hermes01 is offline hermes01 Post #1  February 16,2011, 4:53am
hermes01's Avatar

Quick Study

Joined: Nov 2010

Posts: 134

See profile

IF 'God' is 'LOVE'


What is LOVE?
 
  Reply With Quote
AudioDad is offline AudioDad Post #2  February 16,2011, 7:21pm
AudioDad's Avatar

...has left the building

Enthusiast

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 800

See profile

Not sure. Must be powerful stuff, though, cuz John Lennon said it was all we needed.
 
  Reply With Quote
rix is offline rix Post #3  February 17,2011, 11:53am
rix's Avatar

Happy 1st Anniversary, babe!

Veteran

Joined: Mar 2008

Cascadia

Posts: 1,388

See profile

Not sure, but the basis of the thread itself may be an equivocation fallacy; or at the least, the primacy of love trumps the Almighty himself (or herself), according to the OP, since LOVE is all higher case, while God is simply given his (or her) due with one properly placed capital letter.

BTW Love the new avatar, Mr. Dad!
Last edited by rix; February 17,2011 at 11:55am.
 
  Reply With Quote
livenlearn is offline livenlearn Post #4  February 19,2011, 3:13pm
livenlearn's Avatar

Yay! spring has sprung.

Virtuoso

Joined: Dec 2009

cosmos

Posts: 3,439

See profile

Love is a strong emotion. It is a form of positive energy.
Meditate on that for a while.


This actually should help you define hell a lot easier also.


Here is a simplified visual.

flickspire - Two Wolves Inside Me Movie

Yes, I am expecting you to do your own home work.
 
  Reply With Quote
Diana_P is offline Diana_P Post #5  June 11,2011, 8:18pm
Diana_P's Avatar

Board Leader - Religion & Spirituality

Joined: Sep 2010

Posts: 1,118

See profile

Can human beings define love? We seem ill-equipped to define God so I’m not sure we have the ability to accurately define or even comprehend any concepts that exceeds our limitations and approach infinity.

For the sake of argument let’s say that we do. Now we introduce the puzzle of whether we can individually define a concept that must be applied collectively or at the very least can only be measured as it pertains to one person expressing it to another. Does that mean that a person can’t truly love themselves? Oh boy, see what you’ve started now?
 
  Reply With Quote
hermes01 is offline hermes01 Post #6  June 11,2011, 11:13pm
hermes01's Avatar

Quick Study

Joined: Nov 2010

Posts: 134

See profile

God=LOVE

Love =GOD

'God your neighbour as you would God yourself'

How do you ' God yourself ' ?

And when was the last time you took part in that 'activity'?

What is the purpose of 'Godding' yourself....and then your neighbour?
 
  Reply With Quote
charmingphlsphr is offline charmingphlsphr Post #7  June 12,2011, 9:03am
charmingphlsp…'s Avatar

Just got accepted as a writer on Christian apologetics!

Board Leader - Religion & Spirituality

Joined: May 2011

St. Louis

Posts: 168

See profile

hermes01 wrote :
God=LOVE

Love =GOD

'God your neighbour as you would God yourself'

How do you ' God yourself ' ?

And when was the last time you took part in that 'activity'?

What is the purpose of 'Godding' yourself....and then your neighbour?
God is love, yes (1Jn 4:16), but the inverse is not accurate. The latter places love above God, whereas the former explains a quality of the particular. The remainder of the post is the logical consequence of the beginning.

John qualifies the statement "God is love," in the context, by explaining that God shows His love for us, despite our utter and hopeless sinfulness, by giving that which is precious to Him to be broken and slain for our sake: His Son, Jesus. His love is this: while we are rotten, wretched sinners and while He is perfectly just to condemn us to suffer the fullness of His wraith, He closed the gap to reconcile us to Him. God is love and, by this love, He moved to save us - that is to say, He showed unfathomable mercy and compassion on us.

In His mercy,
Phillip

SDG
 
  Reply With Quote
Diana_P is offline Diana_P Post #8  June 28,2011, 8:00pm
Diana_P's Avatar

Board Leader - Religion & Spirituality

Joined: Sep 2010

Posts: 1,118

See profile

I’m not really sure either statement is accurate. Love is God implies that love is eternal and humans seem overwhelmed by the concept of eternity. It also implies that Love is in control. Our biology may drive us to seek relationships, but I think possession is a direct function of control.

