This was a research paper i wrote this past school year, not the best but it gets the point across.
A Foundation of Love
Everything can be related back to love, from self preservation, to reading, to love itself, to the death penalty. Absolutely everything is relatable to love, and in the Bible, that relationship is multiplied tenfold. Webster defines love as “Enthusiasm or fondness.” Within that definition family, nor intimacy, nor anything else usually associated with the word love is included. Webster’s definition points out that love can be felt between two males, or two females, or between two of anything without any deeper meaning behind it. It is saying that love is a “strong liking” not reserved to husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend. When one can grasp that love is more than love then it becomes amazingly clear how every last commandment, in fact, every last word, points to that if we all just loved one another then sin would be a thing of imagination. When the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ are examined closely, the foundation of love, on which they rest, is easily discovered.
There are instances in the bible where some may point and say, “That’s hatred, not love,” and yet still love rules. These instances are almost always found to be occurring in love when examined more closely however. The reason why apparent hatred is actually love is because in Christian doctrine there is a hierarchy of love. This hierarchy is ordered as love for god, love for others, and then love for self. The idea of a love hierarchy is described in Jesus’ teaching on being a disciple. He says “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life” (New Living Translation, Luke. 14.26). According to this verse disciples are to love God so much that when they compare their love for God to their love for their friends and family it should seem as if they’re comparing the size of a bacteria to the size of the universe. That sets “love for God” over “love for others” and “love for self.” To place the other two kinds of love in order all one has to do is remember that one of the reoccurring themes in the bible is the need for humility, and lack of pride, and how the bible never cautions about over loving others unless it begins to exceed the love for God. One of the places where this hierarchy can be applied to, to discover the basis of love is the driving of the money lenders from the Temple. Mark describes the event saying “When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices” (11.15). According to Jesus, love for God should be greater than love for others, and so in this incident Jesus was demonstrating a love for God, not a hatred of others. Unfortunately not all Christians have understood this concept.
Another topic that could be debated over the statement that Christianity is love is the actions of those who call themselves Disciples of Christ. The first counter to this argument is that humans are exactly that, human, and are not perfect. They can misunderstand the teachings of Christ. For instance, the crusades were a misinterpretation of the call to spread God’s love. Those who thought up the crusades also inverted the hierarchy, placing their love for themselves over their love for others. They thought that the crusades would bring them profits. Leaders who called themselves Christians and yet preformed unchristian acts also normally were inverting those two parts of the hierarchy. Though followers of Christ often have preformed acts of hatred, the teachings of the bible are still calling for a foundation of love.
Jesus was a man of extreme love, but he controlled his love in accordance with the hierarchy described in the bible. According to the author of the article on Christianity in The World’s Great Religions "(Christ) did not perform (miracles) to win followers, or to impress important people, but in compassion and in response to simple faith in Him" (269). The author states that Jesus did not perform miracles with an “agenda” but because he loved people. The bible confirms this when Christ heals two blind men, and sends them on their way, ordering them to tell no one (Matt. 10.27-29). If Jesus was using his miracles to create believers he would have told the men to shout their healing from the mountains, instead he says, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 10.29). Another miracle worked by Jesus when he asks for discretion is the healing of a man with leprosy (Matt. 8.1-4). After working this miracle Jesus once again dismisses the man saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 8.4). Jesus did not only perform his miracles in secrecy, not seeking fame, he also performed them on people who Jews were not supposed to associate themselves with. One description where we see Jesus “hanging” with outsiders is in John chapter four. Jesus was traveling through Samaria he stopped by a well to rest. After sending his disciples to the nearby village to buy food a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water. Jesus asks for the woman to draw him some water. The stranger was amazed at this because it was well known that Jews never associated themselves with Samaritans. Another surprising thing is that the woman was an obvious sinner, and outsider. This is known because she went to the well at midday, to avoid all the other women. Jesus himself told that he knew of her sins, telling her how many men she had slept with. In spite of all this, while the woman was drawing the water for Jesus he told her his message (John 4.1-42). He showed such compassion that he lowered himself to hang with sinners, so that they too could find the path to eternal life. Jesus even had a tax collector as a disciple in Levi (Matthew), and tax collectors where considered some of the most notorious sinners in Jesus’ time. One of the greatest acts of Christ is his sacrificing himself in order to cleanse the world of sin. He gave his life and allowed himself to be tortured because he loved humanity so much. However it was humanity that turned its back on Christ, humanity who performed the execution, and humanity who turned their back on their savior, and yet still he offered himself up without a fight (Matt. 26.47- Matt. 27.65). Sacrificing oneself for someone else is an incredible testament of love, and subjecting oneself to torture before hand for the same purpose is an even greater testament. Jesus not only acted out of love, but called on his followers to act in love too.
