Agape-Love How Important Is It Anyhow? PDF Download

Author: Sir John Templeton
Publisher: Templeton Foundation Press
ISBN: 1890151750
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
The tradition of agape, or unconditional love, is not exclusive to any religion. It is a primary underlying principle found in religions worldwide. The concept of altruistic love challenges the spiritual person to "love your enemies" or to "love without thought of return." It is a love that flows out to others through compassion, kindness, tenderness, and charitable giving. Buddhists have a path of compassion, where caring for others becomes the motivating force behind existence. Hindus have a branch of yoga, the heart-centered path, that leads to enlightenment through an overwhelming love for God that takes the form of loving all humanity. Eastern religions, such as Taoism and Confucianism, see transcendent love as essential to true wisdom. Love is a universal theme of love found in all religious traditions, Buddhist, Christian, Islam, or others. As we realize that all religions have this spiritual principle of love at their core, we can develop a sense of shared humanity. The religious tradition of agape love examined in this book will inspire those who are learning to grow in compassion and love for all people.

Author: Adrian Rogers
Publisher: Crossway Books
ISBN: 9781682162989
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 6

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Book Description
Psychologists have long known that every person has two great longings and inward needs. The first is to be loved, and the second is to love. But when pressures and heartaches come into our lives, many give up any hope of ever finding love. The tragedy is that we often look in the wrong places to fill this deep need and longing. Some substitute lust for love. Others pursue material things or superficial relationships--all in the futile attempt to fill a God-shaped vacuum in the human heart. But there is good news! There is a love worth finding and a love worth sharing. The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). On the cross of Christ, God's mighty love was revealed and offered unconditionally to all who would be saved. Do you long to know this mighty love? Then I need to ask you the most important question you'll ever be asked: Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves you, that your sins are forgiven, and that you are saved and on your way to heaven? The great news is, you can know! Let me share with you how to discover the greatest love worth finding. Admit Your Sin. First, you must admit that you are a sinner. The Bible says, "None is righteous, no, not one. . . . For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:10, 23). It is our sin that separates us from God and from fulfilling our deepest needs and longings. Sin is an offense against God that carries a serious penalty. According to Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death [eternal separation from the love and mercy of God]." Abandon Your Efforts. Second, you must abandon any efforts to save yourself. If we could save ourselves, Jesus's death would have been unnecessary! Even "getting religion" cannot get you to heaven. The Bible says it is "not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy" that we are saved (Titus 3:5). Salvation is by God's grace, "not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Acknowledge Christ's Payment. What you cannot do for yourself, Jesus Christ has done for you! "But God shows his love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). He died on the cross for you and then rose from the dead to prove that his payment was acceptable to God. But you must acknowledge and believe this fact. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). Accept Christ as your Savior. Salvation is God's gift to you. "The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). When someone offers you a priceless gift, the wisest thing you can do is accept it! This very moment, you can receive Christ's gift of salvation by sincerely praying this simple prayer from your heart: Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that you love me and want to save me. Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, who died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe God raised you from the dead. I now turn from my sin and, by faith, receive you as my personal Lord and Savior. Come into my heart, forgive my sins, and save me, Lord Jesus. In your name I pray. Amen.

Author: C. S. Lewis
Publisher: DigiCat
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
The Four Loves is a 1960 book by C. S. Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian and philosophical perspective through thought experiments. The book was based on a set of radio talks from 1958 which had been criticized in the U.S. at the time for their frankness about sex. C.S. Lewis examines storge or empathy love; philia, friendship love; eros, romantic love; and agape, or God love. Excerpt: "GOD is love," says St. John. When I first tried to write this book I thought that his maxim would provide me with a very plain highroad through the whole subject. I thought I should be able to say that human loves deserved to be called loves at all just in so far as they resembled that Love which is God."

Author: Clive Staples Lewis
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780151329168
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
Analyzes the feelings and problems involved in different types of human love, including familial affection, friendship, passion, and charity.

