The Theology of Love (Agapē) in the New Testament
When the apostle John penned the stark declaration that "God is love," he was not merely offering a poetic description of the divine character. He was articulating what would become the most radical theological claim of the early Christian movement, one that would fundamentally distinguish the emerging faith from both the philosophical traditions of the Greco-Roman world and the covenant theology of Second Temple Judaism. This simple statement, found in the fourth chapter of his first epistle, represents the culmination of a theological revolution that began with Jesus of Nazareth and rippled outward through the missionary activities of his followers in the decades following his death and resurrection. The claim that the very essence of God could be identified with love, and that this love had been definitively revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, transformed not only how early Christians understood the divine nature but also how they conceived of human relationships, community formation, ethical obligations, and the ultimate purpose of existence itself.
The purpose of this book is to explore the theology of agapē as it unfolds across the diverse texts of the New Testament. This is not primarily a lexical study, though careful attention to the semantic range and usage of love language is essential. Nor is it simply an analysis of individual passages or pericopes that explicitly mention love, though such texts will receive sustained attention. Rather, this study aims to trace how the concept of divine love functions as an organizing principle that gives coherence to New Testament theology as a whole.
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