The English phrase love covers many meanings, however in Greek we discover ideas typically often called ‘the 4 Loves’. That is the story …
What’s love?
Love is a tough idea. The time period love is a reasonably versatile and elastic phrase in English. You may consider love as an emotion, a sense, a choice or an motion or deed. You may love chocolate, you’ll be able to love cricket, you’ll be able to love your nation, you’ll be able to love your mother and father and kids, you’ll be able to love your canine, and you may love your husband or spouse. The English phrase love covers many ideas, that are generally lined by a couple of phrase in different languages.
The 4 loves
The New Testomony was written within the Greek language, and the Greek textual content language makes use of totally different phrases that are translated into English as love. C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) wrote a well known e book known as “The 4 Loves” based mostly upon 4 Greek phrases for love. He associated these to the New Testomony, which was initially written in Greek. His e book was printed in 1960 and continues to be extensively learn and quoted as we speak.
It’s useful to consider these 4 forms of love, as a result of these totally different Greek phrases are all translated as love in English, and we lose a number of the refined nuances of that means. There are another Greek phrases for various elements of affection too, however the 4 that are often quoted within the context of Christian religion are storge (affection), philia (friendship), eros (romantic love) and agape (unconditional love). These 4 phrases are both discovered within the New Testomony and/or within the Greek Septuagint translation of the Jewish Bible, which the Early Church used.
1. Storge
The Greek phrase στοργή is often rendered in English as storge. Storge is used of household love, the love that folks have for his or her youngsters, and the love that youngsters have for his or her mother and father. Storge may also be the love on your pet canine or cat. Typically it may be the love of a detailed colleague or good friend “who’s like household”. In English we are able to speak of stogic love which is outlined within the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology as “a major sort of affection that’s pleasant/affectionate and relies on caring and nurturing”. C.S. Lewis calls storge affection.
It isn’t used very a lot within the New Testomony and in compounds, the place it seems in three verses in Romans 1:31, Romans 12:10 and a couple of Timothy 3:3. In Romas 12:10 storge seems in a compound phrase which was translated by William Tyndale as “cohesion” and as love (NIV), brotherly affection (ESV), cohesion (KJV), mutual affection (NRSV).
It’s the reverse of storge (astorge) which is utilized in Romans 1:31 and in 2 Timothy 3:3 the place a destructive type of the phrase was translated into English as unkind by William Tyndale and in addition within the Good Information Bible, with out pure affection (KJV), with out love (NIV), unloving (NLT), heartless (ESV), and callous (New American Bible).
2. Philia
The Greek phrase φιλία is often written in English as philia. That is the most typical Greek phrase for love. Philia is the love of one thing the place there’s something in frequent. Philia is the love which results in an enduring connection. Philia love is proven within the friendship after we be in contact with a colleague after we or they go away the office, and we not must be linked, however wish to be. Philia is the basis of the phrase φίλος (philos) which is translated into English as good friend (e.g. in Luke 7:34, Luke 11:6, James 4:4). C.S. Lewis calls philia friendship.
You’ve got philia while you love your church, your hometown or dwelling village, your nation, or when a Welsh individual experiences hiraeth. You’ve got philia while you love your teammates on the sports activities crew, or while you love a pastime like astronomy or mountain climbing.
Philia is thought in English the place it’s used as a prefix as in philosophy that means the love of knowledge, and within the phrase philanthropy which suggests the love of different folks. Extra typically philia is a suffix as in a bibliophile who’s an individual who loves books, or an Anglophile who’s a non-English one who loves all issues English.
The phrase philia seems inside some New Testomony names: Theophilus (Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1) means somebody who loves God, and Philip means somebody who loves horses. When Lazarus died it was philia which was translated as love in “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick” (John 11:3 KJV) and “Behold how he beloved him” (John 11:36 KJV).
The alternative of philia is a phobia the place you hate or worry one thing. Philia on your nation is patriotism, however dislike or worry of others is xenophobia.
3. Eros
The Greek phrase ἔρως is written in English as eros and is the basis of the English phrase erotic. In Greek it was an intense, passionate love, generally though not at all times romantic. In English we speak of being ‘in love’; and other people speak of ‘making love’. C.S. Lewis simply calls this sort of love eros.
Within the New Testomony the idea of eros is used for the love between a husband and spouse. The concept of eros can be discovered within the poetic Track of Solomon within the Outdated Testomony. The phrase eros isn’t explicitly used within the textual content of the New Testomony, however the idea of eros love within the context of a husband and spouse is discovered, see 1 Corinthians 7:5 and Hebrews 13:4.
