In this Part I, we will look at the credibility of
saying the agape love is indeed charitable, sacrificial, selfless and
unconditional. In Part II (in a separate
article), we will look at the ingredient that needed to be included in the
expanded meaning of agape.
PART I
Agápe:
In Ancient Greek, it often refers to a general affection or deeper sense
of "true love" rather than the attraction suggested by "eros"
{sensual love}. Agape is also used in ancient texts to denote feelings for a good meal, one's
children, and the feelings for a spouse. It can be described as the feeling of
being content or holding one in high regard.
(quoted from Wikipedia, sometime back. Now this definition is NOT there
anymore; it is nevertheless, the traditional general definition).
It is in its biblical context use that it had come to
“acquire” the sacrificial connotation so strongly.
How “unconditional” got into agape?
And because of usage, in the modern day Greek it has also
taken on the connotation of an unconditional love.
Influential Christian theologians contributed to the
shaping of the meanings associated with “agape”; in other words, agape was NOT
a very adequate Greek word, albeit the best love word in place of its Hebrew
equivalent, and it acquired its richness, afterwards, through imputation from
overall counsel of the Word, which in my view, was somewhat lobe-sided for lack
of imputing the richness of the Hebrew equivalent word of the Old Testament.
One such influential theologian was CS Lewis who wrote on
the “Four Loves”, published in 1960. I
have NOT read the book, although I have read reviews of that book, and know
that the book resembled the author’s meditation of the 5 “classes” (4, I added
one here – thelo) of love as categorised in the ancient Greek words of love,
namely, storge - familial or affectionate love; philia (or phileo) -
friendship; eros - romantic love; thelo – be fond of/take pleasure in …(verb); and
lastly, agape – God kinda of love.
Now most reviews of the book equated agape to
unconditional love, the others, to spiritual love or God’s love. Why do they equated agape love to
unconditional love is something deserving a thought, ourselves.
Perhaps, it was because CS Lewis, who also in that book
distinguished between Need-love and Gift-love, with the obvious pointing of agape
love to the Gift-love. Being a gift,
agape is therefore, logically equated as unconditional. Although as a notion, the implication of a
gift, is understood as unconditional, by men generally, regardless faith (i.e.
it is NOT a Christian notion), but it was through CS Lewis’ acquired Christian
faith lenses (he was previously an atheist) that he meditated on this subject
of love, thereby implicitly referencing the salvation gift of life as the
highest expression of a Gift-love, God’s kinda of love. It was also possible that, through collective
proclaiming by early influential theologians that agape love had acquired the
unconditional love “fame”.
What I am saying is that the original meanings of the
ancient Greek word of love, “agape”, as typified by the Wikipedia quote (give
above) or its traditional general definition, did NOT necessarily included such
extensive meanings and expressions as expounded by such early theologians,
including CS Lewis.
How is love defined
in Bible?
The English Bible is a translation; the original
Biblical texts were mainly in 2 languages:
The Old Testament (OT) in Hebrew {It is believed that a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in
Jeremiah were written in Aramaic}, and the New Testament (NT) in Greek
(ancient Greek). On top of that during
Jesus’ time, Aramaic was the common language, and it is believed that Jesus
spoke Aramaic in His day to day conversations; a few Aramaic words were even used by the Gospel writers in the NT {NT was
written in ancient Greek then, because Greek was the language of scholarship}. So, when
we read the English Bible, it is a translation, from both Hebrew and Greek.
Because languages have “shades” of meanings associated
with a word or group of words or similar words, there has always been the issue
of correctness of translations, to put it very simply. Then, there is also the issue of the NT was
in Greek, NOT in the same Hebrew language of the OT which came into being, much
earlier in history, and is foundational, because the God of the NT is the very
same God of the OT; what were written of God and God’s dealings with Man, of
course, were true and remained true.
Because of the difference in language, expressions,
such as “love” were expressed, in OT, in Hebrew words, different from those in
NT, in Greek. Had one language been used
throughout it would have been easier, since a notion or expression would have
been denoted by the same word of one language.
It is NOT unusual when interpreting NT scriptures to consider if an
expression was first mentioned in the OT – rule of first-mention is a “rule” of
interpretation of scriptures.
