Love’s Essential Aspects and Diverse Forms – Thomas Jay Oord

The first plenary session at Biola’s CCT conference this year was given by Thomas Jay Oord. Here is an outline of his talk.

Introduction

• Personal story: faith – atheism – faith
• At the core of what makes sense of Christianity is love.

Love

• Should we even attempt to define love? So many answers/possibilities
• Can we define love?
• Irving Singer’s series: The Nature of Love
  • Answer: Language analysis presupposes too many things
  • Answer: In Scripture, there are many normative claims about love, we should have some idea of what love means.
• Love is?
  • Desire? Feeling? Choice? Relationships? Well-being? Somehow connected to God?
• Definition: To Love is to act intentionally, in sympathetic/empathetic response to others (including God), to promote overall well being.

Love is to act intentionally

• Try to do harm but end up doing well, not love… (not accidental)
• Motives matter
• Freedom involved
• Seen and unseen actions

In sympathetic/empathetic response to others (including God)

• Relationality matters
• Emotional response involved
• Requires divine action (inspired to love unconsciously, prevenient grace)

To promote overall well-being

• Common good, not utilitarian
• Affirms self-love
• Includes (distributive) justice

Forms of Love

• Agape: form of love that promotes overall well being when responding to activity that generates ill-being. (In spite of love)
• Eros: ……. When appreciating or seeking to enhance beauty or value. (Because of love)
• Philia: ….. by seeking to develop cooperation, friendship, solidarity (Alongside of love)
• Sometimes one of these three predominates….
• Other forms
  • Compassion (doesn’t necessitate love)
  • Romance (doesn’t necessitate love)
  • Forgiveness (doesn’t necessitate love)
  • Self sacrifice (doesn’t necessitate love)
  • Special obligations (doesn’t necessitate love)