The pastor was working through Ephesians 5 in a discussion of marriage. In his remarks about agape love he said it “comes from the will and expects nothing in return.” I would assume that agape love is offered because God mandates it and it is not based on response.
My mind went into tangent mode and I began to think of diagrams of the different words translated “love” in the NT.
Agape love would be one way love. There is no demand from the receiver, no pay-off to the giver, rewards the receiver and is offered with no conditions.
This could be represented by an arrow going away. →
A second type of love, eros, is the sensual aspect of our lives. It is the source of our English word erotic. This would be a love based on getting. It demands from another and rewards the lover.
This could be an arrow coming toward. ←
Brotherly love, philios, is the love of comrades and friends. It is a two-way love and is dependent on common interests and experience. It demands from both and rewards both.
This is an arrow going both ways. ↔
There is at least one more type of love that might apply here. It is not used in the Bible but is in Greek literature. This is family love. It is a closed circle based on relationships that are permanent and by chance. It rewards the group and often the individual.
This might be represented by a closed circle. ◯
All love is not the same. English can be a rich language sometimes and poverty stricken at others.
homo unius libri
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.