The Greek deisidaimonia means fear of the divine or supernatural powers — encompassing both proper religious reverence and superstitious dread. Like its cognate deisidaimonesteros, it carries an intentional ambiguity in its New Testament context.
Deisidaimonia appears in Acts 25:19, where Festus summarizes Paul's case to King Agrippa: Paul's dispute with the Jews was about their own 'deisidaimonia' (religion/superstition) and about 'a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.' The word's ambiguity is again instructive: from Festus's secular Roman perspective, Jewish-Christian disputes over resurrection were incomprehensible 'superstition'. From a Christian perspective, the resurrection of Jesus is the bedrock of all religion — the event that defines what 'fear of God' means. This clash of worldviews — empire vs. gospel — runs throughout Acts. Deisidaimonia challenges readers to ask: is our faith grounded in the living Christ, or have we drifted into mere religious habit and cultural superstition?