Review article
Love for God as the first commandment in the Bible
Miljenko Odrljin
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split
Abstract
The word love abounds with various meanings, recalls various experiences including thousands of shades and thousands of
variations, depending on the culture and time. The reader of the
Bible, the Old and New Testament, encounters the word love in
different life situations, especially in the first commandment –
according to the expression coined in the New Testament (Mt 22,
36; Mk 12, 28). To modern man, connection of the word “love”
with the word “commandment” poses a certain difficulty, since
love is connected with freedom and not with an obligation. This
alone remark reveals the distance that separates our sensitivity
from the biblical world. Is it really possible to command that
one should love God? Can love that is commanded be real and
honest love? To get closer to the right answer, we will first try to
see the difference in our perception of love, starting from the time
of romanticism and the time of ancient world. Then, we will try
to show the background of biblical commandment of love.
Keywords
love; God’s love; command; covenant; marriage
Hrčak ID:
169167
URI
Publication date:
24.11.2016.
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