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Summary
- The Bible says “God is love” twice (1 John 4:8, 16); it never says “Jesus is love” in those words.
- John defines that love by Jesus: God “sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9–10; 3:16).
- Christians who hold that Jesus is God read him as God’s love in human form; Benedict XVI headed a section of Deus Caritas Est (2005) “Jesus Christ – the incarnate love of God.”
- Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do not believe Jesus is God, call him “a perfect reflection of his Father.”
- Agapē, the Greek word in “God is love,” can also describe love of darkness or of “this present world” (John 3:19; 2 Timothy 4:10); its Christian sense rests on Christ’s example.
- Jesus told his disciples to love one another “just as I have loved you” (John 13:34–35; 15:12–13).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version: Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 9:36; Mark 10:21–22; Luke 15:1–2; John 1:1, 14, 18; 3:19; 4:27; 11:5, 35–36; 13:1–5, 34–35; 14:9; 15:12–13; 20:28; 21:15–17; 1 Corinthians 13:4, 7; Ephesians 5:2; Philippians 2:5–8; Colossians 1:15; 2 Timothy 4:10; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 3:16; 4:8–11, 16, 21. Greek of 1 John 4:8, John 3:19, John 21:15–17, 1 Corinthians 13:4 and 2 Timothy 4:10 from the SBL Greek New Testament.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 221. https://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/221.htm
- Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (25 December 2005), paragraphs 1 and 12. https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html
- Jehovah’s Witnesses, What Does the Bible Really Teach?, chapter 4, “Who Is Jesus Christ?”, paragraphs 12–15. https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/bible-teach/who-is-jesus-christ/
- Ian Paul, “Are there different ‘loves’ in John 21?”, Psephizo (2018). https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/are-there-different-loves-in-john-21/
- “Incarnation,” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/incarnation
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