Love of God
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Love of God
Israel is commanded to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). Elsewhere (Deut. 6:13), the Pentateuch commands, "You shall fear the Lord your God ...." (see Fear of God). Commentators have interpreted fear and love as two different aspects of the manner in which man relates to God (Maimonides, Sefer ha-Mitsvot, positive commandments 3, 4). In the Bible, both seem to be commended, not as a desired emotional state but rather as a motivation for doing God's will. From the contexts in which love of God appears in the Bible, it would appear to represent the highest form of religious relationship---a relationship in which man communes with and comes close to God: "to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to cleave unto Him" (Deut. 11:22, 13:4, 5). In the Bible, the object of Divine love is almost always the people of Israel. God's love for Israel demands a corresponding love. In the talmudic period, the differentiation between love and fear of God was taken for granted, with love clearly the preferred mode of relating. The Sifré to Deuteronomy 32 states: "Act out of love, for the Torah makes a distinction between one who acts out of love and one who acts out of fear .... In the former case his reward is doubled and redoubled." Maimonides saw fear as a stage in the development of love of God and wrote that those whose religious capabilities are limited might not advance beyond this level. Love of God was, in any case, the level to which one should aspire (Yad Teshuvah 10).
Maimonides, as well as other thinkers, was not unaware of the difficulties posed by the commandment to love God. He therefore described how this might be achieved: "What is the way that will lead to love of God and fear of Him? When a person contemplates His great and wondrous works and creatures and from them perceives His wisdom which is incomparable and infinite he will straightaway love Him, praise Him, glorify Him, and long to know His great Name" (Yesodé Torah 1:1, 2). God Himself can be known only by His works, contemplation of which, to Maimonides, reveals God's wisdom, kindness, and love for man and Israel. More than naked power or cold intelligence, Maimonides would argue, man may perceive in the universe the good, the true, and the beautiful, which reflect a loving God. Man's love of God in its most sublime form is disinterested, not for the sake of any practical need. While this love, in Maimonides' conception, could indeed give pleasure, it arises from the contemplation of intrinsic value. It is essentially an intellectual, cognitive process. Maimonides retained, out of the range of emotions normally associated with the word "love," its exclusivity and comprehensive relation to its object.
Others, however, equated love of God with the ecstatic joyful state of the mystic. In the words of Joseph Albo, "Love is the union and complete mental identification of love and the loved." According to Baḥya Ibn Pakuda, "It is the inclination of man's divine spiritual substance to its Maker, to adhere to Him aglow with His sublime light." A natural consequence of such intense and obsessive mystical longing is the withdrawal from all worldliness and its pleasures and disdain of the material world and all other interests. The rabbis, however, while appreciating the powerful nature of love of God, saw it as the highest value among a hierarchy of values and denied that the service of God requires a total withdrawal from all else.
A third approach may be discerned in the words of the Sifré to Deuteronomy 6:5: "'These words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you rise up.' Take these words of the Torah to your heart, and in this way learn to acknowledge Him at whose word the world came into being and cleave to His paths." Unlike Maimonides' approach or that of the mystics, this approach does not suggest that the study of the Torah and the performance of the commandments lead to the love of God, but rather that these actions in themselves are the love of God.
Jewish thinkers in modern times hardly relate to the notion of fear of God, in that it seems to represent man as a passive and abject creature. The modern emphasis on the reciprocal love between man and God to the exclusion of fear continues a trend that may be traced from the Bible's apparent preference of love through the Talmud and the medieval thinkers. Since, however, such trends may ultimately minimize or eliminate entirely the distance between man and God, as in certain humanist systems, some thinkers have begun to consider the possibility that fear of God is a necessary consequence of His transcendence and not altogether incompatible with the dignity of man.
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Love of God
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Love of God
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Love of God (philotheia and philanthropia) are central notions in monotheistic and polytheistic religions, and are important in one's personal relationship with God (or the gods) and one's conception of God (or the gods).
Love of God can mean, in the philotheia sense, the love that someone has for God, or the gods, and is associated with concepts of piety, worship, and devotions towards God.[1]
Love of God, in the sense of philanthropia, means the love God has for us, as in Psalm 52:1: "The steadfast love of God endures all the day"; Psalm 52:8: "I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever"; Romans 8:39: "Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God"; 2 Corinthians 13:14: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all"; 1 John 4:9: "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him"; etc.
