Or should I say, Love, love, love, love perhaps four times?
(As just a bit earlier than the Beatles another Englishman, Clive Staples, pointed out 4 loves — each at least somewhat different from the others?)
Christians throw around the LOVE jargon rather vaguely and with much overlap (as does the world).
- The word, “Love” occurs over 500 times in the Bible
- translated more than 200 times from New Testament Greek into the English Standard Version
Let’s have some Biblical intercourse about the real definitions of the Biblical loves to which C.S. Lewis referred.
The Four Loves
Love, of course, is quite popular now (February), as it is every year.
C.S. Lewis, born just a couple of years before my grandfathers, capitalized on this in his popular RADIO program and published a book called THE FOUR LOVES in A..D. 1960 (when I was only ten and John Lennon was just twenty).
To outline Lewis’ approach briefly:
The Four Loves was Lewis’ look at some of the different loves described in Greek thought: familial or affectionate love (storge); friendship (philia); romantic love (eros); and spiritual love (agape) in the light of Christian commentary on ordinate loves.
The New Testament was written in Greek, which is why we will apply some New Testament Scripture using these words based on Lewis' outline for the same 'four loves.'
Although in A.D. 1960 Lewis began elsewhere, today let’s start with the world’s contemporary favorite:
Eros – ἔρως
Eros is the Greek term for romantic or passionate love. While the word itself is not used in the New Testament, the concept is present in the biblical understanding of marriage and the intimate relationship between husband and wife. Eros is seen as a gift from God, intended to be expressed within the covenant of marriage.
The Song of Solomon [O.T.] is often cited as a biblical celebration of eros, highlighting the beauty and intensity of romantic love.
Affection (storge)
Affection covers an array of loves. Like animals, the care of mother to babe is a picture of affection. It relies on the expected and the familiar. Lewis describes it as humble.
It’s the familiarity of, “the people with whom you are thrown together in the family, the college, the mess, the ship, the religious house,” says Lewis.
My long search for affection in the Bible
I do not mean affection literally (in English), but a Greek word for affection, STORGE.
God blessed me with an additional embrace of His Personal and mysterious, complex love for us through searching aimlessly for love in the Bible. Only after researching further in other commentaries did I connect this word of affection with the Lord’s additional loves we experience so personally.
God’s affection in the Person of His only Son JESUS was there all along and I had missed it.
..says Lewis. The affection for the people always around us, in the normal day-to-day of life, is the majority of the love we experience, even if we don’t label it.
‘Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.’
had jumped out to me in the NIV
But in addition to our affection meaning devoted, when Paul writes to the Romans, the word the Apostle uses here for love obviously applies to brotherly love – philadelphia.
I also liked his mention to ‘honor‘ each other above your SELF.
Seems familiar to JESUS’ second summary point from the Commandments. LOVE actually appears in BOTH of these commandments cited by our Lord:
Jesus said to him,
Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
What is the greatest love?
ἀγαπάω – agapaō
*Thou shalt love kyrios thy theos.
Do we not hold FEAR rather than embrace the LORD our theos as a pillar of fire?
But what about the Lord Jesus’ second commandment (which we often claim as our ‘GOLDEN RULE?’
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
ἀγαπάω – agapaō
*Thou shalt love thy plēsion [neighbour]…
The Lord seems to mention others as at least equal to our need for self-love, if not more honor as Paul suggests in writing to the Church in Rome.
This LOVE is the SAME Love, that is: agapaō !
We'll get to what it is in a moment, but for now note that here in relation to PERSONS we seem have a better chance for AFFECTION as I noted in Paul's verse from Romans.
Storge – Other Loves plus Devotion
Although the specific term storge is not used in the New Testament, the concept is evident in passages that emphasize family relationships and responsibilities. Romans 12:10
φιλόστοργος – philostorgos – adjective
a Greek conjunction PHILO plus STORGOS - Do you see both LOVES?
And look at its definition:
- the mutual love of parents and children and wives and husbands
- loving affection, prone to love, loving tenderly
- chiefly of the reciprocal tenderness of parents and children
Which brings us to a third love C.S. Lewis highlights:
Philia (φιλία)
Friendship is the love dismissed.
“To the Ancients, Friendship seemed the happiest and most fully human of all loves,”
“the crown of life and the school of virtue.
And at this writing in ~ A.D. 1958 or 1960 Lewis laments of such philos friendships:
The modern world, in comparison, ignores it.” Why?
Perhaps we know it’s the most time consuming, the least celebrated, the one we could live without.
Can we?
Even in 2025 Common Era time-crunching christian church gatherings pressed to entertain all sinners in these last days?
Discovering Phila-Delphia
philadelphos – Strong’s G5361
'I've got this one, brother,' you're probably thinking. Okay, let's break it down.
a Christian loving Christians
YES, it’s a great adjective describing the relational fruit of Biblical Christians.
From φίλος (G5384) and ἀδελφός (G80)
φίλος – Strong’s G5384 – philos
Adjective
Here's HALF of the Phila Delphia ANSWER. Read on and I'll get to the other HALF later.
†φίλος phílos, fee’-los; properly, dear, i.e. a friend; actively, fond, i.e. friendly (still as a noun, an associate, neighbor, etc.):—friend.
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends G5384.
“You are My friends G5384 if you do what I command you.
Jesus Christ, from the Good News of John 15:13-14 LSB
JESUS, the Son of Man and Son of God EMBRACES His disciples as close friends.
And you may have guessed it:
The relational word the beloved Apostle John uses here for LOVE is agapē.
φιλέω – Strong’s G5368 – phileō
a verb with similar meaning that we won’t want to miss
- to love
- to approve of
- to like
- sanction
- to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend
- to show signs of love
- to kiss
- to be fond of doing
- be wont [an accustomed familiarity], use to do
Perhaps the most convicting encounter with JESUS using this word phileō for LOVE occurs in His most personal encounter with the Apostle Peter after our Lord’s resurrection.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love G5368 You.”
“Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love G5368 You.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love G5368 Me?”
IF you don't already know what word JESUS used for LOVE in His first two questions I'll bet you can guess
- Jesus asks Simon Peter if he agapaos Him;
yet this third time the Lord uses Peter's word for friendship - φιλέω phileō, which Peter again confirms.
Now returning to our compound Greek word for Philadelphia we must consider one additional connection of LOVE:
- philadelphos – Strong’s G5361
- From φίλος (G5384) and ἀδελφός (G80)
ἀδελφός – Strong’s G80 – adelphos
masculine noun — From ἄλφα (G1) (as a connective particle) and delphus (the womb)
We'll close with this. But first our full definition of adelphos:
- a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother
- having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman
- any fellow or man
- a fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection
- an associate in employment or office
- brethren in Christ
- his brothers by blood
- all men
- apostles
- Christians, as those who are exalted to the same heavenly place
And what connection makes this Christian philia LOVE so unique?
ἄλφα – Strong’s G1 – alpha
You've probably already guessed it and why this Greek word was designated as 'G1' in the Strong's concordance.
indeclinable noun – Of Hebrew origin
“I am the Alpha G1 and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 1:8
“I am the Alpha G1 and the Omega, THE FIRST AND THE LAST, the beginning and the end.”
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 22:13 LSB
We haven't quite reached the Omega of Lewis' FOUR LOVES.
God-willing we'll look at agape in our NEXT Saturday Post.
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