That is a transient emotion. When the biblical scriptures speak about love, that is predominantly something else than an emotion. Emotion is often involved but love is rather a decision to act in a loving way than a transient emotion. If a marriage is founded upon a transient feeling like the emotion of love, the marriage will not last beyond the first 2-4 years. The same is true with our relationship with God - emotions are transient, a feeling of love and faith is great but will not last.
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First off, oxytocin is thought to be involved in long term social bonds, such as between a mother and child. But that is neither here nor there. I donāt think anyone here is that concerned with neurochemistry.
How do we determine if an act is done in a loving way? Through our emotions, most notably through empathy. We judge for ourselves what emotional responses we would have to an action, and we adjust our behavior accordingly.
The main point I am making is that love is subjective. That doesnāt make love a fantasy, but it also isnāt objective in the same way as the absorbance spectrum of a star.
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I agree.
Principle? no. phenomenon? no. power? NO! just an emotion? no.
First and foremost, here on this forum. Love is a word. And words point to many meaningsā¦ gathering them together in a complex network of human experiences linking them together.
Some people have certainly looked at love as a disease. But for most this simply cause for laughter. Let us look at these words of Paul.
1 Cor13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends;
Well first off, is all this true? Is love always patient? not hardly. Is love always never-ending? you have to be joking. Soā¦ is Paul lying? LOL No. Paul is telling how love SHOULD be. And frankly what he says rings trueā¦ at least this is what we desperately want love to be. Does this remind anyone of somethingā¦ like in science? When someone does science is it always objective? Do they always accept the verdict of their tests? No and no. We are likewise speaking of the way it should be. They are ideals ā things worth striving for.
Is love an ideal? no. no? This is another one to add to the list of things linked up with this word āloveā. For there certainly is an emotion, and a concept, and a phenomenon, and an ideal (and maybe I am playing favorites here cause I donāt like principle or power very much LOL). But yeah there is a great deal of subjectivity involved and people likely experience love in different ways. Soā¦ subjective? definitely!
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And the reference/evidence for that is?
ouch
I think you can.
Another ouch.
Love is a principle inasmuch as it encompasses all the guiding "Lws and surpasses them. If you have love, you do not need the Law,
But, I guess, its a matter of perspective,.
It is a shame that you do not seem to value individual persective
Richarrd
@T_aquaticus
How do we determine if an act is done in a loving way? Through our emotions, most notably through empathy. We judge for ourselves what emotional responses we would have to an action, and we adjust our behavior accordingly.
The word āloveā is used in many meanings and that may lead to confusion. Although I do not know much Greek, the Greek has many words for different kinds of love or comparable affectionate and friendly behaviours - eros, storge, philia, philautia, ludus, pragma, mania, xenia, agape.
Emotions, including passion and empathy, are strong drivers in some of these types but some focus more on an attitude and decision to behave in a particular way. In long-term relationships, the key is in the attitude and decision - no feeling lasts the same for several years. Marriage and the personal relationship with God are examples of long-term relationships where emotions fluctuate but a correct attitude and decision may carry until death.
The list in 1 Cor 13 helps to see what kind of loving behaviour is expected:
patient, kind, not jealous or boastful, not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right, etc.
To live according to these characters, emotions or even a decision are not enough - I believe we need to let the Holy Spirit change our inside to be able to experience more of this kind of love in our life.
I am pretty non-concordist in my view of Genesis, so agree with you as well, but would point out that there are quite few who write about localized floods, not as a way of verifying religious texts, but rather as as way of explaining how those stories got started in the first place. A good example is this article published in the ASA journal which goes into archeological evidence of local floods and speculates that one of those floods may have been part of the cultural memory that led to the flood accounts.
The Jewish word used in the OT is Ämar which does not necessarily mean āspeak with a voiceā. Factually, like a lot of words in Hebrew, what it means, depends on where it is put, what is written before and after, and in what context it is used. The listing in the Interlinear Bible is quite extensive.