Splarnst

Love has several different meanings. You haven't even offered us an interpretation of your own, but a mere re-stating of the original words.

Does love mean "be in romantic love with" or "have feelings for" or "care about" or "treat with kindness" or what? All you do is tell me I'm wrong without backing up your claim.

Splarnst

But what does it mean to love someone? You haven't clarified this yet.

whichphilosophy

Using all senses of the word "love people will love out of choice. Thus it doesn't mean one type of love needs to be different than another. As people interact their degree of liking may increase but the choice is still theirs.

If for instance they saw the sense in loving each other in the human sense, they could do this through reasons and coming to terms with or eradicating any concepts (ie racial, different opinions likes and dislikes etc).

A white racist will hate afro americans for instance, not because of what they are but he/she has picture in his/her mind which acts as a filter over what he/she sees.

The 72 year old billionaire who marries a 21 year beauty queen probably won't be bothered about being loved rather on what she offers and whether it's still in working order.

Dictators command love but really get slavering in response which they deem as love and respect.

We can learn about each others humanity and develop a humanitarian (and arguably a spiritual) love for each other.

Christ said "Love your enemies?" Why not? Nothing would annoy them more. :wave:

Does this answer at least in part, your point?

JaredM

It is difficult to give an exact dictionary definition of any emotion or state of mind, because they are all so subjective and ephemeral. In what sense must we "love" our neighbor?

If the above paragraph makes you think dirty thoughts, don't blame me. :angel:

--Jared

Chris Weimer

It really helps to cite the full passage as well as give preliminary information. Oh, and it wouldn't help to know a good bit of Greek, would it?

αυτη εστιν η εντολη η εμη ινα αγαπατε αλληλους καθως ηγαπησα υμας
This is the command of me that you love others according as I loved you.

The word in question is αγαπη. The sort of love implied with αγαπη is not romantic love, is not friendship, not even familiar love, but divine love, a selfless love not for the person himself, but for the "soul" of the person. This is in common with other Johannine thought such as Jesus dying because he loved us (Jn. 3.16) and we dying for our brethren because of love for them (1 Jn. 3.16). It's not a feeling per se, but more of an act.

John A. Broussard

What amazes me is how the god, who asks that we love one another, demonstrates his love of humankind with earthquakes, floods, pestilence, etc.

Even those who grovel before that god seem to be as likely to be swept away by the waves as those who don't.

diana

The way I understand it, we're commanded to love as Jesus did. This leaves us a couple of choices in interpretation:

Jesus didn't really love us. He just acted like he did. We are to emulate this action.

He really did love us--the emotion from whence his behavior sprang--and we are commanded to emulate that feeling--and the resultant behavior--for everyone.

That leaves us in the same pickle, though.

(And yes...as has been mentioned already, I do interpret from a fundamentalist POV. Based on the assumption that the bible is meant for everyone, it follows that it should be accessible to all and should make sense to all. For this reason, a straightforward interpretation makes logical sense to me. If anyone wishes to argue that the bible is intended for a special few who can interpret it non-literally and somehow just right the way God intended, it follows that it wasn't meant for everyone, and I will happily drop my case.)

d

Splarnst

Thanks, Chris Weimer. I was hoping someone would come along with the Greek.

Chris Weimer

No, he is not commanding for his disciples (let's keep it in context here) to have that feeling of love, but that action, i.e. he helped the poor, he cured the afflicted, he died for our salvation, that sort of thing. Technically, there is no real feeling involved, although Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 picks up on that idea and says that if you don't have the feeling, the action really doesn't mean anything at all.

Well, for one, I'm not a Christian at all, so I call it as I see it. There's no non-literal reinterpretation around this issue, you merely have to acquaint yourself with the Greek. If it happens to fall in line with a certain Christian's philosophy, so be it.

Oh, and for your case, the Bible was not written for everyone. The Old Testament was written only for the Israelites and the New Testament for the followers of Christ. (The Gospels are more or less thought to have been written as a testimony for the author's sects, or for Christians in general). So, case dropped?

Chris

Chris Weimer

Not a problem. Someone ought to do it.

Chris