1 Jn 4:8 (was: Sorting out the slight distinctions of John 21 Synonyms)

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Jan 9 19:44:27 EST 2001


At 10:45 AM -0600 1/9/01, Will Wagers wrote:
>>David McKay wirtes: << Virgil said: The further we go into the New
>>Testament, the more this distinction is brought to be. Look for
>>example at 1 John 4:8 where John makes the awesome declaration that
>>actually described AGAPE when he says, " The very God is existing as
>>the very ( dative case, singular ) personification of AGAPE." Yes,
>>God is AGAPE, hence whatever AGAPE is....it can be seen by looking
>>at who and what God is. >>
>
>It was important in the Greek world to make the point that "God is Love",
>because, "Love" (Eros)  and "Strife"  were two "first causes" of Greek
>philosophy.

Assuming the reference is to Empedocles, his antithetical forces were
actually FILIA (love) and NEIKOS (quarrel)--that is to say, FILIA for
Empedocles, NOT Eros, is the very positive force bringing the discordant
elements of the world-order back into harmony.
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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