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COWARDICE.—Cowardice must be distinguished from a natural timidity in circumstances of danger, from the awe which, in the presence of the miraculous or the extraordinary, may so possess the mind as for the moment to paralyze its activities, and above all from the fear of God, His paternal love, power, and holy judgment, which may be the strongest antidote to all base and servile fear, and the source of the highest courage. The distinction is partly preserved in the words öüâïò and äåéëßá . The latter word is ‘always used in a bad sense’ (Trench, Synonyms of the NT, p. 34). It expresses ‘not the natural emotion of fear, but the cowardly yielding to it. It is the craven spirit which shrinks from duty, loses hope, abandons what it should hold fast, surrenders to the enemy, or deserts to his side’ (Bernard, Central Teaching of Jesus Christ, pp. 188, 189). äåéëßá occurs only in 2Ti_1:7, but äåéëéÜù Joh_14:27, and äåéëüò (Authorized and Revised Versions ‘fearful’) Mat_8:26, cf. Mar_4:40 and Rev_21:8. But the line of distinction cannot be drawn hard and fast by the use of these words. In Mat_8:26 (cf. Mar_4:40) the question ôß äåéëïß ἐóôå , ὀëéãüðéóôïé ; is not so much a serious imputation of craven fear, as the expression of ‘personal fearlessness, to gain ascendency over panic-stricken spirits’ (Bruce, Expos. Gr. Test., in loc.). On the other hand, an ignoble fear in face of danger or difficulty, or the disapprobation and hostile sentiments of others, is sometimes in view when öüâïò , öïâåῖóèáé are used (Mat_10:28, cf. Luk_12:4, Mat_25:25, Joh_7:13; Joh_19:38; Joh_20:19). When fear of physical consequences impairs fidelity to Christ, causing men to be ashamed of Him (Mar_8:38, Luk_9:26), or even to go the length of denying Him (Mat_10:33), it incurs His severest disapprobation (Mat_10:33, cf. Rev_21:8). It is not cowardice to fly from the rage of the persecutor. Jesus not only counselled flight in circumstances of peril (Mar_13:14, Luk_21:21), but Himself evaded the malice which would have brought His life to an end before His hour was come, and His mission completed (Luk_4:30, Joh_8:59; Joh_10:39). It is only when the fear of man tempts to the compromise of truth, and the disowning of allegiance to Christ, that it becomes a snare and a sin. Cowardice is not ultimately evinced in feeling, but in action. It is cowardice when a man declines the task he was meant to render: ‘I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth’ (Mat_25:25); when he turns away, however sorrowfully, from the path of self-sacrifice which the call of Christ points out to him (Mat_19:22). (See Paget, Studies in the Christian Character, p. 104).
The antidote to cowardice lies in the fear of God, in His power over the soul as well as the body (Mat_10:28), the éִøְàַú éäåä which drives out all baser fear; in the spirit of watchfulness and prayer that, in circumstances of trial, we do not fall into the temptation to forsake Christ or deny Him (Mat_26:41); but most of all in faith (Mat_8:6, Joh_14:1; Joh_14:27). Faith in the Fatherhood of God—that the manifest duty, however difficult and dangerous, is His will; that from Him life has its appointed twelve hours, and in the path of obedience to Him there is no possible foreshortening of them (Joh_11:8-10): that over all is His unsleeping and loving care—will save the soul from all base betrayals of itself and its Divine trust through fear. To this end was the Comforter promised and bestowed, that, co-operating with the spirit of men, He might brace them to consistent courage in action and endurance. And the effect of His presence and power is seen in the contrast between those who ‘all forsook him and fled’ (Mar_14:50), denied Him (Mat_26:69-74), ‘gathered in an upper room for fear of the Jews’ (Joh_20:19), and the same men, not many months later, impressing the authorities by their boldness (Act_4:13), and displaying, in circumstances of severest trial, minds delivered from all craven fear, and inspired with the high and solemn courage of faith. See art. Fear.
Literature.—Aristotle, eth. iii. 7; Strong, Chr. Ethics; Paget, Studies in the Christian Character, 100 ff.: Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, 86 ff.
Joseph muir.