GREEK WORDS FOR "LOVE"

© 2001 by Orchid Land Publications

[9-17-01]

     The Greek language has four words for "love":

1. Agápe, Christian love.  In Latin, it is c(h)aritas.  As English has the verb 
     "cherish" from this Latin noun, the correct noun in English would be cherishing.    
    It is unselfish Christian love as taught by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount             
    and is summed up by St. Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 13.

2. Philía or the love between friends.

3. Storgé or familial love, especially between parents and their children and also with close relatives.

4. Éros, which has got a pagan sexual sense, a Platonic philosophical sense, and a 
   Christian sense found in the Fathers.  The basic meaning is attraction.  It is used    
   for a Christian's being pulled toward God (and the Saints).   It is cultivated by
   Christians striving to understand and obey God.