God is Love implies that He is incapable of doing anything that would contradict the definition of Love. Of course if God is defining Love then absolutely he would not contradict His own definition. However, I’m talking about mankind’s definition of Love and that is individual and unique. Allowing your only Son to be crucified might be God’s definition of Love, but how many human beings would require a similar sacrifice of their own offspring?

To that end, God is not Love, God is God and Love is Love. Sometimes they might appear to be the same, but one has a conscious will and is the cause the other is just an effect.
 
  Reply With Quote
charmingphlsphr is offline charmingphlsphr Post #9  June 29,2011, 12:40pm
charmingphlsp…'s Avatar

Just got accepted as a writer on Christian apologetics!

Board Leader - Religion & Spirituality

Joined: May 2011

St. Louis

Posts: 168

See profile

Diana_P wrote :
I’m not really sure either statement is accurate. Love is God implies that love is eternal and humans seem overwhelmed by the concept of eternity. It also implies that Love is in control. Our biology may drive us to seek relationships, but I think possession is a direct function of control.

God is Love implies that He is incapable of doing anything that would contradict the definition of Love. Of course if God is defining Love then absolutely he would not contradict His own definition. However, I’m talking about mankind’s definition of Love and that is individual and unique. Allowing your only Son to be crucified might be God’s definition of Love, but how many human beings would require a similar sacrifice of their own offspring?

To that end, God is not Love, God is God and Love is Love. Sometimes they might appear to be the same, but one has a conscious will and is the cause the other is just an effect.
Nietzsche argued in, The Gay Science, that "love" is simply about selfish possession. When we consider the Scripture, we must accept that its proclamation is that love is inherently selfless. Consider the story of the good Samaritan or what Paul wrote to married couples:

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies." (Ephesians 5:25-28)

Or, even further, what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in a well-quoted verse:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."(1Co 13:4-7)

Pertaining to God, John writes (1Jn 4:10) that this is love: "not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." He continues, writing:

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (v. 16-18)
 
  Reply With Quote
Diana_P is offline Diana_P Post #10  June 29,2011, 2:44pm
Diana_P's Avatar

Board Leader - Religion & Spirituality

Joined: Sep 2010

Posts: 1,118

See profile

charmingphlsphr wrote :
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (v. 16-18)
Perfect love? Does such a thing really exist?
 
  Reply With Quote
Reply
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2


« Doesn’t God want married people to share their wisdom? | Religion & Spirituality | Is the Second Coming now? »
Topic Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new topics
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off

Looking for a Great Relationship?

Get started now. Fill out this form and take the questionnaire to receive your matches.

First Name:

I'm a:
seeking

Postal Code:

Country:

Email:

Confirm Email:

Password:


How did you hear about us?


Latest on our Dating Advice Discussion Boards

“ Excellent, thank you. I think I will leave out the first part, I think it is unnecessary information to give him. I'm not interested in putting myself out there like that and it might be a little ... ” –  generallyyou

Join the “Ending a friendship” discussion

“Alfred Hitchcock - 18 Steven Spielberg - 62 *notice what?” –  dmi

Join the “War of the Directors” discussion

“ I would be "certain people" :P The issue isn't a deal-breaker, but a very strong factor preference-wise, for me.” –  ThePriestess

Join the “How much does race play in your dating someone?” discussion

“Love Texas Hold'em!.. I'm thinking of trying another tournament this summer...not sure yet though.. Never entered a tournament before, outside of online ones. Personally I prefer to play with ... ” –  Freezepop

Join the “Favorite Card Game” discussion

“Make that 3! I also had a crush on Donny Osmond. I think I still have a record or two of his. Suzie ” –  legend29

Join the “Robin Gibbs Dead at 62...How Deep is Your Love?” discussion

“Oh, my revised profile can be seen in the forum in the section where you can ask for a profile review. Suzanne” –  SuzanneScorpio

Join the “Photo Review” discussion

“Just remember, everything that you are feeling and/or are capable of he is as well. If he wanted to reach you, he could. Right now he knows that you are hurting, and that this is not what you ... ” –  lynntlb78

Join the “Can I wait and move on at the same time?” discussion

“ Yohio. And the shortened form (Anya) is nice too.” –  ThePriestess

Join the “Where is Becky?!?” discussion



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 9:30am.

Discussion Boards Archive

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0