For the English language word, “love”, there are 3 main
Greek words (in NT) possible {eros and storge were NOT found directly in NT
Scripture), and 2 main Hebrew words (in OT).
The 3 Greek “love” words are: agape (G26), phileo or philia (G5368), and
thelo (G2309); and the 2 Hebrew words are: `ahab (H157) and dowd (H1730).
I will be giving the various meanings assigned to the
words given here, representing “love”; from there, we can see the “more than a
little bit of headache” in deciding which love word was being referred to, in
the English Bible.
First, we have the Greek words of love, found in the NT
(short definitions taken from Strong’s Lexicon):
Agape -
1) affection, good
will, love, benevolence, brotherly love (also to love dearly – agapaō (G25));
2) love feasts;
Phileo -
1) to love: to
approve of, to like, sanction, to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome,
befriend
2) to show signs of
love: to kiss
3) to be fond of
doing: be wont, use to do
Thelo - to
will, have in mind, intend:
to be resolved or determined, to purpose; to desire, to
wish; to love; to like to do a thing, be fond of doing; to take delight in,
have pleasure
One may think, for the English NT text, we could look
up the equivalent Greek Bible verse, and then we will know. That is right, but, just as the English word,
“love”, is inadequate to capture which (or what) love was being referred to, by
the Greek authors, there is the possibility of a similar problem of the Greek
language was NOT able to frame which love was being referred to, as was first
understood by the Jews, in God’s historical dealings with them in the OT period.
Of course, it is possible something really new, was
revealed by God in NT, where the first-mention “rule” fails, but sometimes, it
is difficult to tell; it could be an existing “theme” (existing in OT) being
rehashed; like in the case of “love”, would you think that the notions/ideas/concepts
of love would have been fully expressed and made known to Man, even before NT;
or do you think that some concept of love was only made known in NT time?
The races and their cultures of particular times,
including their linguistic depictions of ideas, notions or concepts could make the
one and same thing, being expressed in approximating words only, in the
respective languages; so, that the OT was in Hebrew, and the NT, in Greek, does
possess interpretive issue.
You have already seen the meanings of the 3 Greek words
for “love”; here are the meanings of the OT “love”, `ahab and dowd:
`ahab (H157) – either
love or like, and for love, it is broken down to:
human love for another, includes family, and sexual;
human appetite for objects such as food, drink, sleep,
wisdom;
human love for or to God;
act of being a friend: lover (participle), friend
(participle);
God's love toward man: to individual men, to people
Israel, to righteousness;
lovely (participle), loveable (participle);
friends, lovers (fig. of adulterers).
Dowd (H1730) – beloved,
love, uncle:
loved one, beloved, uncle, love (pl. abstract)
Some people include checed (H2617) as a love word in Hebrew, because some translations
have rendered it as love. It has the
main meaning as loving-kindness from one of a higher position – God, or from
man to man, and so, typically it is used as God’s “love” for men, but NOT the
other way round of men, for God. To me,
grace is perhaps the appropriate word to use.
See, how do we match them up, the 3 Greek words and 2 -
3 Hebrew words? Not so easy isn’t it!
Be careful if your
revelation goes against established interpretations
What am I trying to do here? To frighten people so that they should NOT
try to interpret scriptures, and just rely on the pastors? No, but I do want to caution people against just
interpreting scriptures, without weighing seriously established
interpretations.
Much research, study, meditation, and waiting on the
Lord would have been exacted on what came out as established interpretations. I am NOT saying there cannot be fresh
revelation, but we do have to check and recheck what we think is fresh
revelation; for one thing, truths of God do NOT contradict themselves; we do
need to consider other scriptures, and the overall counsel of the Word.
Because it is possible that we “blunder” on giving new
interpretations, it is also possible that some other people, including fame
preachers and pastors, giving out erroneous new interpretations. The Word of God said, to check other people’s
teachings:
Now
the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they
received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day
to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).
Back to agape
Coming back, in many places in the NT, where “love”
appeared, the underlying Greek equivalent used was the Greek word, “agape”
(G26) or its connected words like “agapaō”
(G25). From there, many people started to expound on
the love, (agape love) in the verses. Currently,
inevitably, agape love is labeled as the charitable, sacrificial, selfless and
unconditional love. If we just look at
the short-form Lexicon meanings of agape, as given above, you see the shades of
such attributes of the agape love in the list; but definitely such strong
connotations as sacrificial, selfless and unconditional are NOT that explicit
in the list of meanings.
