Agape
Agape ( ancient Greek ἀγάπη agápē ) is a New Testament and Christian word for divine love.
Meaning of words and biblical usage
Agape is a Greek word for love , which through the New Testament has also become a fixed term outside of Greek. The noun agape denotes a divine or God-inspired unselfish love, especially the mutual love of Christians; the verb is occasionally used outside of these relationships, sometimes also critically. The distinction between different types of human love by words like Eros , Storge and Philia (see the Classifications section of the article Love ), of which only Philia occurs in the New Testament, is not made. Nowhere in the New Testament is there a disdain for philia towards agape .
In the Hebrew Old Testament there is only one word root, ahab (Hebrew אהב), for very different types of love. It is equally valid for the love of God ( Jer 31,3 EU ), the love for God ( Dtn 6,5 EU ), the love for fellow human beings ( Lev 19,18 EU ), the love of friends ( 2 Sam 1,26 EU ), the love between the sexes ( Gen 29.20 EU ), sexuality ( Prov 7.18 EU ), the love of money ( Koh 5.9 EU ) and the love of nothingness ( Ps 4.3 EU ). In the Septuagint , the Greek translation of the Old Testament, ahab is translated as agape in most cases . So agape covers a wide range of meanings there, including those that are clearly disapproved of in the context.
The Greek New Testament adopts the language used in the Septuagint. There, too, the root word agape (as a verb or noun) is by far the most common for love ; Philia is much less common (as a verb or in compounds, but only once as a single noun). The difference between the roots of agape and philia is not always clear: Christians are warned against loving the world ( 1 Jn 2:15 EU ; agapao ) and for the love of God the Father for the Son ( Jn 5, 20 EU ) the verb phileo is used. The word usage is inconsistent in the reinstatement of Peter in the pastoral office ( Jn 21 : 15–19 EU ), where Jesus asks three times whether Peter loves him (twice agapao , once phileo ) and Peter affirms this three times (three times phileo ) without him The impression arises that the answers did not match the question. Augustine concludes from this that the two terms are largely equivalent. He uses the Latin vulgate , for agape the Latin verb diligere and the nouns caritas and dilectio ; for Philia mostly amare / amor .
Another difference between agape and philia is that agape is a voluntary decision based on the appreciation that is due to everyone , while philia is aimed at people with whom you want to be particularly connected. That is why agape (love for fellow human beings as well as for oneself and for God) can be asked for, not for philia. The change of the name in the conversation between Jesus and Peter would then, after the topic of agape has been clarified, an increase and not a weakening, as it initially appears.
Agape as love of God
The motif of love already exists in the Old Testament , but not yet in the sense of agape: it is, as it were, in a developing stage. The love of God appears in the form of bestowal goodness ( 1 Chr 16.34 EU ), mutual fidelity ( Mi 7.20 EU ), indulgent mercy ( Isa 54.10 EU ) and benevolent grace ( Ps 86.15 EU ).
In the New Testament, the word agape - with the exception of the word as a synonym for the love supper - conveys God's pure love: Agape is an unconditional, one-sided, liberating and other-centered love. It is a word of revelation: a closed and holy word ( verbum arcanum ), which - shaped by the Holy Spirit - can only be revealed through faith. In his letter to the Ephesians , Paul of Tarsus († 65) writes that the agape of Christ exceeds knowledge ( Eph 3:19 EU ).
According to Paul, love is the highest of the three Christian virtues : faith, hope and love ( 1 Cor 13:13 EU ). Agape, however, is the disinterested love that even loves its enemies Mt 5,44 LUT on the basis of God's love for the people he loved when they “were still his enemies” Rom 5,10 LUT . Compare the words of Jesus on the cross: "Lord, forgive them, because they don't know what they are doing." In 1 Cor 13 : 1-13 LUT , the song of songs of love, Paul gives a detailed description of agape.
