[There are] many kinds of love that characterize our lives and our relationships. How is agape, the unconditional love to which we are all called, related to the loyalty of philia or the warmth and affection of family life (storge)?
What are some of the concrete ways we can cultivate agape for God and neighbor? And who is our ‘neighbor’ anyway?
Does eros have a positive role to play in one’s spiritual life? How about the love of animals, or the love for art and music?
By attempting to explore these questions, we hope to deepen our understanding of the profundity of the word ‘love’.
Our prayer is that each person will find at least one ‘word of love’ in Greek that particularly resonates with them, a word that can serve as an entry point into the mystery intimated by the phrase: “God is love.”
Glossary [of Greek love words]:
ἀγάπη – agápe – unconditional love; absolute gift-love; by this love God created us from nothing, became man for us, and loved us when we were yet sinners.
φιλανθρωπία – philanthropía – “love for mankind”; God’s lovingkindness (chebed, eleos). The love that recognizes the value of each and every human being as having been made in the image and likeness of God.
πόθος – póthos – yearning, longing to be united with another; not yet fulfilled or consummated, but with the hope of reunion.
ἔρως – éros – passionate, ecstatic, productive love, in which one goes outside of oneself for the sake of the other. The ultimate human form is realized in the mystery of marriage; the ultimate divine form is the marriage between Christ and the Church, and the union of God and the soul.
φιλοκαλία – philokalía – ‘the love of the good and the beautiful’. The pursuit of goodness and the appreciation and cultivation of beauty. The root kalos means both ‘good’ and ‘beautiful’.
φιλοσοφία – philosophía – ‘the love of wisdom’; the pursuit of truth and knowledge that inspires the soul with wonder. For the church fathers, Christian ‘philosophy’ also implied a life of asceticism and simplicity.
φιλία – philía – friendship; companionship marked by loyalty, trust, and the pursuit of common goals.
φιλοτιμία – philotimía – lit. ‘the love of honor’. Its later Christianized form (Modern Greek: philótimo) has come to mean a sense of love and decency in which someone helps others without expecting anything in return. Philotimia is also related to the honor and integrity that holds healthy societies together: honoring the aged, the dead, and the guardians who put their life on the line.
φιλοπατρία – philopatría – ‘love of one’s country/fatherland’; the patriotic love for one’s homeland that naturally arises from one’s love for family and place of upbringing.
στοργή – storgé – affection; familial love, especially between parents and children. This love is also experienced by animals, and can be felt between humans and animals.
φιλοξενία – philoxenía – ‘love for strangers’; hospitality.
φιλοπτωχία – philoptochía – “love for the poor”; charity and compassion for those in need.
~Skepi Brothers, The Good Nous, https://skepibrothers.com/blogs/the-good-nous/introduction-to-words-of-love?mc_cid=c3deb9f091&mc_eid=23ac1b7adc.
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