{ "id": "dict_000104", "term": "Agape", "slug": "agape", "letter": "A", "entry_type": "theological_term", "entry_family": "theological_term", "depth_profile": "standard", "short_definition": "Agape is a Greek word often used in the New Testament for love, especially love marked by self-giving commitment and care. In Christian teaching it is commonly associated with God’s love and the kind of love believers are called to show.", "simple_one_line": "Agape is self-giving love, often used for God’s love and the love Christians are to practice.", "tooltip_text": "Greek term for love, especially self-giving, committed love in biblical usage.", "aliases": [], "scripture_references": [], "original_language_terms": [], "related_entries": [ "Love", "Charity", "Love of God", "Love of Neighbor", "Brotherhood", "Enemy love" ], "see_also": [ "Phileo", "Charity", "God’s Love", "Self-sacrifice", "1 Corinthians 13" ], "lede_intro": "Agape is a Greek word for love that appears often in the New Testament. In many contexts it points to love that is active, committed, and expressed in seeking another person’s good. Christian teaching commonly uses agape for God’s love and for the love believers are commanded to show toward God, one another, and even enemies.", "at_a_glance_definition": "A New Testament term for love that often emphasizes devoted, self-giving concern for another’s good.", "at_a_glance_key_points": [ "The meaning depends on context", "it is not a magic word with one fixed definition. • It is often used of God’s love in Christ. • It describes the kind of love Christians are called to practice. • It is best understood as active, covenantal, and self-giving rather than merely emotional." ], "description_academic_short": "Agape is the Greek noun commonly translated “love” in many New Testament passages. While word studies can be overstated, in context it often refers to faithful, self-giving love rather than mere emotion. Scripture uses this language for God’s love, for Christ’s sacrificial love, and for the love believers are commanded to have toward God and one another.", "description_academic_full": "Agape is a Greek term for love that appears frequently in the New Testament and is often central to Christian teaching on God’s character and the believer’s life. It should not be treated as a technical word that always carries one narrowly defined meaning in every context, since usage depends on the passage. Even so, in many key texts it describes love that is active, devoted, and expressed in seeking another’s good. The New Testament uses this language for the Father’s love, Christ’s sacrificial love, and the love Christians are to practice toward fellow believers and even enemies. In theological and devotional use, agape commonly refers to self-giving love shaped by God’s own example, and that summary is generally sound when kept tied to the contexts of Scripture.", "background_biblical_context": "In the New Testament, agape is used in passages that emphasize God’s saving action, Christ’s sacrificial death, and the command for believers to love one another. Its biblical force is best understood by reading each occurrence in context rather than by assuming one fixed dictionary meaning.", "background_historical_context": "In common Greek usage, words for love could overlap in meaning. By the time of the New Testament, agape was available as a broad term for love, and Christian writers used it prominently to describe divine and ethical love. Its theological weight comes from biblical usage, not from a claim that the word always meant something unique in ordinary Greek.", "background_jewish_ancient_context": "Jewish Scripture and Second Temple usage already framed love as covenant loyalty, obedience, mercy, and concern for neighbor. The New Testament’s use of agape fits within that moral and covenantal world, especially where love is tied to God’s command and character.", "key_texts_primary": [ "John 3:16", "John 13:34-35", "Romans 5:8", "1 Corinthians 13", "1 John 4:7-12" ], "key_texts_secondary": [ "Matthew 22:37-40", "Luke 6:27-36", "Romans 13:8-10", "Ephesians 5:1-2", "Colossians 3:12-14" ], "original_language_note": "Greek ἀγάπη (agápē), commonly “love”; related verb ἀγαπάω (agapáō). Biblical meaning is determined by context, not by the word alone.", "theological_significance": "Agape is one of the Bible’s main words for the character of God and the pattern of Christian ethics. It shows that love is not merely feeling but a willful, costly pursuit of another’s good, grounded in God’s own saving love in Christ.", "philosophical_explanation": "Agape can be understood as a form of benevolent, other-centered love. In Christian thought it is not self-erasing sentiment, but a morally ordered commitment that seeks the true good of the other under God’s truth and holiness.", "interpretive_cautions": "Do not overstate Greek word studies by claiming agape always means one precise thing in every passage. Also avoid building theology on the word alone apart from the surrounding context, grammar, and canonical teaching.", "major_views_note": "Some devotional and popular teaching contrasts agape, phileo, and eros too rigidly. A more careful view recognizes overlap in Greek vocabulary while still affirming that New Testament usage often gives agape a strong moral and theological emphasis.", "doctrinal_boundaries": "Agape is not a substitute for holiness, justice, or truth, and it should not be reduced to mere tolerance or emotion. Biblical love is governed by God’s character and revealed will.", "practical_significance": "Agape shapes Christian discipleship by calling believers to sacrificial service, forgiveness, generosity, and love for fellow believers and enemies alike. It is a chief mark of Christian maturity and community life.", "meta_description": "Agape is the Greek New Testament word often used for self-giving love, especially God’s love in Christ and the love Christians are called to show.", "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/agape/", "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/agape.json", "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL" }