Back in 2010 I wrote in this blog about Martin Luther King’s use of ‘agape.’ In his book of sermons, Strength to Love, he talked about agape, in his sermon "Loving our Enemies," when discussing the word that was used in the Greek translation of the command from Jesus about enemies. Dr. King said:
“Our responsibility as Christians is to discover the meaning of this command and seek passionately to live it out. The meaning of love [in that command from Jesus] is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. [That] love is something much deeper than emotional bosh. Perhaps the Greek language can clear our confusion at this point. In the Greek New Testament are three words for love. The word eros is a sort of aesthetic or romantic love. In the Platonic dialogues eros is a yearning of the soul for the realm of the divine. The second word is philia, a reciprocal love and the intimate affection and friendship between friends. The third word is agape, understanding and creative, redemptive goodwill for all. An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return, agape is the love of God operating in the human heart.”
So I wondered how Dr. King’s words would read if in the rest of his sermon he would have used ‘agape’ instead of ‘love,’ where he meant ‘agape.’
“At this level, we share agape not because we like them, nor because their ways appeal to us, nor even because they possess some type of divine spark; we have agape for everyone because God has agape for them. At this level, we have agape for the person who does an evil deed, although we hate the deed that he does. Now we can see what Jesus meant when he said, “Love your enemies.” We should be happy that he did not say, “Like your enemies.” It is almost impossible to like some people. Jesus is speaking neither of eros nor philia, he is speaking of agape. Only by following this way and responding with this type of love are we able to be children of our Father who is in heaven.
“Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to have agape for one’s enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival. Agape even for enemies is the key to the solution of the problems of our world. Jesus is not an impractical idealist: he is the practical realist.
“When I speak of agape I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Agape is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.
“At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of agape. The nonviolent resister would contend that in the struggle for human dignity, the oppressed people of the world must not succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter or indulging in hate campaigns. To retaliate in kind would do nothing but intensify the existence of hate in the universe. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of agape to the center of our lives.
“Everywhere and at all times, the agape ethic of Jesus is a radiant light revealing the ugliness of our stale conformity.
“A vigorous enforcement of civil rights laws will bring an end to segregated public facilities which are barriers to a truly desegregated society, but it cannot bring an end to fears, prejudice, pride, and irrationality, which are the barriers to a truly integrated society. These dark and demonic responses will be removed only as men are possessed by the invisible, inner law which etches on their hearts the conviction that all men are brothers and that agape is mankind’s most potent weapon for personal and social transformation. True integration will be achieved by true neighbors who are willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations.
“We must never surrender our supreme loyalty to any time-bound custom or earth-bound idea, for at the heart of our universe is a higher reality— God and the realm of agape— to which we must be conformed. This command not to conform comes, not only from Paul, but also from our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, the world’s most dedicated nonconformist, whose ethical nonconformity still challenges the conscience of mankind.
“We must have agape for our enemies, because only then can we know God and experience the beauty of God’s holiness. The relevance of what I have said to the crisis in race relations should be readily apparent. There will be no permanent solution to the race problem until oppressed men develop the capacity to have agape for their enemies. The darkness of racial injustice will be dispelled only by the light of forgiving agape.
“Agape is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security.
“Wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force, but the destructive power of modern weapons eliminates even the possibility that war may serve as a negative good. If we assume that life is worth living and that man has a right to survival, then we must find an alternative to war.”
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