Love

[JohnD]

Like, crave, admire, infatuation, neediness, addiction... these things are often mistaken for love. 

The  ancient Greeks came up with a common language to unite its empire (secular Koine Greek) with which the 

New Testament was written. Their empire covered several nations and multiple cultures so they set out to be as exacting 

and precise as possible in this language. They came up with four names / definitions for "love:"

eros (fleshly)

storge (friendship)

phileo (brotherly / familial)

agapeo (Godly / perfect)

The Bible defines love as other-centered. In the order above from least to most other-centered.

Agape is pure other-centered. I would deem it "true love."

Phileo and storge are varying degrees of camaraderie  love ("us" love).

Eros... eros is self love with no real other-centeredness  to it at all.

For that reason alone I would question its place in the category of love at all.

Eros is also a counterfeit of true love... many who have experienced what they believed was true love for another (especially unrequited love)

were more than likely the victims of the counterfeit eros. ← Love sickness. True love is not sick. It does not hurt. One can be hurt by someone they 

love, but true love itself is not a sickness or a pain or anxiety. That's eros. Self... me, myself, and I. I want, I need, I think they would be better off with me...

(self-centered).

And it gives birth to lust.

Jesus asked Peter in his restoration of apostleship "Lovest (agape) thou me more than these? Lovest (phileo) thou me? Lovest (storge) me?"

 

[Michael37]

2 minutes ago, JohnD said:

Like, crave, admire, infatuation, neediness, addiction... these things are often mistaken for love. The  ancient Greeks came up with a common language to unite its empire (secular Koine Greek) with which the New Testament was written. Their empire covered several nations and multiple cultures so they set out to be as exacting and precise as possible in this language. They came up with four names / definitions for "love:"

eros (fleshly), storge (friendship), phileo (brotherly / familial), agapeo (Godly / perfect)

The Bible defines love as other-centered. In the order above from least to most other-centered. Agape is pure other-centered. I would deem it "true love." Phileo and storge are varying degrees of camaraderie  love ("us" love). Eros... eros is self love with no real other-centeredness  to it at all. For that reason alone I would question its place in the category of love at all. Eros is also a counterfeit of true love... many who have experienced what they believed was true love for another (especially unrequited love) were more than likely the victims of the counterfeit eros. ← Love sickness. True love is not sick. It does not hurt. One can be hurt by someone they love, but true love itself is not a sickness or a pain or anxiety. That's eros. Self... me, myself, and I. I want, I need, I think they would be better off with me...(self-centered). And it gives birth to lust.

Jesus asked Peter in his restoration of apostleship "Lovest (agape) thou me more than these? Lovest (phileo) thou me? Lovest (storge) me?"

 

What prompted you to address these definitions?