Love
On Facebook, I got tagged with the “25 Random Things” meme. One of the things I wrote about was that I went to a Catholic high school and that I enjoyed religion class. I wrote how I thought theology classes should be made available at younger grades more readily. They shouldn’t be required, but I think they should be available.
I can’t say my instructors were very good. Some were, some were not. One odd thing that always stuck with me (despite being taught by one of the not so good instructors) was the three different types of love.
Love in terms of Christianity can refer to three different types which are referred to by their Greek terms.
- Eros – this is the passionate love. When you’re “in love” this is eros.
- Philia – this friendship.
- Agape – in a Christian context, this is in reference to unconditional and voluntary love.
Agape always stuck out the most for me. I think part of it was based on the way the word sounded and the inherent rhythm in the word. I think another part of it was that it was essentially a new concept to my young self. For the others I learned a new word, but for agape I learned an idea.
We all grew up knowing about the “Golden Rule”, etc but agape is more proactive. My interpretation is that agape requires work. It requires the decision to love and the effort to love, and to do so unconditionally.
I’ve always felt that it didn’t matter if Christ existed or not. It wasn’t important who he was, but rather the lesson being taught. Like Aesop’s fables, it doesn’t really matter that there are talking animals, the important part was the lesson. A secular world has use for agape too.