Therefore, it is necessary to know the attributes of
the love which the Greek called agape were noted from gleaning from the overall
counsel of the Word, including through various accounts recorded for us, in
Scripture. I believed that was what the
early theologians, including CS Lewis, did; gleaned from Scriptures, and
“formulated” the meanings of agape love.
Frankly speaking, in my early days as a Christian, I understood agape
love as unconditional love from the mouth of my pastor who probably learnt them
from the theologians. In this article, I
would like to be a little more critical, and go back to the source (Word) to
“test” like what the Bereans we noted, did, and was praised by the Apostle
Paul.
We shall look at some of the Scriptural accounts so
that we are completely satisfied that indeed, when that love is mentioned, it
was truly comprising such and such attributes like charitable, sacrificial,
selfless and to a good extent unconditional.
Then I shall reveal what I believe is a serious ingredient missing in
the list of attributes of that agape love.
The charitable, sacrificial, selfless and (to a good
extent) unconditional nature of agape love was gleaned from such as these:
1.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John
3:16).
The Greek word used
for “loved” was “agapaō”
(G25).
Through Adam, all men have sinned, and would surely die, meaning one
would go through physical death, and
ultimately, be thrown into the burning fire of Hell, away from God where eternal
life is to be lived, according to the penalty as specified in Gen 2:16-17.
It was Man who disobeyed God in the first place,
and God has provided a plan called the salvation plan, entirely without merit
from Man, in which, in His time, He had given His one and only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ, to be born as a man and to die for us, so that He, his Son, might
bore the penalty of our sin, so that with that substitution, we do NOT need to
perish (go to Hell), but have eternal life with Him, the Father God, in
Heaven. All of this, the giving of His
Son, pointed to the attributes of that agape love, charitable, sacrificial, and
selfless.
The Apostle John
repeated, in more words, the same, in 1 John 4:9-10 –
“9 This is how God showed his
love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live
through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he
loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” The Greek word for love used here was again
agape love.
2.
For Jesus so loved the world that He gave
up His place in Heaven, came to be born as a man, and in the prime of His
earthly life gave up His life willingly do the Father God’s will.
6 {Jesus} Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality
with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking
the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to
death — even death on a cross! (Phil 2:6-8).
“I have testimony weightier than that
of John {the Baptist}. For the very work that the Father has given me to
finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. (John
5:36). They did not understand that he {Jesus} was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, “When
you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim
to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught
me. (John 8:27-28).
Therefore,
Jesus, NOT just the Father God, was loving Man charitably, sacrificially, even
selflessly (as least as a Man, that He would die for another, was that NOT
selfless?). If NOT in all regards, at
least in this, He died unconditionally, that He died for any sinner, NOT some
sinners, NOT particular sinners, but any sinner, who would appropriate His
propitiation for sins.
3. For the Holy Spirit so loved the world
that He was willing to be in us (believers), despite He being holy and we still
having the sinful nature in us, and guide us
into all truths ever so gently.
My understanding of the
teaching of the Apostle Paul is that a believer is still with a sinful nature
(Gal 5:13, 16-17, Rom 8:12-13), despite he is a new creation. If you believe that the moment you believe in
Jesus, you are perfectly righteous and holy thereafter, which is in my view,
wrong teaching from the “overly grace” preachers, you probably cannot
appreciate the charity, the sacrifice, and the selflessness of the Holy Spirit
to be willing to be dwelling inside of us, without guarantee on our part that
we shall maintain holiness and righteousness at all times, for His (Holy
Spirit) sake; neither do we guarantee that we will yield to His (Holy Spirit)
desires instead of those of the sinful nature, although we are exhorted to do
so (Gal 5:16-17, Rom 8:12-13).
Do NOT get me wrong, I am
NOT trying to tear down the contribution of early theologians, such as CS
Lewis, in this area of defining the agape love; on the contrary, which we shall
see later, I want to add to it.
