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Derived from Greek, agape traditionally denotes a selfless, unconditional love. In Thelemic practice, agape represents the highest form of love and is often associated with True Will and the central tenet of the religion: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will."
An agape feast or lovefeast [b] is a term used for various communal meals shared among Christians. [2] The name comes from the Greek word ἀγάπη (agape), which implies divine love, to love as fully as God loves, unconditionally. Agape meals originated in the early Church and were a time of fellowship for believers.
Agapism is belief in selfless, charitable, non-erotic (brotherly) love, spiritual love, love of the soul. It can mean belief that such love (or "agape") should be the sole ultimate value and that all other values are derived from it, or that the sole moral imperative is to love.
In this encyclical, Benedict reflects on the concepts of eros, agape, and philia, and their relationship with the teachings of Jesus.Eros and agape are two of the various Greek words for love, each of which has a slightly different shade of meaning: agape is descending, oblative love in which one gives of oneself to another; eros is ascending, possessive love which seeks to receive from ...
It is a love that gives freely without asking anything in return and does not consider the worth of its object. [7] [8] Agape is more a love by choice than Philos, which is love by chance; and it refers to the will rather than the emotion. It describes the unconditional love God has for the world in the Christian faith.
The verb form of the word "agape" goes as far back as Homer. In a Christian context, agape means "love: esp. unconditional love, charity; the love of God for person and of person for God". [3] Agape is also used to refer to a love feast. [4] The christian priest and philosopher Thomas Aquinas describe agape as "to will the good of another". [5]
Love can have other meanings in English, but as used in the New Testament it almost always refers to the virtue of caritas. Many times when charity is mentioned in English-language bibles, it refers to "love of God", which is a spiritual love that is extended from God to man and then reflected by man, who is made in the image of God, back to God.
Love is a key attribute of God in Christianity. 1 John 4:8 and 16 state that "God is love; and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." [13] [14] John 3:16 states: "God so loved the world..." [15] In the New Testament, God's love for humanity or the world is expressed in Greek as agape (ἀγάπη).