agape

So, I have learned a lot in hermeneutics class this semester. I am going to try to take any class I can with this professor.

Today Dr. Wellum was talking about common exegetical fallacies. He gave an example about the Greek words for love (agape, phileo, and eros). He was talking about how it has been said again and again from the pulpit that there is an inherent distinction within the words. He then stated "guys, we really have got to quit saying this sort of thing." He then pointed to John 3:35 and John 5:20 where the terms phileo and agape are used interchangeably. But, a little more shockingly, he pointed to the use of agape in 2 Timothy 4:10 to speak of Demas who loved the world and deserted Paul. But the most surprising use of agape comes from the LXX in 2 Samuel 13:15 where it refers to an incestuous relationship.

His point was that there is a special sense of Christian love and godly love, but that understanding is derived from the context of passages talking about love. It does not come from an inherent distinction in the words. Too often "inherent distinctions" are the result of Greek students who know too little but want to do something with what they know...

He got me.