Many readers know that our books for this month (I, II, and III John) focus on the idea of love. Readers may also know that there are several different Greek terms for the English word love. In order for us to get to the original meaning of the texts, we would need to refer to the letters in the original Greek.
Fortunately, there is help at hand. There are several web sites which offer excellent translations and give helpful explanations.
But let's begin with the basics. We may know that two Greek words for love are "agape" and "philia". How do they differ?
A general overview is available from Wikipedia:
Agape (Ancient Greek ἀγάπη, agápē) is a Greco-Christian term referring to "love; the highest form of love, charity", and "the love of God for man and of man for God". Not be confused with philia, brotherly love, it embraces a universal, unconditional love that transcends, that persists regardless of circumstance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agape
We can bask in that for a while, can't we!
Julie Swannell
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