Confusionabouttheword"Love"
ByRobertHart
Quinquagesima2016
READING:ICorinthians13*Luke18:31-43
AtthepresenttimetheChurchandallofsocietyareinacrisisduetothe
attempttorobtheword"marriage"ofanytruedefinition,addingmore
confusiontowhathasbeenimposedinthepastbyarampantdivorce
culture.Thesecularproponentsofwhattheycallthis"evolution"justify
itbyusingtheword"equality"withoutdefinitionandinplaceofa
substantiveargument.Thereligiousproponentsofittrytojustifyitby
theword"love."Afterall,"Thoushaltlovethyneighborasthyself."The
problemisthatweusetheword"love"inEnglishtomeanseveral
things,makingitunlikemanywordsinourlanguagethatareprecise.
Youmaysay"Iloveajuicysteak."Butyoucannothavecharityfora
juicysteak.
TheKingJamesversionoftoday'sEpistlereading,ICorinthians13,uses
theword"charity."Inmostotherplaceswherethesameword,agape
(ἀγάπην),appearsintheoriginalGreek,theKingJamesVersionhasit
translatedas"love."Hereitistranslated,however,withtheword
"charity"perhapstobeveryspecific,comingasitdoesfromtheLatin
caritas,intowhichagapewastranslatedbySt.Jerome.GoodBiblical
exegesisandstudyplacesagapeonahigherlevelthantheotherwords
alsotranslated"love."Indeed,itisnottoomuchtosaythatthisword
speaksoftheloveofGod,andthatthisloveisavirtuethatcanbegrown
inourlivesonlybytheHolySpirit(Romans5:5,Galatians5:22).The
characterofthisloveisdescribedverypowerfullyintoday'sEpistle
reading,andinthecharacterofthisloveweseethecharacterofGod,in
fact,weseeJesus.
Thecharacterofthisloveiscompletelygivingandselfless,andthislove
wasthelovethatkeptJesusChristfromcomingdownoffthecross.This
love,notthenails,heldHimthere.AsIhavesaidbefore,takethatlove
personally,asdidSt.Paul:"...theSonofGodwholovedme,andgave
Himselfforme(Galatians2:20)."Innowayisthisloveeverselfish,selfseeking,indifferent,orapathetic.Itovercomesanger,andwantsthe
bestforeveryoneinasincere,indeedactive,manner.Itproduces
spontaneousfruitofgoodworksanditforgivesinstantly.Wealsosee
that"Charity...rejoicethnotininiquity,butrejoicethinthetruth."And,
tothatpointwewillreturn.
AnotherwordthatisusedintheoriginalGreekNewTestament,and
thatistranslated"love,"isphilea(φιλία),whichmeansbrotherlylove
andalsofriendship.FromthiswehavethewordsPhiladelphia,thatis,
CityofBrotherlyLove,andphilosophy,thatis,loveofwisdom,
philanthropy,thatis,loveofmankind,etc.Itisaverygoodandpositive
wordwhenspeakingabouthumanrelations,loveoffriendsandfamily.
Itisconsistentwithagape,thoughnotitselfashighandspiritualin
nature.Surely,philiaispresentwhereagapeispresent;however,I
cannotmakethesameguaranteeinreverse.One'ssincereandheartfelt
lovemightfalljustshortofDivinelove,choosinginsomecrisisthe
comfortofbeinglovedinreturnoverthatofcompleteselflessgiving,or
maybefailingincourage.
AnotherGreekwordisstorge,(στοργή),whichistheaffectionof
parentstotheirchildren.Itisawordthatwasnotusedmuchinancient
literature,butithassurvived.
ThefourthGreekwordforloveisneverusedintheNewTestament,
thoughitappearsintheGreekApocrypha.Thatwordiseros(ἔρως),and
fromitwehavetheEnglishword"erotic."Itistheloveofsexual
passion.Whenthewordhasagoodmeaningitisonlybetweenaman
andhiswife.Itcanbepresentsidebysidewithbothphileaandeven
agape.But,again,onlybetweenamanandwomanwhoaremarriedto
eachotheristhiskindofloveagoodthing.Eroscanbepresent,
however,withpracticesforbiddenbyGod'scommandmentsinsuchsins
asadulteryorfornication.