Theophilia means the love or favour of God,[2] and theophilos means friend of God, originally in the sense of being loved by God or loved by the gods;[3][4] but is today sometimes understood in the sense of showing love for God.[5][6][7]
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Bahá'í Faith
The teachings of the Bahá'í Faith hold that the love of God is the primary reason for human creation, and one of the primary purposes of life. The love of God purifies human hearts and through it humans become transformed and self-sacrificing, as they reflect more the attributes and qualities of God.[8][9] `Abdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion wrote: "There is nothing greater or more blessed than the Love of God! It gives healing to the sick, balm to the wounded, joy and consolation to the whole world, and through it alone can man attain Life Everlasting. The essence of all religions is the Love of God, and it is the foundation of all the sacred teachings."[10]
Bhakti movements
Main article: Bhakti yoga
See also: Svayam Bhagavan and Krishnaism
Devotees of Krishna worship him in different emotional, transcendental raptures, known as rasas. Two major systems of Krishna worship developed, each with its own philosophical system. These two systems are aishwaryamaya bhakti and madhuryamaya bhakti. Aishwaryamaya bhakti is revealed in the abode of queens and kingdom of Krishna in Dwaraka. Madhuryamaya Bhakti is revealed in the abode of Braja. Thus Krishna is variously worshipped according to the development of devotee's taste in worshipping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, as father, friend, master, beloved and many different varieties which are all extraordinary. Krishna is famous as Makhanchor, or butter thief. He loved to eat butter and is the beloved of his little village in Gokul. These are all transcendental descriptions. Thus they are revealed to the sincere devotees in proportion to the development in their love of Godhead. Vaishnavism is a form of monotheism, sometimes described as 'polymorphic monotheism', with implication that there are many forms of one original deity, defined as belief in a single unitary deity who takes many forms. In Krishnaism this deity is Krishna, sometimes referred as intimate deity - as compared with the numerous four-armed forms of Narayana or Vishnu.[11] It may refer to either of the interrelated concepts of the love of God towards creation, the love of creatures towards God or relationship between the two as in bhakti.
Christianity
Main article: Love of God (Christianity)
See also: Love of Christ
The Old Testament uses a rich vocabulary to express the love of God, as a concept that appears in many instances.[12] However, the exegesis of the love of God in the Old Testament has presented problems for modern scholars.[13] The love of God appears in a number of texts (e.g. Hosea 1-3, and then in Ezek 16 and Isa 62) but resolving the references to produce a consistent interpretation has been challenging and subject to debate.[13]
Both the terms love of God and love of Christ appear in the New Testament. In cases such as in Romans 8:35 and Romans 8:39 their use is related in the experience of the believer, without asserting their equality.[14] In John 14:31 Jesus expresses his love for God the Father.[15] This verse includes the only direct statement by Jesus in the New Testament about Jesus' love for God the Father.[15]
Greek polytheism
In polytheism, that which is loved by the gods (τὸ θεοφιλές) was identified as the virtuous or pious. Socrates famously asked whether this identification is a tautology, see Euthyphro dilemma.
The Greek "philotheos" and "theophilos"
In Greek philotheos means "loving God, pious", as philosophos means a lover of wisdom (sophia). The word Theophilos was and is used as a proper name, but does not appear as an adjective or common noun in Greek,[16] which uses instead the form theophilês, which means "dear to God" but also "loving God".
Eric Voegelin has used "theophilos" as a common noun: "In the Phaedrus, Plato has Socrates describe the characteristics of the True thinker. When Phaedrus asks what one should call such a man, Socrates, following Heraclitus, replies that the term sophos, one who knows, would be excessive: this attribute may be applied to God Alone : but one well call him philosophos. Thus "actual knowledge" is reserved to God; finite man can only be the "lover of knowledge," not himself the one who knows. In the meaning of the passage, the lover of the knowledge that belongs only to the knowing God, the philosophos, becomes the theophilos, the lover of God."[17]
Hinduism
In Hinduism, in contrast to kāma, which is selfish, or pleasurable love, prema – or prem – refers to elevated love. Karuna is compassion and mercy, which impels one to help reduce the suffering of others. Bhakti is a Sanskrit term, meaning "loving devotion to the supreme God." A person who practices bhakti is called a bhakta. Hindu writers, theologians, and philosophers have distinguished nine forms of bhakti, which can be found in the Bhagavata Purana and works by Tulsidas. The philosophical work Narada Bhakti Sutras, written by an unknown author (presumed to be Narada), distinguishes eleven forms of love.
