Love

====Christianity====
[[File:Liebe und die Einbahnstraße - Lange Straße in Sebnitz - Bildimpression aus Sebnitz von einem Fotografen.jpg|thumb|Love and the One-way Street]]
The Christian understanding is that love comes from [[God]], who is himself love ({{Bibleverse|1 John|4:8}}). The love of man and woman—{{transliteration|grc|eros}} in Greek—and the unselfish love of others ({{transliteration|grc|agape}}), are often contrasted as "descending" and "ascending" love, respectively, but are ultimately the same thing.<ref name="vatican1">{{cite web
|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html
|author=Pope Benedict XVI
|title=papal encyclical, Deus Caritas Est
|access-date=11 June 2008
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008152102/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html
|archive-date=8 October 2011
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

There are several Greek words for "love" that are regularly referred to in Christian circles.
; {{transliteration|grc|[[agape]]}}: In the [[New Testament]], {{transliteration|grc|agapē}} is charitable, selfless, altruistic, and unconditional. It is parental love, seen as creating goodness in the world; it is the way God is seen to love humanity, and it is seen as the kind of love that Christians aspire to have for one another.{{r|Nygren}}
; {{transliteration|grc|[[phileo]]}}: Also used in the New Testament, {{transliteration|grc|phileo}} is a human response to something that is found to be delightful. Also known as "brotherly love."
Two other [[#Ancient Greek|words for love in the Greek language]], {{transliteration|grc|[[Eros (love)|eros]]}} (sexual love) and {{transliteration|grc|[[storge]]}} (child-to-parent love), were never used in the New Testament.{{r|Nygren}}

[[Christianity|Christians]] believe that to ''love God with all your heart, mind, and strength'' and ''love your [[neighbourhood|neighbor]] as yourself'' are the two most important things in life (the [[Great Commandment|greatest commandment]] of the Jewish [[Torah]], according to [[Jesus]]; cf. [[Gospel of Mark]] {{Bibleverse|Mark|12:28–34|nobook=yes}}). [[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]] summarized this when he wrote "Love God, and do as thou wilt."<ref>{{citation|author=[[Augustine of Hippo]]|chapter=Homily 7 on the First Epistle of John|title=Homilies on First John|chapter-url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/170207.htm|publisher=New Advent|at=8|translator-first=H.|translator-last=Browne}}</ref>

[[The Apostle Paul]] glorified love as the most important virtue of all. Describing love in the famous poetic interpretation in [[First Epistle to the Corinthians|1 Corinthians]], he wrote, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres." ({{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|13:4–7|NIV}})

[[John the Apostle|The Apostle John]] wrote, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." ([[Gospel of John|John]] {{bibleverse|John|3:16–17|niv|nobook=yes}}) John also wrote, "Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." ({{bibleverse|1 John|4:7–8|NIV}})

[[Saint Augustine]] wrote that one must be able to decipher the difference between love and lust. Lust, according to Saint Augustine, is an overindulgence, but to love and be loved is what he has sought for his entire life. He even says, "I was in love with love."{{cn|date=August 2023}} Finally, he does fall in love and is loved back, by God. Saint Augustine says the only one who can love you truly and fully is God, because love with a human only allows for flaws such as "jealousy, suspicion, fear, anger, and contention."<ref name=Confessions>{{cite book|author=[[Augustine of Hippo]]|title=[[Confessions (Augustine)|Confessions]]}}</ref>{{rp|at=III.1}} According to Saint Augustine, to love God is "to attain the peace which is yours."{{r|Confessions|at=X.27}}

Augustine regards the duplex commandment of love in {{Bibleverse|Matthew|22}} as the heart of Christian faith and the interpretation of the Bible. After the review of Christian doctrine, Augustine treats the problem of love in terms of use and enjoyment until the end of Book I of ''[[De Doctrina Christiana]]'' (1.22.21–1.40.44).<ref>{{cite journal | last=Woo | first=B. Hoon | title=Augustine's Hermeneutics and Homiletics in ''De doctrina christiana'' | journal=Journal of Christian Philosophy | year=2013 | volume=17 | url=https://www.academia.edu/5228314 | pages=97–117 | access-date=24 March 2014 | archive-date=26 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326032901/https://www.academia.edu/5228314 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Christian [[Theology|theologians]] see God as the source of love, which is mirrored in humans and their own loving relationships. Influential Christian theologian [[C. S. Lewis]] wrote a book called ''[[The Four Loves]]''. [[Benedict XVI]] named his first [[encyclical]] ''[[Deus caritas est|God is love]]''. He said that a human being, created in the image of God, who is love, is able to practice love; to give himself to God and others ({{transliteration|grc|[[agape]]}}) and by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation ({{transliteration|grc|eros}}). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as [[Teresa of Calcutta]] and [[Mary, the mother of Jesus]] and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them.<ref name="vatican1"/>

[[File:Cristo crucificado.jpg|thumb|upright|Pope Francis: the "Cross ([[Crucifixion of Jesus|Jesus crucified]]) is the greatest meaning of the greatest love".<ref name=McLellan>{{cite web|last=McLellan|first=Justin|url=https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/do-you-cry-pope-asks-800000-young-people-wyd-so-does-jesus-he-says|title='Do you cry?' pope asks 800,000 young people at WYD; so does Jesus, he says|access-date=9 August 2023|archive-url=}}</ref>]]
[[Pope Francis]] asserts that the "Cross ([[Crucifixion of Jesus|Jesus crucified]]) is the greatest meaning of the greatest love,"{{r|McLellan}} and in the crucifixion is found everything, all knowledge and the entirety of God's love.<ref>{{cite web|first=Hannah|last=Brockhaus|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/44277/pope-francis-the-entirety-of-gods-love-is-found-in-the-crucifix|date=22 April 2020|title=Pope Francis: The entirety of God's love is found in the crucifix|access-date=9 August 2023|archive-url=}}</ref> Pope Francis taught that "True love is both loving and letting oneself be loved... what is important in love is not our loving, but allowing ourselves to be loved by God."<ref>{{cite web|author=[[Pope Francis]]|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/january/documents/papa-francesco_20150118_srilanka-filippine-incontro-giovani.html|location=Manila|title=Meeting with the young people in the sports field of Santo Tomas University|date=18 January 2015|website=w2.vatican.va|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223111444/http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/january/documents/papa-francesco_20150118_srilanka-filippine-incontro-giovani.html|archive-date=23 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> And so, in the analysis of a Catholic theologian, for Pope Francis, "the key to love... is not our activity. It is the activity of the greatest, and the source, of all the powers in the universe: God's."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/82535/the-key-to-love-according-to-pope-francis|title=The key to love according to Pope Francis|first=Raul|last=Nidoy|date=13 February 2015|access-date=24 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224115656/http://opinion.inquirer.net/82535/the-key-to-love-according-to-pope-francis|archive-date=24 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Christianity the practical definition of love is summarized by [[Thomas Aquinas]], who defined love as "to will the good of another," or to desire for another to succeed.{{r|newadvent.org}} This is an explanation of the Christian need to love others, including their enemies. Thomas Aquinas explains that Christian love is motivated by the need to see others succeed in life, to be good people.

Regarding love for enemies, Jesus is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew:

{{quote|You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.|{{bibleverse|Matthew|5:43–48}} }}

[[Tertullian]] wrote regarding love for enemies: "Our individual, extraordinary, and perfect goodness consists in loving our enemies. To love one's friends is common practice, to love one's enemies only among Christians."<ref>{{citation|author=Tertulliam|title=Ad Scapulam|url=https://www.tertullian.org/works/ad_scapulam.htm|volume=I}}</ref>