HerewemustdealwithanotherGreekwordthatappearsquiteabitin
theNewTestament,awordthatisnevertranslated"love,"andnever
shouldbesotranslated.IntheGospelaccountsofthingsthatJesussaid
whenwarningagainstcarnalsins,intheGreekmanuscriptsquoting
Him,Heusedthisword;thatwordispornea(πορνεία).Fromitcome
thewordspornographyandfornication.Obviously,porneahasno
redeemingvalue.Itisalwayssin.Theweaknessoftranslatingtheword
porneaas"fornication"isthatmodernpeopleassumethatfornicationis
limitedindefinitiontopremaritalsex.But,infact,porneameansany
andeverykindofsexualimmorality,fromadulterytoincest,from
premaritalsextosame-sexacts,etc.
Thefollowingthings,therefore,canbepresentincombination:
1.Erosandpornea
2.Erosandphilia
3.Philiaandpornea.
4.Philiaandagape
5.Perhapsevenerosandagape,butonlyinmarriage.
(Intheabove,bearinmindthatporneaisnevertranslatedaslove.)
Butwhatcanneverbepresentincombinationisporneaandagape,for,
asweheardreadintoday'sEpistle,"Charity...rejoicethnotininiquity,
butrejoicethinthetruth."Wealsoheard,"Charity...seekethnother
own."
Toequateloveofneighbor,whichisagape,witherosisaproblem.Such
loveshouldbeexclusiveofamanforhiswife,andawomanforher
husband.Andsinceporneaisnotloveatall,butlust,evenifitis
combinedwitheros,itiscertainlynottheloveGodcommandsusto
haveforourneighbor,andisfarfromthenewcommandmentofChrist,
"ThatyeloveoneanotherasIhavelovedYou(agape)."
Indeed,whenitcomestothesubjectofsin,ifseeingthatone'sneighbor
isinthegripofsinandneedstorepentandbeforgivenbyChrist,
charity,agape,cannotrejoice.Charitymovesustoprayandhopeforthe
person'srepentanceandsalvation.Itcannotmoveustoparticipateor
enablesin.SuchisnottheloveofGod.
Someindeedprotestthattheiractsandrelationshipofporneaareakind
oflove,akindtheChurchneedstoaffirm.SotheytellusthattheChurch
oughttoblesssame-sex"marriages."But,Iaskyou,cannottwopeople
inanadulterousaffairalsoclaimthattheiractsandrelationshiparea
kindoflove?Indeed,inasmuchaserosmaybefilledwithemotion,
peopledosayitandmeanit.Ifwecanblessasinfulunionthenwhynot
havetheChurchsomeupwithritestoblessanadulterousaffair?After
all,theyareinlove,andloveisalwaysgood--right?Butthetrueloveof
God,charity,agape,cannotrejoiceininiquity.Itwillmoveonetorepent,
andtowanttheotherpartytorepentalso.
LetuslookatthecontextofthatspecificcommandmentthatJesus
quotedasthesecondgreatcommandmentoftheLaw:
"Thoushaltnothatethybrotherinthineheart:thoushaltinanywise
rebukethyneighbour,andnotsuffersinuponhim.Thoushaltnot
avenge,norbearanygrudgeagainstthechildrenofthypeople,butthou
shaltlovethyneighbourasthyself:IamtheLORD(Leviticus19:17,
18)."
DoestheloveofGodactuallyrebuke?Inthiscase,doesitactuallymove
onetourgerepentanceofhisneighbor?Yes.Youseeagapedoesn'tseek
itsowngratification,andiswillingtobeunlovedandrejected,justas
Christwaswillingtogotothecrossandendurethehostilityofsinners
againstHimself.
Sothrowingaroundtheword"love,"astheseproponentsandapologists
ofsindoallthetime,turnsthewordintoasoundnomoremeaningful
thanadog'sbark.TheSonofGodcameintotheworldtosavetheworld,
nottomaketheworldsafeforimmorality.JesusshowedtheloveofGod
bydyingforoursinsandofferingforgivenessandanewlifetoallwho
cometoHimwithsincererepentanceandtruefaith.
RobertHartistherectorofSaintBenedict'sAnglicanCatholicChurchkin
ChapelHill,NC.HeisacontributingeditorofTouchstone,aJournalof
MereChristianity,andawriterfortheblog,TheContinuum.Heisan
occasionalcontributortoVOL