The Etymology of “Love”

Ahavah - deep covenantal affection and commitment, chosen not merely felt

Ahav (verb) describes both divine love (Deut 7:8) and human devotion. The Shema commands love of God, suggesting love is a covenantal obligation, not just emotion.

Agape - self-giving love modeled on the cross, distinguished from desire and friendship

Agape was rare before Christian usage. John 3:16 and 1 Cor 13 redefine love as kenotic self-emptying. C.S. Lewis later distinguished it from eros, storge, and philia.

Caritas - ordered love directed first to God, then neighbor, then self

Augustine built his entire ethics on ordo amoris - the right ordering of loves. Sin is disordered love (loving lesser goods more than God).

Love as fruit of justifying faith, not its root - flowing from grace, never earning it

Luther insisted love toward neighbor flows from faith in God, never the reverse. Works of love do not justify; they express a justified heart.

Agape as the grammar of justice - love that restructures power for the flourishing of all

Martin Luther King Jr. deployed agape as political theology: love that overcomes injustice through nonviolent resistance.