This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011)

Agape ( /ˈæɡəpiː/^[1] or /əˈɡɑːpeɪ/; Classical Greek: ἀγάπη, agápē; Modern Greek: αγάπη IPA: [aˈɣapi]) is one of the Koine Greek words translated into English as love, one which became particularly appropriated in Christian theology as the love of God or Christ for humankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term necessarily extends to the love of one’s fellow man.^[2] Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. Although the word does not have specific religious connotation, the word has been used by a variety of contemporary and ancient sources, including Biblical authors and Christian authors. Greek philosophers at the time of Plato and other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity, in contrast to philia (an affection that could denote friendship, brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection) and eros, an affection of a sexual nature. Thomas Jay Oord has defined agape as "an intentional response to promote well-being when responding to that which has generated ill-being."^[3]

Christianity[link]

Fresco of a female figure holding a chalice at an early Christian Agape feast. Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Via Labicana, Rome

A journalist of Time Magazine has described John 3:16 as "one of the most famous and well-known Bible verses. It has been called the 'Gospel in a nutshell' because it is considered a summary of the central doctrines of Christianity."^[4] The verb translated "love" in this verse is agapao.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

—John 3:16, KJV

Agape received a broader usage under later Christian writers as the word that specifically denoted "Christian" love or "charity" (1 Corinthians 13:1–8), or even God himself (1 John 4:8, ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, "God is Love").

The term agape is rarely used in ancient manuscripts, but was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another (also see kenosis). When 1 John 4:8 says "God is love," the Greek New Testament uses the word agape to describe God's love.

Agape has been expounded on by many Christian writers in a specifically Christian context. C. S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, used agape to describe what he believed was the highest level of love known to humanity—a selfless love, a love that was passionately committed to the well-being of the other.^[5] In his book, The Pilgrimage, author Paulo Coelho defines it as "the love that consumes," i.e., the highest and purest form of love, one that surpasses all other types of affection.^{[citation needed]}

The Christian usage of the term agape comes almost directly from the canonical Gospels' accounts of the teachings of Jesus. When asked what was the great commandment, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

In the King James Version of the New Testament, the word agape is translated "charity" [in some places] which has a contemporary connotation of giving to meet needs of the less fortunate.^[5]

In Judaism, the first ("...love the LORD your God...") is the Shema, the second ("...love your neighbor...") is the second greater commandment.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love (agape) your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love (agape) your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?

—Matthew 5:43-46, RSV

Christian writers have generally described agape as a form of love which is both unconditional and voluntary. Tertullian, in his 2nd century defense of Christians, remarks how Christian love attracted pagan notice: "What marks us in the eyes of our enemies is our loving kindness. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another' " (Apology 39).

Anglican theologian O. C. Quick cautions however that this agape within human experience is "a very partial and rudimentary realization," and that "in its pure form it is essentially divine." Quick suggests that,

If we could imagine the love of one who loves men purely for their own sake, and not because of any need or desire of his own, purely desires their good, and yet loves them wholly, not for what at this moment they are, but for what he knows he can make of them because he made them, then we should have in our minds some true image of the love of the Father and Creator of mankind.^[6]

In the New Testament the word agape is often used to describe God's love. However, other forms of the word agape (such as agapao) are at times used in a negative sense. Such examples include:

• 2 Timothy 4:10—"...for Demas has forsaken me, having loved [agapao] this present world...."
• John 12:43—"for they loved [agapao] the praise of men more than the praise from God."
• John 3:19—"but men loved [agapao] darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil."

In these cases, the sense is of the object of that agape love being a form of idol, taking the place that should be God's own.

Meal[link]

The word agape in its plural form is used in the New Testament to describe a meal or feast eaten by early Christians, as in Jude 1:12, and 2nd Peter 2:13. It is sometimes believed to be either related to the Eucharist, or another term used for the Eucharist.

See also[link]

• Agape feast
• Agapism
• Brotherly love (philosophy)
• Charity (virtue) (Latin: caritas)
• Compassionate love
• Love styles
• Loving-kindness
• The Four Loves

Judaism[link]

• Jewish views on love
• Chesed, Hebrew word, given the association of kindness and love
• Sephirot of Kabbalah
• Dveikut

Eastern religions[link]

• Mettā Sanskrit word, "loving-kindness" or "friendliness"

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Heinlein, Robert A. (1973). Time Enough for Love. New York: Ace Books. ISBN 0-7394-1944-7. 
• Kierkegaard, Søren (1998) [1847]. Works of Love. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05916-7. 
• Lewis, C. S. (June 5, 2002) [1960]. The Four Loves. London: Fount. ISBN 0-00-628089-7. 
• Oord, Thomas Jay (ed.) (2007). The Altruism Reader: Selections from Writings on Love, Religion, and Science. West Conshohocken, Penn.: Templeton Foundation Press. ISBN 978-1-59947-127-3. 
• Oord, Thomas Jay (2010). Defining Love: A Philosophical, Scientific, and Theological Engagement. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos Press. ISBN 1-58743-257-9. 
• Oord, Thomas Jay (2010). The Nature of Love: A Theology. St. Louis, Mo.: Chalice Press. ISBN 978-0-8272-0828-5. 

External links[link]

Look up agape in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Agape

• "Agape" in Jewish Sources

Michael "Mike" Bernard is an American assistant men's college basketball coach at Delaware State University. He has spent four seasons on head coach Greg Jackson's staff.

Bernard has 21 years' head coaching experience, including a NCAA Division II championship in 1989 with North Carolina Central.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Michael Bernard's profile at the Official Site of Delaware State Athletics

This biographical article relating to a United States basketball coach is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Jesse Gilbert Campbell, Jr. (born April 11, 1969 in Washington, North Carolina) is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, and the New York Giants. He played college football at North Carolina State University and was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft. He was a High School football coach for Gautier High School in Gautier, MS. He is now an assistant principal at New Bern High School in New Bern, NC; just south of his home town.

This biographical article relating to an American football defensive back born in the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Marcelo Rossi

Marcelo Mendonça Rossi (born 20 May 1967 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian Catholic priest widely known and popular in the country for his novel approaches to ministering to the faithful. He is a singer and uses music intensely in his masses, has recorded several music CDs, is a host to several radio and TV programs in many stations, has appeared as an actor in two movies with religious themes. All of them have been big hits in the media, but Father Rossi donates all the proceedings to Catholic charities and to his own parish.

Father Rossi is based in São Paulo city, where he was born and studied. He preaches at the Santuário do Terço Bizantino to enormous and enthusiastic crowds, and has promoted the use of the so-called Byzantine rosary for praying. One of his masses, celebrated at soccer stadium, had more than 70,000 attendees.

Father Rossi has been very important for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement in the Catholic Church in Brazil (the largest number of faithful in the world), which has lost in the last decades a significant number of adherents to the Protestant Evangelical churches. By adopting some of the charismatic features of these churches, Father Rossi and his acolytes have been able to win back or at least to retain a part of his brethren. Traditional Catholics in Brazil, however, do not always approve these changes; Odilo Cardinal Scherer, the Archbishop of São Paulo and thus Rossi's direct superior, stated in reference to Rossi that "Priests aren't showmen... The Mass is not to be transformed into a show".^[1]

CDs[link]

• Músicas para louvar ao Senhor (1997)
• Um presente para Jesus (1999)
• Canções para um Novo Milênio (2000)
• Paz (2001)
• Anjos (2002)

Movies[link]

• Maria, Mãe do Filho de Deus (2003) IMDb record
• Irmãos de Fé (2005) IMDb record

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marcelo Rossi

• Official website