Indeed, even though I have NOT read the book referred to, in my study of
the reviews made of the book, this quote from CS Lewis is so spot-on concerning
the attributes of agape which can be gleaned from Scripture - the charity,
sacrifice, and selflessness demanded from God kinda of love:
"To love at all is to be
vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly
be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your
heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies
and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or
coffin of your selfishness. but in that casket - safe, dark, motionless,
airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable,
impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk
of tragedy is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be
perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
CS Lewis
painted that love from the human perspective. If we put ourselves in God’s
shoe, taking a theocentric perspective, the Father God gave His one and
begotten Son, Jesus, to come to be born as a man and to die as a man with the terrible
death of being crucified, was He NOT putting Himself in a vulnerable spot, that
although He desired all men be saved through that sacrifice He made (1 Tim 2:4),
NOT all men are willing to accept that love sacrifice He made?; Jesus, similarly, gave up His glory in
Heaven, and came to down to earth to be born as a man, and to go through all
the sufferings as a man, that he might become the merciful and faithful High
Priest in service to God (Heb 2:17), and to die the cruel death, was He NOT
taking the risk of “His heart be wrung and possibly be broken” by some who
refused Him as Savior and Lord?; the Holy Spirit, in continuing the salvation
plan for each of us, through His willingness to make His dwelling inside of us,
despite His holiness, was He not risking the “tragedy of being repeatedly
grieved by our sinful thoughts and actions”?
Indeed, God’s love was and is charitable, sacrificial, and selfless.
God is agape, and
so the love from Him is agape
In 1 John 4:8, we read “God is love”, and the Greek word used there, was again, “agape”. God is love; God is agape; and the love from
Him is agape love.
But is the overall counsel of the Word merely telling
us that God is agape, and His love for us is agape, the way the olden Greeks
understood agape; or is there more?!
Be agape as He is
agape
Man was created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27). Man, before the Fall in the Garden of Eden,
was capable of eternal life, capable of holiness, righteousness, and
agape. The Fall had corrupted those
capacities, but the regenerate man (a believer), is once again capable of them. As a believer, we know we are once again
capable of eternal life, because Jesus has propitiated for us the penalty of
death from the Original Sin.
Just as there are exhortations in Scripture for us,
believers, to be holy as God is holy (1 Pet 1:16 KJV), to be righteous – to resist
sins, even the point of shedding blood (Heb 12:4), there are exhortations for
us to agape. I will give you some of the
verses in a moment, but what it means is that agape love is NOT just for God
to love us with.
Agape is also for us to love God with, and for us to
love our neighbors with. We
are to agape God, in return; and we are to agape one another. In other words, we are NOT to just phileo one
another, that was just the olden Greek’s understanding; God asks for agape
love, in addition to brotherly love. Our
brotherly love has to be pursued to the level of agape love if we excel in
love. Here are the verses supporting my
saying that we are to agape God, and agape one another:
The Apostle John used the same Greek word, “agape”,
when referring to our love for God and our love for our neighbors, meaning we
are to love God with the same kind of love that God loves us, and we are to
love our neighbors with that same kind of love (1 John 4:19-20):
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone
says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does
not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Jesus’ speaking of the commandments to love was written
in Greek by the Apostle Matthew using the same word, “agape”. Matt 22:37-39 –
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and
greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ (Matt
22:37-39).
The love the Apostle Paul referred to in 1 Cor 13 which
ended with this: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the
greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13), the Greek love word used was also
“agape”.
It is very clear, from above, that if we are to excel
in love, we are to agape God, and we are to agape (not just phileo) our
neighbors.
In summary, firstly, I have NOT yet revealed the
ingredient which should be added to the agape love; you will know what it
is, in PART II of this 2-part series; secondly, we should have understood that
the charitable, sacrificial, selfless and even unconditional attributes were
more imputed into the Greek love word, “agape”, from gleaning from the Bible,
than it was originally defined by the Greek in their use of the word; thirdly,
the revealing of God kinda of love as agape, was NOT just that we might know of
God’s love as being agape, but it was to exhort us to also agape God, and to agape
our neighbors.
Anthony Chia,
high.expressions – I am NOT God, but I am created in the image
of God, and now that I am regenerated (have become a believer), the image of
God is being restored, and I am once again enabled for eternal life, enabled
for holiness and righteousness, and enabled for God kinda of love. As an image
is close to the real thing, so must I excel in agape love, just as God is
agape, and God agapes. Lord, may you
help me to grow in the image of you.
Amen.
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