In the large and diverse religion that is Christianity, there is one thing that holds true throughout every sect. This is the belief in the importance of love, or agape, and for good reason. Agape is the love of God by humans, God’s love for humans, and also love between humans. This love is key to nearly every part of Christianity. Agape is the most important doctrine of Christianity because it is the root of all other beliefs in Christianity, such as salvation and the covenant, and is heavily emphasized in the Bible.
Before jumping into just why agape is the most central belief, it is important to define some key terms that will be used later on. The first, and most essential, is agape itself. Agape describes the love that all Christians
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Agape is developed more particularly in the New Testament, as a part of Jesus Christ’s teachings. Nearly all of Jesus’ life, right up until the very end, was spent talking of the importance of agape. In the Bible, Jesus says Christians only need two things: love for God and love for others. In turn, most of Jesus’ messages to his followers surround love. For example, Jesus affirms the importance of agape when he preaches the message of “loving your neighbor as yourself,” something that is known as the “Golden Rule” of Christianity. Agape is also emphasized when Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. This is today one of the most well-known Biblical stories by Christians. This is no surprise, considering that it is told to emphasize the importance of brotherly love between everyone. And as Jesus’ final act of agape, he died on the cross for Christian’s sins. This is considered by many to be the paramount act of agape because it shows the love between God and his people. However, the Scripture does not only emphasize agape in the New Testament. It is also mentioned over and over in the Old Testament, notably in the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments are a set of 10 laws written in the Bible for all Christians to follow. All ten of these laws, even though they may not all explicitly state it, circle back to the clear theme of agape. Some examples include, “honor …show more content…
However, this view is clearly flawed. The most obvious reason is that love does not flow entirely from God. Agape is not only divine love for humans but also love amongst humans and humans’ love for God. If there were only to be God’s love for humans, the religion would be very weak. God is simply a part of Christianity, along with his followers, the scripture, and more. All of these parts are tied together by the doctrine of agape. Agape, not simply God, is the key belief of Christianity because of
It is clearly evident that the five principal beliefs in Christianity, the divinity and humanity of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the nature of God and the trinity, the revelation and salvation all deeply impact on and influence the lives of its adherents.
In the beginning, Creation was oriented to worship but, by the Fall, this relationship was broken. Thereafter throughout history, God has worked to rebuild this relationship. Salvation history includes the familiar stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and ultimately Jesus. By the true sacrifice of Christ, we can come to understand the fullness of what our relationship with God can be. Jesus is the exemplar of what it means to be related in love. He is the one whom Mrs. Turpin strives
God is sinless, loving, forgiving and full of wisdom. God’s love is shown throughout the Old and New Testaments. Many times throughout the Old
...escribes two different aspects of God’s Love. The first is that God’s love can be very commanding, resulting in a sovereign relationship between man and God. The second being that God’s love is everything, all around and forever present. There is nothing that was not made by God, and without his love nothing would continue to exist. Julian implies that it is humanity’s duty to observe these “sixteen showings” and to make it their goal to work towards that oneness with God. Once man is able to obtain this ultimate unity with God, he will be able to understand the true passion of God.
The Christian faith focuses on the orientation of the human heart behind human thoughts and actions. Living by faith is a beautiful alternative to the way people think of themselves and the way they live in relation to others in their daily lives (Merrick, 2014). Christians see themselves in terms of God’s profound love for them but not in terms of what they do. The teachings of the Christian faith; nonviolence, non-retaliation, inward integrity, selflessness, and love your neighbor as yourself provide the framework for ethical thinking. Although, adopting belief in Christianity can bring forth confusion in the heart and mind causing agony of learning to sacrifice one’s rightful claims for personal justice for the restoration of another (Merrick, 2014). Unconditional forgiveness is difficult to understand because spiritual forgiveness and actual costly forgiveness is viewed as the same in the gospel. If you do not forgive, then one does not have faith in God’s forgiveness as it really is. Christianity influences a person thinking and behavior developing wisdom which requires faith. The faith that is needed to reorient the heart away from selfishness to selflessness.
Eva is the most explicit in explaining the dynamic between God and his people. She explains this by asking Topsy, "don't you know that Jesus loves all alike? He is just as willing to love you, as me" (412). Earlier in the book Tom had asked a similar question to a downtrodden woman on the boat with him: "Han't nobody never telled ye how the Lord Jesus loved ye, and died for you?" (324). God offers everyone this love, but it can only be claimed by loving God in return. Eva pleads with the people around her that they should, "pray every day," (419) so that they can find God as she has.
God, love and so on, and in doing so commits a fallacy because as soon
It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for "God is Charity" (1 John 4:8)
This conception of love can be traced back to the first chapters of the Bible, Genesis. Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden, eat the forbidden fruit and are forever outcast from paradise, forced to suffer. The puritans argued that, if God wishes us to suffer, who are we to go against his wishes. We are sinners, because of the Original Sin, and it was Eve who gav...
scripture. They emphasized redemptive piety and individual responsibility to God (Kizer, Kay). Many of these beliefs are still reinforced today in Christian churches in a variety of ways.
...er that many non-believers find Christianity so hateful instead of a loving, all accepting relationship with God .
Agape is the highest of the four types of love in the Bible. This term defines God’s immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind. It is the divine love that comes from God. Jesus Christ demonstrated this kind of love in its highest form (Zavada 2017). Many people may feel they show true Agape, but when it becomes terrifying they will stay away from this kind of love; however, it may come from meeting a stranger for the first time. Unfortunately, you don’t count your true friends until you find those who will show you Agape as it is believed Christ showed to his Father in Heaven. The true love between friends and family members usually ends at the level of Philia or Storge and only few will generate into Agape. For one to proclaim Agape without being misinterpreted, one needs to first show another love called Philautia, a Greek word for Self-love. Absolutely, you cannot share what you do not have. If you do not love yourself, you cannot love anyone else either. The only way to be content is to find that unconditional love within you. Only once you learn to love and understand yourself, will you be ready to search for the spiritual freedom of the Self (Sol
People should practice peace and nonviolence, return good for evil and love for suffering (what do Jesus have done). This leads to a special conception of justice, called the “divine justice”, in case of a crime, redemption Even though agapeistic love is certainly a noble ideal, it is unstable equilibrium and an easy victim of the “ Prisoner’s dilemma,” in which the best alternative for a group of people is not the best alternative for each person in the group. In other words, strict adherence to agapeistic ideal only works if everyone follows If there are selfish people who take advantage of the selfless
The apostle John declared: “God is love.” In the Koine Greek, Agape love is that not only that love is from God, but that it is of God. God Himself loves. Love is one of the moral attributes of God Agape love is self-sacrificing. The LORD Almighty loved the world so much that He sent His only son, to death; death on a cross. .
Benchmark Assignment: Gospel Essentials There are several aspects to consider when exploring the Christian worldview. There are many facets and denominations and they each have their own distinct beliefs and practices, but they all share the same fundamental beliefs. In this paper we will explore the character of God, His creation, humanity and its nature, Jesus’ significance to the world, and the restoration of humanity, as well as my beliefs and the way that I interact with Christianity and my personal worldview. God In the Christian worldview, God is the one and only God. He is the sovereign creator of everything.