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Fear, Faith, and the Terror We Manage
What happens when faith is built on fear? In this episode of The Faithful Citizen, we examine how segments of Reformed Evangelicalism have weaponized fear of judgment, punishment, and death to enforce conformity, maintain control, and stigmatize human vulnerability.
Beginning with recent statements from influential pastors dismissing mental illness as “a failure of character,” we trace how fear-based theology operates not as a side effect, but as a deliberate system. Drawing on Terror Management Theory (TMT), we uncover the psychological mechanics behind this theology—how it provides a worldview, a fragile sense of self-worth, and hostility toward outsiders, all in service of managing humanity’s most profound anxiety: the inevitability of death.
But this isn’t where the story ends. The Gospel offers something radically different. We contrast a theology of fear with a theology of grace—rooted in love, healing, incarnation, and the hope of resurrection. Instead of anxious compliance, true faith calls us into a fearless love that casts out fear and sets people free.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Why do leaders like John MacArthur and Voddie Baucham view psychology as a threat to the church?
How fear-based theology maps directly onto the psychological framework of Terror Management Theory.
The consequences of faith built on terror: spiritual malformation, suspicion of healing, and rigid power systems.
How the resurrection of Christ offers freedom from the need to manage fear through control, exclusion, and hostility.
What a grace-centred, incarnational faith looks like in practice—and why it matters now more than ever.
Key Scriptures & References:
Proverbs 9:10, Romans 3:10-12, Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 25:30, Romans 8:15, 1 John 4:18, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Terror Management Theory (Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, Tom Pyszczynski)
Takeaway:Fear may manage terror, but love casts it out. The church’s witness is not found in control and exclusion, but in embodying a fearless love that refuses to bow to death’s power.
Get full access to The Faithful Citizen at thefaithfulcitizen.substack.com/subscribe
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By The Faithful Citizen PodcastWhat happens when faith is built on fear? In this episode of The Faithful Citizen, we examine how segments of Reformed Evangelicalism have weaponized fear of judgment, punishment, and death to enforce conformity, maintain control, and stigmatize human vulnerability.
Beginning with recent statements from influential pastors dismissing mental illness as “a failure of character,” we trace how fear-based theology operates not as a side effect, but as a deliberate system. Drawing on Terror Management Theory (TMT), we uncover the psychological mechanics behind this theology—how it provides a worldview, a fragile sense of self-worth, and hostility toward outsiders, all in service of managing humanity’s most profound anxiety: the inevitability of death.
But this isn’t where the story ends. The Gospel offers something radically different. We contrast a theology of fear with a theology of grace—rooted in love, healing, incarnation, and the hope of resurrection. Instead of anxious compliance, true faith calls us into a fearless love that casts out fear and sets people free.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Why do leaders like John MacArthur and Voddie Baucham view psychology as a threat to the church?
How fear-based theology maps directly onto the psychological framework of Terror Management Theory.
The consequences of faith built on terror: spiritual malformation, suspicion of healing, and rigid power systems.
How the resurrection of Christ offers freedom from the need to manage fear through control, exclusion, and hostility.
What a grace-centred, incarnational faith looks like in practice—and why it matters now more than ever.
Key Scriptures & References:
Proverbs 9:10, Romans 3:10-12, Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 25:30, Romans 8:15, 1 John 4:18, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Terror Management Theory (Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, Tom Pyszczynski)
Takeaway:Fear may manage terror, but love casts it out. The church’s witness is not found in control and exclusion, but in embodying a fearless love that refuses to bow to death’s power.
Get full access to The Faithful Citizen at thefaithfulcitizen.substack.com/subscribe