The Meaning Of The Three Different Types Of Love

The Concept of Love The term “love” has a wide variety of meanings, each different than the rest. To some, love may simply mean having an attachment or desire to be with another; to others, love may feel like a complete entity that envelops you once you have found “the one.” However, to the Greeks, love could actually be categorized into three different classes: eros, agape, and phileo. These three types, although distinct in what they display, would all come to be adopted into the practice of Christianity in relation to how we feel about those around us. Being the most self-centered of the three forms, eros helps depict the more humanized feelings in love, such as lust and pleasure. Derived from the Greek word erasthai, eros seemingly …show more content…
This form of love essentially means to seek another’s good, but is also commonly defined as “unconditional loving,” and is the type of love that God exhibits in the Bible, as well as towards mankind to this very day. This can be argued through sections of the New Testament, such as in the Books of John and Paul where verses containing agape are present throughout, calling for agape towards others. Other Biblical examples can be observed as well, such as Jesus’s death on the cross for our sins (in which he sacrificed himself for us out of love), or through God’s willingness to actually send his only son to die and absolve our sins. Agape could arguably be the most powerful and selfless of the three types of love, as not only does our Lord demonstrate it, but it is the most rewarding to ourselves as well. Because of its mutualistic outcomes, the action of God’s agape is also present through the Trinity. The Trinity as a concept is divided between the three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all of whom coexist as one divine entity. This concept in relation to agapical love can be summarized through the notion that the Father gives Himself to the Son, who can relate to us individuals through a direct humanistic approach, and into the Eternal Spirit as well. In effect of this, we as humans experience God’s true love, or …show more content…
When we as individuals lose sight of how to correctly follow God’s will, we slowly taint our life with negativity. In the book The Way to Love, written by Anthony de Mello, the author argues that humans constantly put simple desires in front of religion in order to obtain false happiness. All of these little pleasures only skew our relationship with God; to obtain true happiness in life, one should find it through faith in religion. In doing so, we share in God’s life, or to put it differently: experience God’s