The teachings of Christ are immersed in love. In fact, one of the most well known teachings of Christianity is to love one’s enemies. Christ turns the old teaching of revenge on its head saying;
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemies! But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be action as true children of your father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5.43-48).
Christ rejects all revenge saying that showing love and compassion to all is the only way to live. He goes on further to show how loving one’s enemies sets Christians apart. Christ even showed compassion to the ones who captured him, telling his disciples to not fight them, and before that Christ shows compassion to demons, allowing them to go into a herd of cattle, instead of returning them to hell. Another well known example where Christ teaches of love is the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish (Matt. 18.12-14).
In this parable the sheep are the followers of Christianity and the shepherd is Christ. When the one leaves the shepherd goes to find it, because each and every single person is deserving of God’s unending love, and even if it puts the group in danger all attempts should be made to save the lost one because of God’s love for everyone. Another commandment based on love is the commandment to not judge others. This is based on love because if someone truly loved someone else then there would be no need to judge them, because love makes them perfect, even if they are not. Christ himself tells us the base of all commandments is “do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matt. 7.12). This asks everyone to show love to everyone, and Jesus says it is the foundation for all. It is also commanded that disciples of Christ should show their good deeds so that others may learn about Christ through them so they may be saved.
Works Cited
Holy Bible New Living Translation. South Korea: Tyndale Charitable Trust, 2004.
“Love.” Webster’s II New Riverside Desk Dictionary. Home and Office ed. 1988.
Luce, Henry R., ed. The World’s Great Religions. New York: Time Incorporated, 1957.
Everything can be related back to love, from self preservation, to reading, to love itself, to the death penalty. Absolutely everything is relatable to love, and in the Bible, that relationship is multiplied tenfold. Webster defines love as “Enthusiasm or fondness.” Within that definition family, nor intimacy, nor anything else usually associated with the word love is included. Webster’s definition points out that love can be felt between two males, or two females, or between two of anything without any deeper meaning behind it. It is saying that love is a “strong liking” not reserved to husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend. When one can grasp that love is more than love then it becomes amazingly clear how every last commandment, in fact, every last word, points to that if we all just loved one another then sin would be a thing of imagination. When the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ are examined closely, the foundation of love, on which they rest, is easily discovered.
There are instances in the bible where some may point and say, “That’s hatred, not love,” and yet still love rules. These instances are almost always found to be occurring in love when examined more closely however. The reason why apparent hatred is actually love is because in Christian doctrine there is a hierarchy of love. This hierarchy is ordered as love for god, love for others, and then love for self. The idea of a love hierarchy is described in Jesus’ teaching on being a disciple. He says “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life” (New Living Translation, Luke. 14.26). According to this verse disciples are to love God so much that when they compare their love for God to their love for their friends and family it should seem as if they’re comparing the size of a bacteria to the size of the universe. That sets “love for God” over “love for others” and “love for self.” To place the other two kinds of love in order all one has to do is remember that one of the reoccurring themes in the bible is the need for humility, and lack of pride, and how the bible never cautions about over loving others unless it begins to exceed the love for God. One of the places where this hierarchy can be applied to, to discover the basis of love is the driving of the money lenders from the Temple. Mark describes the event saying “When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices” (11.15). According to Jesus, love for God should be greater than love for others, and so in this incident Jesus was demonstrating a love for God, not a hatred of others. Unfortunately not all Christians have understood this concept.
