Liebe als Agape: Das fr|hchristliche Konzept und der moderne Diskurs (German Edition)

English summary: Oda Wischmeyer sets out the early Christian concept of agape love in this six chapter monograph. She begins by tracking down the history of the Old Testament's commandments of love and their reception and reformulation in the New Testament. The New Testament concept of agape love is established from the texts and then compared to early Jewish concepts and Plutarch. The outlining of destructive contrary propositions, parallel concepts of ethical and alternative ethical-religious life from the New Testament and its environs bring the profile of the agape love notion into sharper focus. In the final chapter, the author presents current thought on the subject of love from the fields of sociology, psychology and philosophy, as well as the encyclical letter ""Deus caritas est"". In conclusion, the meaning that the New Testament concept is able to have in current theological discussions is scrutinized. German descriiption: Oda Wischmeyer stellt in dieser Mongraphie das fr|hchristliche Konzept von Agape in sechs Kapiteln dar. Zunächst verfolgt sie die Geschichte der alttestamentlichen Liebesgebote und ihrer neutestamentlichen Rezeption und Neuformulierung. Das neutestamentliche Konzept von Agape wird dann aus den Texten entwickelt, mit fr|hj|dischen Konzepten und mit Plutarch verglichen. Die Skizzierung destruktiver Gegenentw|rfe, paralleler ethischer Konzepte und alternativer ethisch-religiöser Lebenskonzepte aus dem Neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt schärfen das Profil des Agape-Konzepts. Im Schlusskapitel stellt die Autorin aktuelle Entw|rfe zum Thema ""Liebe"" aus Soziologie, Psychologie und Philosophie sowie die Enzyklika ""Deus caritas est"" vor. Abschliessend fragt sie, welche Bedeutung das neutestamentliche Konzept in den aktuellen theologischen Diskursen haben kann.

In our fraught global environment, when political and ideological lines are drawn ever sharper and old allegiances are increasingly strained, love for neighbor as both individual and societal obligation needs to be thematized and justified anew. At the same time, the New Testament call to love one’s enemies forms a sharp point of contrast to the current non-culture of hatred for all things different and foreign.

Oda Wischmeyer’s Love as Agape: The Early Christian Concept and Modern Discourse, the ninth volume in the Baylor–Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity series, aims to bring the New Testament concept of love into conversation with the current discussion about love. Wischmeyer investigates the commandment tradition of love for God and for neighbor, the ways in which the Septuagint and Plutarch speak of love, and the innovative concepts of love developed by Paul and John. She also presents an exegetically informed construction of the New Testament concept of love that is sharpened through a penetrating comparison with counter-, parallel, and alternative concepts from the ancient world. The book brings this holistic biblical vision forward into critical and constructive dialogue with key contemporary visions of love, including those of Julia Kristeva, Martha Nussbaum, Pope Benedict XVI, and Simon May. The tension that emerges stresses the need for fresh conceptualizations of ancient Jewish-Christian understandings, giving rise to the concluding question of the profile, limits, and impulses of the agape concept for present challenges.

Through this academically rigorous and pastorally sensitive exploration, Wischmeyer points to the great love story between God and humanity, which realizes itself in the figure of Jesus Christ. This divine romance places love as the most intense, affirming, and life-creating relationship in God’s own self, a relationship into which human beings are drawn and by which they obtain special dignity when God’s love becomes their life.

In our fraught global environment, when political and ideological lines are drawn ever sharper and old allegiances are increasingly strained, love for neighbor as both individual and societal obligation needs to be thematized and justified anew. At the same time, the New Testament call to love one's enemies forms a sharp point of contrast to the current non-culture of hatred for all things different and foreign. Oda Wischmeyer's Love as Agape: The Early Christian Concept and Modern Discourse, the ninth volume in the Baylor-Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity series, aims to bring the New Testament concept of love into conversation with the current discussion about love. Wischmeyer investigates the commandment tradition of love for God and for neighbor, the ways in which the Septuagint and Plutarch speak of love, and the innovative concepts of love developed by Paul and John. She also presents an exegetically informed construction of the New Testament concept of love that is sharpened through a penetrating comparison with counter-, parallel, and alternative concepts from the ancient world. The book brings this holistic biblical vision forward into critical and constructive dialogue with key contemporary visions of love, including those of Julia Kristeva, Martha Nussbaum, Pope Benedict XVI, and Simon May. The tension that emerges stresses the need for fresh conceptualizations of ancient Jewish-Christian understandings, giving rise to the concluding questions of the profile, limits, and impulses of the agape concept for present challenges. Through this academically rigorous and pastorally sensitive exploration, Wischmeyer points to the great love story between God and humanity, which realizes itself in the figure of Jesus Christ. This divine romance places love as the most intense, affirming, and life-creating relationship in God's own self, a relationship into which human beings are drawn and by which they obtain special dignity when God's love becomes their life. --Dust Jacket Front Inside Flap. In our fraught global environment, when political and ideological lines are drawn ever sharper and old allegiances are increasingly strained, love for neighbor as both individual and societal obligation neds to be thematized and justified anew. At the same time, the New Testament call to love one's enemies forms a sharp point of contrast to the current non-culture of hatred for all things different and foreign. Oda Wischmeyer's Love as Agape: The Early Christian Concept and Modern Discourse, the ninth volume in the Baylor-Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity series, aims to bring the New Testament concept of love inot conversation with the current discussion about love. Wischmeyer investigates the commandment tradition of love for God and for neighbor, the ways in which the Septuagint and Plutarch speak of love, and the innovative concepts of love developed by Paul and John. She also presents an exegetically informed construction of the New Testament concept of love that is sharpened through a penetrating comparison with counter-, parallel, and alternative concepts from the ancient world. The book brings this holistic biblical vision forward into critical and constructive diagogue with key contemporary visions of love, including those of Julia Kristeva, Martha Nussbaum, Pope Benedict XVI, and Simon May. The tension that emerges stresses the need for fresh conceptualizations of ancient Jewish-Christian understandings, giving rise to the concluding questions of the profile, limits, and impulses of the agape concept for present challenges. Through this academically rigourous and pastorally sensitive exploration, Wischmeyer points to the great love story between God and humanity, which realizes itself in the figure of Jesus Christ. This divine romance places love as the most intense, affirming, and life-creating relationship in God's own self,, a relationship into which human beings are drawn and by which they obtain special dignity when God's love becomes their life. --Dust Jacket Front Inside Flap Cover Page Half Title Page, Series Page, Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Epigraphs Contents Editors’ Preface Preface to the English Edition Preface to the German Edition Introduction: From Commandment to Concept 1. The Love Commandment in the New Testament 2. Historical Contexts 3. ἀγάπη in the Texts of the New Testament 4. The Concept of Love (ἀγάπη/ἀγαπᾶν) in the Writings of the New Testament 5. Alternative and Counter-Conceptions in the Early Jewish and Early Christian World 6. The Concept of Agape and Current Conceptions of Love Looking Forward: The New Testament Concept of Love Bibliography Index of Ancient Sources Index of Authors Brings the New Testament concept of love into conversation with the current discussion about love. Oda Wischmeyer investigates the commandment tradition of love for God and for neighbour, the ways in which the Septuagint and Plutarch speak of love, and the innovative concepts of love developed by Paul and John.