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The halving of love: agapé and erós in theological reflection

Publication at Hussite Theological Faculty |
2022

Abstract

The paper criticizes the distinction between the Greek terms agapé and erós in theological reflection of the last two centuries. While agapé is understood as God's love, erós is attributed only to bodily love.

The paper shows that the term erós does not appear in the Bible and therefore cannot be contrasted with agapé. It also attempts to show, using Plato's dialogue Symposion as an example, that erós had many shades in Greek thought that contradict its reduction to just bodily love.