should not try to impose your ideas on the meaning of the holy books but submit and hold your mind in check rather than savagely attack its hidden meaning. .
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Two things constitute the fear of the Lord: first, the servanthood which is called the beginning of knowledge or wisdom and, second, the friendship which accompanies the perfection of wisdom. Servile fear is the beginning of wisdom because whoever begins to taste it after the error of sins is corrected by this first divine fear, lest he be led into torments. But perfect love casts this fear out. Holy fear of the Lord then follows, remaining forever, and is augmented by charity, not removed by it. This is the fear with which the good son is afraid, lest he offend the eyes of his most loving father in the least degree. For the soul is still afraid with elementary servile fear, lest it suffer punishment from an angry Lord. But each fear will come to an end in the future life. Charity, however, never passes away, but will remain perpetually in the fulness of wisdom, which is to know the one, true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. ....
There are things practiced in a vulgar style by some people, such as control over pleasures. For as among the heathen there are those who, from the impossibility of obtaining what one sees and from fear of men, and also for the sake of greater pleasures, abstain from the delights before them, so also, in the case of faith, some practice selfrestraint, either out of regard to the promise or from fear of God. [Indeed] such selfrestraint is the basis of knowledge, and an approach to something better, and an effort after perfection. For “the fear of the Lord,” it is said, “is the beginning of wisdom.”
To know goodness is not sufficient to reach blessedness, if one does not put goodness into practice with works. Piety toward God is actually the beginning of knowledge. Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, Fragment
Fear. Thus we arrive at charity. (St. Augustine, in ep. Jo. ix.; Job xxviii. 28.) This fear includes religion, but not barren speculations. (Calmet)
It implies a desire to act, and not simply to understand.
Piety toward God is a beginning [of discernment]. It acts as a fountain and source for discerning the divine, according to our inner being, so that we may see the true light, hear the secret oracles, be nourished with the bread of life, obtain the fragrance of Christ and learn the doctrine of this life. When we have piety, our senses too are allied with us, when neither our eyes see nor our mouth speaks evil. Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, Fragment
Virtuous living is really the source and root of wisdom, just as all wickedness has its source in folly. I say this because the braggart and the slave of passion are taken captive by these vices as a result of a lack of wisdom. For this reason the prophet has said, “There is no health in my flesh. My sores are foul and festering because of my folly,” to indicate that all sin takes its beginning from a lack of wisdom; just as the virtuous person who fears God is wisest of all. That is why a certain wise man also says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” If, then, to fear God is to have wisdom, and the evildoer does not possess this fear, he is really bereft of wisdom; and he who is bereft of wisdom is truly the most foolish of all.
Since, therefore, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and this virtue can be had without wisdom, to whom belongs the beginning of fear? The blessed apostle Peter says, “Grace to you and peace be accomplished in the knowledge of God, and of Christ Jesus our Lord,” who has now given “us all things of his divine power, which appertain to life and godliness.” Does he say, “Who has excited in us by his help the seeds of virtues which we had naturally implanted”? Rather, he says, “Who has now given us all things which pertain to life and godliness.” And in saying this, of what virtue has he placed the beginning in nature, which was not conferred by him who gave all things? Wherefore, St. Paul also says, “For what have you that you have not received? And if you have received, why do you glory as if you had not received?” Grace and Free Will
How extremely frequent is the intercourse which heretics hold with magicians, with mountebanks, with astrologers, with philosophers. The reason is that they are people who devote themselves to curious questions. “Seek and you shall find,” is everywhere in their minds. Thus, from the very nature of their conduct may be estimated the quality of their doctrine. They say that God is not to be feared; therefore all things are in their view free and unchecked. Where, however, is God not feared, except where he is not present? Where God is not, there truth also is not. Where there is no truth, then, naturally enough, there is also such a discipline as theirs. But where God is, there exists “the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom.”