Eros was a mythological goddess, who then got here to symbolise romantic love. Her brother Anteros was the mythological god of selfless or unrequited love. Eros is probably higher identified by his Roman title of Cupid, typically illustrated capturing arrows at somebody to make them fall in love.
An instance of unselfless love was the Victorian evangelical Christian politician Lord Shaftesbury (1801-1885). His Christian beliefs and love of individuals drove him to spearhead social reform. After he died the folks of London wished a statue to recollect him. They erected a statue of Anteros in 1894, which was to signify his selfless philanthropic love. It was a bit odd maybe that his Christian love was represented by a statue of a pagan god, and it’s unfair that this well-known statue at Piccadilly Circus is commonly incorrectly generally often called Eros, which in his case truly represents the improper type of love.
The alternative of eros is an intense hatred or loathing of somebody or one thing.
4. Agape
The Greek phrase ἀγάπη, often written in English as agape, is a selfless religious love for others. Agape is a selfless love, within the sense of being sort and loving, which forgives, and is given whether or not it’s returned or not. Agape needs the most effective for others whether or not they’re buddies or enemies.
It’s agape which is translated as love in, “Love your enemies and pray for many who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44 KJV). It’s agape which is translated as love within the phrase “God is love” (1 John 4:8 NIV). It’s agape which is translated as love by William Tyndale in “Now abideth religion, hope, and love, even these three: however the chief of those is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
C.S. Lewis calls agape charity, which is how the phrase was translated within the Licensed King James Model the place it says: “Charity suffereth lengthy, and is sort; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, isn’t overvalued” (1 Corinthians 13:4), and “And now abideth religion, hope, charity, these three; however the best of those is charity” (1 Corinthians 13:13). It is a bit deceptive as we speak, as within the trendy sense, charity tends to suggest an organisation, however however the sense of placing love in motion continues to be there.
The alternative of agape is selfishness and indifference to others.
Agape fellowships
Within the Early Church the phrase agape was additionally used for a communal meal, held in Christian fellowship, after they invited and included the poor. See Jude verse 12 and a couple of Peter 2:13 the place it was translated as “feasts of charity” (KJV), or maybe misleadingly as “love feast” (NIV, ESV) or extra helpfully as “fellowship meal” (GNB, NLT). Previously it was trendy for some church fellowship teams and Christian Unions to be known as apape teams, though that is much less frequent nowadays.
St Paul’s definition
It’s the phrase agape which St Paul used when he summed up love with the phrases in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, which is a passage typically quoted at weddings: “Love is affected person, love is sort. It doesn’t envy, it doesn’t boast, it’s not proud. It doesn’t dishonour others, it’s not self-seeking, it’s not simply angered, it retains no report of wrongs. Love doesn’t enjoyment of evil however rejoices with the reality. It at all times protects, at all times trusts, at all times hopes, at all times perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV). Right here St Paul lists the traits of agape as being affected person (long-suffering), sort, honourable, truthful, resilient, defending, trusting, hopeful, enduring and persevering. He contrasts it with being envious, boastful, boastful, impolite (ill-mannered), proud, dishonorable, self-seeking, fast to anger, grudging, gloating, resentful and dishonest as marks of what agape isn’t. Jesus mentioned that “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).
The order of affection
I don’t consider that love thinks by way of myself first, then my household, then my neighbours, then my nation, then others. As Jesus requested: “Don’t even pagans try this?” (Matthew 5:47). For Christians there isn’t a favouritism (James 2:1). Jesus mentioned that the order is that the primary commandment is to like God, after which the subsequent is to like our neighbours (Matthew 22:34-39). Jesus then advised the story of the Good Samaritan for example that real love treats all folks as our neighbours (Luke 10:30-37), and with Christian love we even love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Jesus commanded that we love each other (John 13:34), and this needs to be a recognisable attribute of Christians (John 13:35), and the order is in reality to like others first earlier than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).
Conclusion
Christian agape love isn’t selfishly pushed. For C.S. Lewis in his e book “The 4 Loves”, he noticed affection (storge), friendship (philia) and eros in regular human life, however he noticed agape as divine from God, who’s love (1 John 4:8). God needs us to like mercy (Micah 6:8), love justice (Isaiah 61:8), love reality and love peace (Zechariah 8:19). Making use of love to those can even inevitably have an effect on our actions, household life, church actions and politics.