The Greek philosopher Plotinus (205–270) used the term agape for descending love: a free doing emanating from the subject, whereby the lesser is increased, while the rising love as eros is a state of being determined by something that does not emanate from the subject , and the urge for that something.
Agape does not mean the kind of love that is usually associated with the term love in German usage , but rather a spiritual and metaphysical connection between people. Agape is not about (exclusive) partner love, but about (inclusive) communal love. This love can also include the fraternal correction to which believers are bound according to the Roman Catholic understanding . For Pope emeritus Benedict XVI. Agape is also a name for the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist . Benedict XVI. in his first encyclical Deus caritas est deals in detail with the subject of selfless love.
Agape as a love feast
Agape was a fraternal meal with a liturgical character. The Eucharist was celebrated in the course of the love supper. This custom is said to have existed as early as the 1st century; he is mentioned in the letter of Jude ( Jude 12 EU ). The love supper had developed from the Christian feasts in Corinth. The common meal is already mentioned in Luke's Acts of the Apostles when describing the early church in Jerusalem ( Acts 2.46 EU ).
In the early Church, agape was synonymous with the Eucharist. The Christians brought food and wine with them, which were blessed and then consumed together. In addition to the rite, the agape also fulfilled a charitable task.
In 1 Corinthians , Paul criticized the habit of members of the congregation to eat the food they brought with them to the love supper and not to share it with others ( 1 Cor 11 : 20-22 EU ). As a result, differences between the parishioners were clearly visible in the community: The community originally saw itself in the agape and the Lord's Supper as one flesh, because it had eaten from the one bread, the body of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, the love supper - in contrast to the sacrificial meal - is not an archetype of the Eucharist. Because the meal often degenerated ( 2 Petr 2,13 EU ), this solemnity was banned in the 4th century.
At the present time, agape continues to refer to the Last Supper (love supper ), which Jesus celebrated with the disciples on the eve of his death on the cross and which he ordered to be repeated for posterity in his memory. In Catholic and Protestant communities, “agape” or “agapefeier” is therefore the name of a common meal in a church service. In the Orthodox Church, a similar celebration is called Artoklasia .
See also
literature
- Pope Benedict XVI : Encyclical Deus caritas est . 2005
- Bernt Knauber: Love and Being. Agape as a fundamental ontological category. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, New York 2006
- CS Lewis : What is called love: affection, friendship, eros, agape. 7th edition Brunnen, Basel 2004
- Anders Nygren : Eros and Agape. Changes in the shape of Christian love. Studies of the apologetic seminar in Wernigerode. Volume 1. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1930, pp. 45-137, u. 2nd edition 1954
- Heinrich Scholz : Eros and Caritas. The platonic love and love in terms of Christianity. Niemeyer, Halle 1929
- Helmut Kuhn : love. History of a concept. Kösel, Munich 1972
- Karl Völker: Mystery and Agape. The common meals in the old church. Gotha 1927
- Viktor Warnach, OSB : Agape. Love as a basic motif of New Testament theology. Patmos, Düsseldorf 1951
- Werner J. Patzelt , Gerlinde Back: Agape - the meaning and form of an ecumenical lay liturgy. Action 365 publishing house , Frankfurt 2014, ISBN 978-3-941290-29-7
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Augustine: De civitate Dei , Book 14, Section 7; online in German and Latin
- ↑ J. Harold Greenlee: 'Love' in the New Testament, Notes on Translation , SIL International, Vol. 14 (1), 2000, pp. 49-53.
- ↑ Viktor Warnach: Agape. Love as a basic motif of New Testament theology . Patmos, Düsseldorf 1951, p. 84.
- ↑ a b c Viktor Warnach: Agape. Love as a basic motif of New Testament theology . Patmos, Düsseldorf 1951, pp. 17-18.
- ^ Plotinus: Enneades. Pp. 253-269.
- ↑ Catholic Adult Catechism , Volume 1, p. 366; Volume 2, pp. 455-477.