Another topic that could be debated over the statement that Christianity is love is the actions of those who call themselves Disciples of Christ. The first counter to this argument is that humans are exactly that, human, and are not perfect. They can misunderstand the teachings of Christ. For instance, the crusades were a misinterpretation of the call to spread God’s love. Those who thought up the crusades also inverted the hierarchy, placing their love for themselves over their love for others. They thought that the crusades would bring them profits. Leaders who called themselves Christians and yet preformed unchristian acts also normally were inverting those two parts of the hierarchy. Though followers of Christ often have preformed acts of hatred, the teachings of the bible are still calling for a foundation of love.
Jesus was a man of extreme love, but he controlled his love in accordance with the hierarchy described in the bible. According to the author of the article on Christianity in The World’s Great Religions "(Christ) did not perform (miracles) to win followers, or to impress important people, but in compassion and in response to simple faith in Him" (269). The author states that Jesus did not perform miracles with an “agenda” but because he loved people. The bible confirms this when Christ heals two blind men, and sends them on their way, ordering them to tell no one (Matt. 10.27-29). If Jesus was using his miracles to create believers he would have told the men to shout their healing from the mountains, instead he says, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 10.29). Another miracle worked by Jesus when he asks for discretion is the healing of a man with leprosy (Matt. 8.1-4). After working this miracle Jesus once again dismisses the man saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this” (Matt. 8.4). Jesus did not only perform his miracles in secrecy, not seeking fame, he also performed them on people who Jews were not supposed to associate themselves with. One description where we see Jesus “hanging” with outsiders is in John chapter four. Jesus was traveling through Samaria he stopped by a well to rest. After sending his disciples to the nearby village to buy food a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water. Jesus asks for the woman to draw him some water. The stranger was amazed at this because it was well known that Jews never associated themselves with Samaritans. Another surprising thing is that the woman was an obvious sinner, and outsider. This is known because she went to the well at midday, to avoid all the other women. Jesus himself told that he knew of her sins, telling her how many men she had slept with. In spite of all this, while the woman was drawing the water for Jesus he told her his message (John 4.1-42). He showed such compassion that he lowered himself to hang with sinners, so that they too could find the path to eternal life. Jesus even had a tax collector as a disciple in Levi (Matthew), and tax collectors where considered some of the most notorious sinners in Jesus’ time. One of the greatest acts of Christ is his sacrificing himself in order to cleanse the world of sin. He gave his life and allowed himself to be tortured because he loved humanity so much. However it was humanity that turned its back on Christ, humanity who performed the execution, and humanity who turned their back on their savior, and yet still he offered himself up without a fight (Matt. 26.47- Matt. 27.65). Sacrificing oneself for someone else is an incredible testament of love, and subjecting oneself to torture before hand for the same purpose is an even greater testament. Jesus not only acted out of love, but called on his followers to act in love too.
The teachings of Christ are immersed in love. In fact, one of the most well known teachings of Christianity is to love one’s enemies. Christ turns the old teaching of revenge on its head saying;
You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemies! But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be action as true children of your father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5.43-48).
Christ rejects all revenge saying that showing love and compassion to all is the only way to live. He goes on further to show how loving one’s enemies sets Christians apart. Christ even showed compassion to the ones who captured him, telling his disciples to not fight them, and before that Christ shows compassion to demons, allowing them to go into a herd of cattle, instead of returning them to hell. Another well known example where Christ teaches of love is the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd.
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish (Matt. 18.12-14).
In this parable the sheep are the followers of Christianity and the shepherd is Christ. When the one leaves the shepherd goes to find it, because each and every single person is deserving of God’s unending love, and even if it puts the group in danger all attempts should be made to save the lost one because of God’s love for everyone. Another commandment based on love is the commandment to not judge others. This is based on love because if someone truly loved someone else then there would be no need to judge them, because love makes them perfect, even if they are not. Christ himself tells us the base of all commandments is “do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matt. 7.12). This asks everyone to show love to everyone, and Jesus says it is the foundation for all. It is also commanded that disciples of Christ should show their good deeds so that others may learn about Christ through them so they may be saved.
Works Cited
Holy Bible New Living Translation. South Korea: Tyndale Charitable Trust, 2004.
“Love.” Webster’s II New Riverside Desk Dictionary. Home and Office ed. 1988.
Luce, Henry R., ed. The World’s Great Religions. New York: Time Incorporated, 1957.
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