[B-Greek] Follow up to Mitch's AGAPAW and FILEW

Brent Hudson brent at riveroflifembchurch.com
Mon Aug 18 00:44:00 EDT 2003


On 8/17/2003 at 9:24 PM Dmitriy Reznik wrote:

>By this I argue against a wide spread interpretation that states that
>Peter could not answer simply, Yes, I love (AGAPW) You, so he says, I
>(just) FILW You, thus in fact answering NO, not YES. Such an
>interpretation implies that AGAPH is a special kind of unselfish love
>that comes only from G-d. But because this is not how the word is used,
>people would not understand such an idea if John had it in mind.

Ah, I see.  I guess I'm coming from a different angle.  If there were a difference between the terms in this context, I would tend to see AGAPAW as being more conceptual (like one's love of peace or of one's neighbour) whereas FILEW would be the more intimate and emotive term (e.g., a 'love' congruent with the idea of a kiss (in the Mediterrean sense)).  In other words, I wouldn't see Peter's FILW SE as a diminished form of AGAPW SE, but rather an alternate expression that added the connotation of personal warmth and friendship.  Nevertheless, since the words are used synonymously in various places any argument to this end remains highly speculative and can never be proven satisfactorily.  

Regards,
Brent Hudson






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