Love One Another

David A Bielby dbielby at juno.com
Tue Sep 21 14:48:04 EDT 1999


Thank you for the replies!  I'm a bit confused on something
here....because the lexicons seem clear to me about agape's meaning.

e.g...Friberg's

agape` love; (1) esp. as an attitude of appreciation resulting fr. a
conscious evaluation and choice, used of divine and human love love,
devotion;  

I guess it seems awkward to me if we separate a liking for someone or
something from appreciating and loving them. I suppose my question is
really this...does the word agape allow such an interpretation, or is
this kind of thought theological bias injected into the word's meaning.

On Tue, 21 Sep 1999 10:16:55 -0700 George Goolde <goolde at mtnempire.net>
writes:
> At 11:59 AM 09/21/1999 -0700, you wrote:
> 
> >I heard a teaching that said you can love someone but you don't 
> have to
> >like them. It seems to me that this flies in the face of agape. It 
> seems
> >to me that the lexicons are saying that agape must not only decide
> >someone has value, but that decision must affect their feelings and
> >actions.
> 
> >Am I corrrect in your opinion? 
> 
> I do believe that agape affects someone's actions - but not 
> necessarily
> their feelings.  I don't think that God, when He so loved the world 
> (John
> 3:16) was saying that He liked the world.  But He did exercise 
> sacrificial
> love.
> 
> I would translate agape as a delight in and desire for the 
> well-being of
> the objects of the love, even to the point of self-sacrifice, if 
> necessary.
> 
> Hope this helps,
> 
> George
> 
> 
> 
> George A. Goolde
> Professor, Bible and Theology
> Southern California Bible College & Seminary
> El Cajon, California
> 
> goolde at mtnempire.net

David Bielby
Normal, Illinois USA 
dbielby at juno.com



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