Home » The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints » Current Church Doctrine » The Greatest Attribute: LOVE (An Invitation to Share, Discuss, and Develop )
Re: The Greatest Attribute: LOVE [message #3401 is a reply to message #2678] |
Tue, 09 December 2014 12:53 |
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brrgilbert
Messages: 282 Registered: December 2012 Location: Nampa, Idaho
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Senior Member |
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Elejian wrote on Thu, 15 August 2013 22:29I have a question.
Years ago, I was going through all the occurrences of the Greek agape/agapao in the New Testament, to test my hypothesis that agape means "divine love/charity".
My hypothesis was holding, until I came across Luke 11:43, which threatens it: "Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love [agapao] the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets."
So I have had to rethink things. There are at least 2 options:
- Agape still means "divine love/charity," and Christ was speaking to the Pharisees, who did not truly have agape, with hyperbole (exaggeration), and possibly even sarcasm(?).
- Agape doesn't mean "divine love/charity," but merely means a "deep love."
Any opinions?
Agape infers "consecrated" love or that which is done with heart, might, mind, and strength. It involves a "whole soul" effort. The "whole souled/hearted" pursuit of superiority and popularity is a "woe" because the gifts and talents which have been shared among all of God's children cannot make one "superior" or "better" than anyone else, only different. "At-one-ment" infers "just as good as; just as capable as; just as popular as," giving us all opportunity to grow, develop and learn from one another - proceeding from exaltation to exaltation. There is an eternal law by which "like begets like" and pertains to the law of the harvest. In this fashion, honor and respect can only be attained by honoring and respecting others. To consecrate oneself to the attainment of a gift rather than to the giver of such a gift, misplaces the consecration and identifies what is really loved.
"I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies."
The Little Prince by St. Exupery
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