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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Love/Feed/Tend His Sheep | Mark 6:34 | Morant61 | 131456 | ||
Greetings Rowdy! I live in Indiana, so the storm hasn't really affected me. However, my mother and sister both live outside of Orlando, FL. :-) Much more is made of the different words for 'love' than is really justified. 'Eros' clearly refers to a purely physical and selfish 'love'. However, the distinction between 'phileo' and 'agapao' isn't nearly as clear. As I mentioned in another post last night, I usually look up various verses that contain the target study word and I check to see how Scripture actually uses the word. If it were true that 'phileo' is a 'lesser' love then one would expect to see it used differently than 'agapao'. However, Scripture actually uses 'phileo' of God's love for us. Here are some examples: John 5:20 - "For the Father loves (phileo) the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these." Is the Father capable of a 'lesser' kind of love? John 11:3 - "So the sisters sent word to Jesus, 'Lord, the one you love (phileo) is sick.'" John 16:27 - "No, the Father himself loves (phileo) you because you have loved (phileo) me and have believed that I came from God." All of these verses use 'phileo' for God's love for Christ, us, or others. 'Phileo' is certainly not used as often as 'agapao'. However, it simply doesn't appear to have had a significantly different meaning than 'agapao'. In fact, in one passage both words clearly are used interchangably. John 11:5 says, "Jesus loved (agapao) Martha and her sister and Lazarus." While John 11:3 says, "So the sisters sent word to Jesus, 'Lord, the one you love (phileo) is sick.'" Some of my Greek resources actually make the case that 'agapao' is a 'colder' and 'less personal' word than 'phileo'. Over time, since 'agapao' was used more than 'phileo', I believe greater importance was attached to it. However, it is difficult to show any great difference of meaning from the text of Scripture. I hope this helps! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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2 | Love/Feed/Tend His Sheep | Mark 6:34 | DocTrinsograce | 131538 | ||
Hi, Tim... I just use the tools, I'm certainly no expert. Of course, that never stops me from tossing out an opinion! :-) So here it is: It seems to me that agape was a word waiting to be defined. As though it were a place holder designed by Providence ready for Christ to exemplify. Although I cannot now find the reference, I recall reading that the ancients themselves had difficulty with the word. Even Socrates doesn't seem completely certain about it, though he spoke about agape a number of times. I do not believe that any human being, in our lost condition, knows how to love sacrificially and selflessly. The word just doesn't have a home among men. Christ demonstrated this kind of love, but only a child of God can comprehend it. Only the regenerate, as new creatures, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can evidence agape. Just my 2 cents, once again. :-) One of these days I'll run out of money... then my posts will become truly cents-less. :-) |
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3 | Love/Feed/Tend His Sheep | Mark 6:34 | Morant61 | 131553 | ||
Greetings Doc! Thanks for the input! To a degree, I believe that you are correct. The word 'agape' certainly came to mean more over the passing of time. I have simply been trying to point out that 'definitions' of ancient words are determined by context and can be quite subjective. There simply is no 'dictionary' for us to consult from the first century that will tell us if there is a clear cut distinction between 'agapao' and 'phileo'. Scholars look at how a word was used in extra-biblical sources and then at how a word was used in Scripture to determine meaning. Sometimes, the definitions are accurate, but sometimes they are not. In this case, I have shown that Scripture clearly uses 'phileo' in describing God's love at times. So, I would argue that God certainly didn't engage in a 'lesser' kind of love! ;-) Thus, some of the distinctions being promoted seem a bit forced. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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4 | Love/Feed/Tend His Sheep | Mark 6:34 | DocTrinsograce | 131570 | ||
Thank you, Pastor Tim... I wasn't contending with what you had posted. I was just trying to augment it a bit. We have no dictionary, per se, but we have a whole lot of stuff to look at! It helps when you have all that Greek stuff where they play those logic games, defining words for one another. The Septuagent helps quite a bit, too. In that we get a sort of Rosetta Stone of which words in Hebrew were translated to Greek. The absence of a dictionary, per se, is not quite such a handicap. We are blessed that the ancients were so nuts for paperwork. Imagine how helpful it would have been had the library in Alexandria survived. Thank you for your posts, Pastor Tim! |
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5 | Love/Feed/Tend His Sheep | Mark 6:34 | Morant61 | 131584 | ||
Greetings Doc! A library would have been nice! :-) Even then though, languages evolve over time. So, we still would have fun debates over meanings. ;-) Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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