Agape

Occurrences in Scripture

Agape is a noun; its verbal form is agapaō ("to love"). Both words appear throughout the New Testament. Representative passages include the following:

• 1 John 4:8, 16: "God is love." These verses speak of love as the very nature of God.
• John 3:16: God "so loved" the world that He gave His only begotten Son (verbal form).
• 1 Corinthians 13: Commonly called the Love Chapter. It describes the character of love point by point and concludes that among faith, hope, and love, the greatest is love.
• John 13:34: Jesus gives the new commandment, "That ye love one another."
• Galatians 5:22: Love is named first among the fruit of the Spirit.
• Luke 6:27-36: Jesus teaches love for one's enemies.
• Jude 1:12: The plural form agapai is used; the New Korean Revised Version renders it as aechan, "love feasts" (the KJV has "feasts of charity"). The term refers to the shared meals of the early church.

Background of the Word

Greek has several words for love, including eros (romantic or passionate love), philia (friendship or affection), and storge (familial affection). The noun agape is known to have been rare in classical Greek literature. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) frequently used words from the agapaō family to translate the Hebrew ahav ("to love"). The word eros does not occur in the New Testament.

Meaning Across Scripture

The Old Testament gives the commandment to love God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and the commandment to love one's neighbor (Leviticus 19:18). In Mark 12:28-34, Jesus joins the two together as the greatest commandments. In Romans 13:8-10, Paul calls love the fulfilling of the law. First John states that God first showed His love by sending His Son, and that we therefore ought to love one another (1 John 4:9-12). New Testament love is also sometimes read alongside hesed, the Old Testament concept of God's love shown in His faithful keeping of the covenant.

Interpretations and Debates

• The distinction between agape and philia: In Korean preaching, a widely used explanation holds that "agape is God's unconditional, sacrificial love, while philia is human love." The twentieth-century Swedish Lutheran theologian Anders Nygren contrasted the two kinds of love in Agape and Eros, and C. S. Lewis likewise treated love under four categories in The Four Loves. Others, however, point out that this distinction is difficult to apply directly to the words themselves. In the New Testament, agapaō is also used in the verse stating that men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19) and in the verse stating that Demas loved this present world (2 Timothy 4:10). Conversely, phileō is used in the verse stating that the Father loves the Son (John 5:20). On the basis of such usage, some hold that the character of the love in question must be determined by context rather than by the word alone.
• John 21:15-17: Jesus questions Peter twice using agapaō and the third time using phileō, while Peter answers all three times with phileō. Some interpreters find significance in this difference, while others regard it as a stylistic variation between words of the same meaning.
• Denominational traditions: Wesleyan theology, carried on by Methodist and Holiness churches, describes the goal of sanctification (the process of being made holy) as "perfect love" toward God and neighbor. The Reformed tradition tends to read God's love in connection with election and covenant, citing Ephesians 1:4-5 as support.

In the Korean Church

First Corinthians 13 is frequently read at wedding services. Some churches call the meal shared after worship a "love feast." The word "agape" is also widely used in the names of churches, mission organizations, and small groups.