On the mystic side of Hinduism, one of the forms of Yoga includes Ishvarapranidhana, or self-surrender to God, and His worship.
Islam
The love of God, and the fear of God, are two of the foundations of Islam. The highest spiritual attainment in Islam is related to the love of God. “Yet there are men who take (for worship) others besides God, as equal (with God): They love them as they should love God. But those of Faith are overflowing in their love for God.” (Quran 2:165)
Islam, as Christianity, has numerous mystics and traditions about the love of God, as in:
“O lovers! The religion of the love of God is not found in Islam alone.
In the realm of love, there is neither belief, nor unbelief.” (Rumi)[18]
Judaism
Main article: Jewish views on love#Love between God and human beings
The love of God has been called the "essence of Judaism." “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deut. 6:5)
Other
Goethe expresses the sentiment of love of God alongside the opposite sentiment of hatred of God in his two poems Ganymed and Prometheus, respectively.
See also
- Agape
- Bhakti
- Christian mysticism
- Divine filiation
- Fear of God (religion)
- Ignatian spirituality
- Love (religious views)
- Mystical theology
- Misotheism
- The Seven Valleys
- Unio Mystica
Notes
- ^ Liddell and Scott: φιλοθεΐα
- ^ Liddell and Scott: θεοφιλία
- ^ Liddell and Scott: θεόφιλος (refers the reader to θεοφίλητος
- ^ Liddell and Scott: θεοφίλητος
- ^ Teofil
- ^ The Baby Name Bible: The Ultimate Guide
- ^ Theophilos
- ^ Smith, Peter (2000). "love". A concise encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. pp. 227–228. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
- ^ Hatcher, W.S.; Martin, J.D. (1989). The Bahá'í Faith: The Emerging Global Religion. New York, New York: Harper & Row. pp. 100–101. ISBN 0-06-065441-4.
- ^ `Abdu'l-Bahá (1912). Paris Talks. Bahá'í Distribution Service (published 1995). pp. 82–83. ISBN 1-870989-57-0. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/ab/PT/.
- ^ Scheweig, (2004) pp. 13-17
- ^ Theology of the Old Testament, Volume One by Walther Eichrodt 1961 ISBN 0-664-22308-7 pages 250-251
- ^ a b Theologies in the Old Testament by Erhard Gerstenberger 2007 ISBN 0-567-08812-X page 87
- ^ The Epistle to the Romans by Douglas J. Moo 1996 ISBN 0-8028-2317-3 page 547
- ^ a b Preaching the Gospel of John: proclaiming the living Word by Lamar Williamson 2004 ISBN 0-664-22533-0 page 192
- ^ The word does not appear in the great Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek-English Lexicon
- ^ Science, Politics, And Gnosticism by Eric Voegelin. Publisher: ISI Books ISBN 1-932236-48-1
- ^ Rumi's Quatrain no. 768, translated by Gamard & Farhadi. Versions of this quatrain have been made by Shahram Shiva, "Hush: Don't Tell God," p. 17 and by Azima Kolin (based on Mafi), "Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved," p. 71. [`âshiq to yaqîn dân, ke musulmân na-bûd dar maZhab-é `ishq, kufr-o îmân na-bûd]
References
- MULLICK, Bulloram (1898). Krishna and Krishnaism. S.K. Lahiri & Co.
- Thomas Jay Oord Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement Brazos Press, 2010. 1-58743-257-9
- Thomas Jay Oord The Nature of Love: A Theology Chalice Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8272-0828-5
- SCHWEIG, G.M. (2005). Dance of divine love: The Rasa Lila of Krishna from the Bhagavata Purana, India's classic sacred love story. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ; Oxford. ISBN 0-691-11446-3.
- HAWLEY, John Stratton: Three Bhakti Voices. Mirabai, Surdas, and Kabir in Their Time and Ours. 2nd impression. Oxford 2006.
- Bahá'u'lláh (1991) [1856-63]. The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-227-9. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SVFV/.
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The New Encyclopedia of Judaism. Copyright © 1989, 2002 by G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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