Author: ODA. COPPINS WISCHMEYER (WAYNE.)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781481315746
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
In our fraught global environment, when political and ideological lines are drawn ever sharper and old allegiances are increasingly strained, love for neighbor as both individual and societal obligation needs to be thematized and justified anew. At the same time, the New Testament call to love one's enemies forms a sharp point of contrast to the current non-culture of hatred for all things different and foreign. Oda Wischmeyer's Love as Agape: The Early Christian Concept and Modern Discourse, the ninth volume in the Baylor-Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity series, aims to bring the New Testament concept of love into conversation with the current discussion about love. Wischmeyer investigates the commandment tradition of love for God and for neighbor, the ways in which the Septuagint and Plutarch speak of love, and the innovative concepts of love developed by Paul and John. She also presents an exegetically informed construction of the New Testament concept of love that is sharpened through a penetrating comparison with counter-, parallel, and alternative concepts from the ancient world. The book brings this holistic biblical vision forward into critical and constructive dialogue with key contemporary visions of love, including those of Julia Kristeva, Martha Nussbaum, Pope Benedict XVI, and Simon May. The tension that emerges stresses the need for fresh conceptualizations of ancient Jewish-Christian understandings, giving rise to the concluding question of the profile, limits, and impulses of the agape concept for present challenges. Through this academically rigorous and pastorally sensitive exploration, Wischmeyer points to the great love story between God and humanity, which realizes itself in the figure of Jesus Christ. This divine romance places love as the most intense, affirming, and life-creating relationship in God's own self, a relationship into which human beings are drawn and by which they obtain special dignity when God's love becomes their life.

Author: Juanita Crawford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692717585
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
Agape love; what it is and what it is not. Many are unaware of the meaning of the word Agape. Now, more than ever we need a lucid understanding of Agape love. The author speaks on Agape love in relationship to the Word of God (Author of Agape Love) and from perspective of theologians, philosophers, and others. Agape Love, without question is the preeminent love of all. This book denotes the significance of Agape love and ramifications when omitted. The author contends society has eradicated love toward one another while turning to self-gratification resulting in desensitization of individuals and society as a whole. Dr. Crawford encourages readers to return to the authenticator of true Love (God) for retention of salvation and viability of society. "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2nd Corinthians 7:14). The Power of Agape Love shares with readers the miraculous love of the One and Only True God Jehovah Yahweh (Exodus 6:3).

Author: Robert F. Cochran, Jr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781316626900
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In a provocative essay, philosopher Jeffrie G. Murphy asks: 'what would law be like if we organized it around the value of Christian love, and if we thought about and criticized law in terms of that value?'. This book brings together leading scholars from a variety of disciplines to address that question. Scholars have given surprisingly little attention to assessing how the central Christian ethical category of love - agape - might impact the way we understand law. This book aims to fill that gap by investigating the relationship between agape and law in Scripture, theology, and jurisprudence, as well as applying these insights to contemporary debates in criminal law, tort law, elder law, immigration law, corporate law, intellectual property, and international relations. At a time when the discourse between Christian and other world views is more likely to be filled with hate than love, the implications of agape for law are crucial.

Author: Rick Gowdy
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN: 1602663297
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
Gowdy presents a doctrinal analysis of every area in life where godly love will take readers, written in an easy-to-comprehend style. (Christian)

Author: Chuck Missler
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781880532560
Category : Agape
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Chuck and Nancy Missler share principles for learning to love and be loved, a principle they see as epitomizing the essence of the will of God. They call their program, "The Way of Agape".

Author: Stephanie G. Cox M S Ed
Publisher: Winters Publishing Group
ISBN: 9781628542363
Category : Child rearing
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Does God really want children to be spanked? Where did spanking come from? How can I discipline my children in a manner that is truly pleasing to God? In Gentle Firmness, Stephanie G. Cox answers all of these questions and more. Take this fascinating journey to learn how to accurately read and interpret the "rod" verses of Proverbs. See why spanking is more of a church doctrine rather than a biblical principle. Read many stories from actual people raised in Christian homes that were "lovingly" spanked and yet were emotionally scarred. And finally, discover how ALL children can be effectively disciplined in a biblical manner without being hurt. Stephanie G. Cox, M.S.Ed is severely physically disabled with cerebral palsy. She is an amazing overcomer, as evidenced by the fact that she typed the entire book the way she always types...with her nose!