2012.07.15 03:50
Eros and Agape - ascending love and descending love - Even if eros is at first mainly covetous and ascending, a fascination for the great promise of happiness, in drawing near to the other, The element of agape thus enters into this love, for otherwise eros is impoverished and On the other hand, man cannot live by oblative, descending love alone. Certainly, as the Lord tells us, ㅡ from the book, "Breakfast with Benedict, |
2012.07.15 05:03
2012.07.15 15:41
In the second paragraph.... I got stuck !!
It could be either a bad speech by the Pope or terrible editing by Ghezzi.
It surely sounds like the Pope had a few hiccups during this particular part of the speech.
Anyone who writes a phrase that cannot be understood in the first reading is not a good writer.
He may be a superior and famous writer (or speaker) but, when the people who read his writing
cannot understand at the first reading, he is basically nothing but a failure.
Ghezzi might have been trying to make the writing much holier than it is.
Very sorry to say but he miserably failed to do that.
One of the epitome of bad writing is a complicated sentence structure and using rare jargons.
In the last paragraph, the Pope is saying that agape requires a feeding before its beginning.
Yes, obviously, it is very much so in the Christian faith.
Pope is saying that you have to give first before receiving the blessing of God.
All modern-day churches run just like that.
The Christian love is very well defined here, "Receive first before giving."
You have to give money before getting the blessing from your church.
Generally, people traditionally used to believe that, in Christian theology, God's love is unconditional,
but, in the modern-day Christianity, there has to be a reciprocal love of God by human beings.
I assume this is what the Pope is saying if I understood the last paragraph correctly.
OK, let's assume that it is the Christian agape.
Now, let's talk about human agape.
Pope should have known that human agape comes without any condition at all.
I guess the Pope never had a mother of his own.
I know my mother gave me her first love in this world without ever receiving anything from me.
In entire life of mine, I paid her back so much less than I received.
However, she loved me until the last day when she left this world.
In the real world, there are a lot of Christians, including the Pope himself,
who continue to insult the integrity of their God, Jesus Christ, and the Christian agape.
On the way of doing the performance, they even insult human agape.
It is amazing that they, including the Pope, call themselves Christians !!
2012.07.17 10:56
WM, I believe you misunderstood.
What Pope Benedict said is as clear to me as can be, and
should be so to any Christians.
I could understand how you could misinterpret or misunderstand what he said
since you are not a Christian or so-called " a believer."
If I may paraphrase what he is saying,
he talks about the limitations of human love including mother's love, which we might say,
"a human agape," an example of human unconditional love.
The human love which has components of eros and agape, and in his view, I believe,
that includes mother's love(to the contrary to your opinion and belief), have limitations
(because we are creations with limitations) in giving love without being connected to
the infinite love, God's love, which comes through Jesus Christ, Son of God.
Any human being who has mother would agree with the opinion that our mothers do have
better connections to God's love, agape, but mother's agape cannot be compared to God's and
does need to be connected to God's agape, Jesus' agape, in order to be more sourceful
and powerful and less limited and to further imitate God's and Jesus' limitless, inexhaustible,
boundless, bottomless, unfathomable fountain of love, agape.
2012.07.17 11:21
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2011) |
Agape ( /ˈæɡəpiː/[1] or /əˈɡɑːpeɪ/; Classical Greek: ἀγάπη, agápē; Modern Greek: αγάπη IPA: [aˈɣapi]) is one of the Koine Greek words translated into English as love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for humankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term necessarily extends to the love of one’s fellow man.[2] Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. Although the word does not have specific religious connotation, the word has been used by a variety of contemporary and ancient sources, including Biblical authors and Christian authors. Greek philosophers at the time of Plato and other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity, in contrast to philia (an affection that could denote friendship, brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection) and eros, an affection of a sexual nature. Thomas Jay Oord has defined agape as "an intentional response to promote well-being when responding to that which has generated ill-being."[3]
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.—John 3:16, KJV
Agape received a broader usage under later Christian writers as the word that specifically denoted "Christian" love or "charity" (1 Corinthians 13:1–8), or even God himself (1 John 4:8, ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, "God is Love").
The term agape is rarely used in ancient manuscripts, but was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another (also see kenosis). When 1 John 4:8 says "God is love," the Greek New Testament uses the word agape to describe God's love.
Agape has been expounded on by many Christian writers in a specifically Christian context. C. S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, used agape to describe what he believed was the highest level of love known to humanity—a selfless love, a love that was passionately committed to the well-being of the other.[5] In his book, The Pilgrimage, author Paulo Coelho defines it as "the love that consumes," i.e., the highest and purest form of love, one that surpasses all other types of affection.[citation needed]
The Christian usage of the term agape comes almost directly from the canonical Gospels' accounts of the teachings of Jesus. When asked what was the great commandment, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)
In the King James Version of the New Testament, the word agape is translated "charity" [in some places] which has a contemporary connotation of giving to meet needs of the less fortunate.[5]
In Judaism, the first ("...love the LORD your God...") is the Shema, the second ("...love your neighbor...") is the second greater commandment.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:
You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love (agape) your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love (agape) your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?—Matthew 5:43-46, RSV
Christian writers have generally described agape as a form of love which is both unconditional and voluntary. Tertullian, in his 2nd century defense of Christians, remarks how Christian love attracted pagan notice: "What marks us in the eyes of our enemies is our loving kindness. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another' " (Apology 39).
Anglican theologian O. C. Quick cautions however that this agape within human experience is "a very partial and rudimentary realization," and that "in its pure form it is essentially divine." Quick suggests that,
If we could imagine the love of one who loves men purely for their own sake, and not because of any need or desire of his own, purely desires their good, and yet loves them wholly, not for what at this moment they are, but for what he knows he can make of them because he made them, then we should have in our minds some true image of the love of the Father and Creator of mankind.[6]
In the New Testament the word agape is often used to describe God's love. However, other forms of the word agape (such as agapao) are at times used in a negative sense. Such examples include:
In these cases, the sense is of the object of that agape love being a form of idol, taking the place that should be God's own.
2012.07.17 11:28
Look up believer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to:
2012.07.17 11:45
I might have missed and distorted the idea in the writing to a degree.
What I have understood is not exactly what is "written only" but what is "meant behind."
But the Pope's (and yours) point may be that you have to be a Christian to give agape.
Even though he is the Pope, saying such thing is wrong and may show himself less holier than we expect.
He or Ghezzi obviously may not know the true meaning of the agape that we know.
For example, any mother in the world can provide agape regardless she is a Christian or not.
There are a lot of non-Christian men who can do that too.
Yet, so many Christians are still have severe limitations in loving even after they have been supposedly connected to Jesus.
I am sure you have met some of them already. I have met a plenty of them.
Anyway, such concept may be discussed and kept within the church, but not in the website.
Do we really need a Christian missionary here?
One's brave attempt to make the Pope holier could actually ruin or lessen his holiness.
The best thing a fervent Christian can do is to keep and practice the faith quietly within himself or his religious circle.
2012.07.17 12:20
2012.07.17 14:27
Love also needs Nurturing, Agape, or not.
Actually, Love is a Splendor Thing - with
No Explanations, when you're in Love.