What is meant by "God is Love"?

[The AlphaOmega]

I'd think it's pretty self explanatory.  Does does not hate, it is against His very being.  He loves all things He has created because He cannot make and error in judgement and therefor has never created anything or anyone which He later regreted.  He created everything out of Love for creation itself and Love's the universe He has created.  So, He IS Love.

[onefromsomewhereelse]

God is both mercy and justice.  In other words, he will chastize his people if he thinks we need it, out of love for us.

[jilola]

OnefromSomewhere: Why would you chastise yourself?

Just to stir up trouble to make life interesting for the mods  []

2cents & L&L
Jouni

[aryanknight666]

One does not have to examine the bible very closely at all before they realise that "God" is not omnipresent, omniscient or all-knowing, he is certainly fallible, he certainly hates and has regretted things that he has created. The proper definition of love bears very little resemblance to the biblical concept of love. Jehova has ordered human and animal sacrifice, cannibalism and blood drinking a-plenty, as well as mass murder, genocide, rape and torture.

[no_leaf_clover]

quote:One does not have to examine the bible very closely at all before they realise that "God" is not omnipresent, omniscient or all-knowing, he is certainly fallible, he certainly hates and has regretted things that he has created. The proper definition of love bears very little resemblance to the biblical concept of love. Jehova has ordered human and animal sacrifice, cannibalism and blood drinking a-plenty, as well as mass murder, genocide, rape and torture.

This comes from the fact that the Old Testament Yahweh was pretty much all the Sumerian deities wrapped into one. It's nothing new now that the Old Testament's stories, such as the flood, Adam and Eve, etc., etc., are taken from earlier Sumerians and the civilizations that came after them, except with a monotheistic twist. In Sumerian religion/history, the deities were as fallible as humans are, and often has disputes, which carried over awkwardly into Judaism (God decides that mankind has become evil and to destroy it with a flood, and yet he lets one man live).

Parts of the Bible not taken from earlier religions and that were written for the genuine good of mankind could have a message of 'God is Love', though. Both extremes of the behavior of mankind are pretty well represented in the Bible.

[James S]

It can possibly be a little easier to understand if you take God out of purely christian contexts and think of encounters people have with higher spirit beings.

When you're in the presence of such a being you get an overwhelming feeling of peace and love that seems to soak right through you. Maybey the concept of "god is love" stems from this, as it believed even in non christian views that such beings come from the Divine - the highest spirit source of the universe.

Just a thought...

- James.

[The AlphaOmega]

Please... as a Christian I am truly dumbstruck.  If you truly knew the Bible you would have no foundation to say that Christ commanded cannibalism and blood drinking a-plenty, as well as mass murder, genocide, rape and torture.  The Bible was written for Christ, and for no other purpose more important.  Christ never EVER taught such ridiculous concepts as torture and rape.  In fact at the moment of His death when nearly everyone wanted Him dead He asked God to forgive them, for they knew not what they did.  There is One truth, and that is that Christ never asked His brethren to torture, rape, drink blood or cannibalise in the name of God.  He was pure Love, Forgiveness, and Righteouness, and even in the Bible, no verse is spoken that states Christ commanded any evil!

[James S]

quote:Originally posted by The AlphaOmega
Christ never EVER taught such ridiculous concepts as torture and rape.

I agree with this completely!!

The trouble is not so much with what Jesus himself taught, as he truly embodies the "love of god". The problem is more with what the founders of what we now know as Christian Church taught - Constantine and his mob. They are the ones that compiled the bible as we know it now, and twisted the teachings to suit their purposes.

Jesus would never have taught anything that even remotely resembles the intolerance and persecution that has been bought about in his name by the church.

Regards,
James.

[Palehorse]

Re: all the controversy on torture, killing and whatnot -- I recommend the book "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard Friedman.  It really shows a lot of the historical context in which the Old Testament was written, and de-mystifies a lot of the text.  Among other things, it shows how parts of the OT (sometimes even parts that found their way into the same book) were written by rival kingdoms taking cheapshots at each other.  Much of the OT seems to have been written by fallible humans with similar political motives.

My point is that although I believe the true God is there as an underlying thread in the OT (particularly in the writings of the prophets, whose strict insistence on ethics and social justice don't make *anyone* look good), many of the things attributed to Him in those books are simply the same old story of a group using the excuse that "God is on their side" to commit inexcusable atrocity.  This, I think, was part of Jesus' purpose: to get rid of all these misconceptions, and demonstrate a true living example of who God is and what He wants from us.  God is love.

quote:
The trouble is not so much with what Jesus himself taught, as he truly embodies the "love of god". The problem is more with what the founders of what we now know as Christian Church taught - Constantine and his mob. They are the ones that compiled the bible as we know it now, and twisted the teachings to suit their purposes.

Precisely.  Christianity did not go from a persecuted and staunchly pacifistic religion to an active persecutor of "heretics" itself until it was intitutionalized by Constantine, over four centuries after the life of Christ.  To put things in perspective, Christianity, as a rule, was strictly nonviolent for twice as long as America has been a nation.  Thus, the violence and persecution that ensued after the 4th century was a dramatic break from historical Christian practice.  If anyone can come up with a religion that lasted as long and had a better track record, then I'd love to hear about it.

[onefromsomewhereelse]

Yes, I do chastize myself sometimes; ever eat too much and then skip desserts for a few days to "teach yourself a lesson"?  Etc.

AyrKnight:  ref your post....you have no clue as to what the Bible says; in fact,  you found the opposite!  Please don't become a judge or detective when you grow up!  LOL

[James S]

quote:Originally posted by onefromsomewhereelse
.... ever eat too much and then skip desserts for a few days to "teach yourself a lesson"?  Etc.

Oooh...that is a harsh punishment, especially if chocolate is involved! I'm not sure I'd have the strength of will to be able to chastize myself this severely![]

[]
James.

[kevin777]

What is meant by "God is Love" as it is written in any Bible?

[sweetbliss]

Hi everyone!
Love is what one feels, that is meant by God being Love: that we have to feel Him, to be connected to Him and to enjoy His presence and loveliness in order to grasp the tiniest of His qualities.


I wish to share with all of you one little poem, written last year by a 10 year old girl... Please, enjoy it!


God is love

'God is love, peace and calmness
Is He also illusion, despair and destruction?
He is fearlessness, courage and mastery,
But most of all God is love.

He is the protector, helper and guide,
He is our fearless soldier,
Walking constantly by our side,
But most of all God is love.

If ever you need Him,
For anything at all,
Remember He will give it,
For all He is, He is love.'


Much Love to all of His reflections...

Ana-Maria

[Telos]

Switch it around. Say, "Love is God," and replace the word "God" with "Love" everywhere you see it.

Love is omniscient. Love is omnipotent. Love is in everyone. Love is the creator of all things.

Love loves us all.

[J.K.]

I believe God is love, but not in the sense of romantic love (which is often not actually love but projection or attachment) or love in the sense of paternal love, love one might have for a friend, etc..

Rather, I see God's love as being the state of no desire.  Since desire is created by the ego the way to experience God's love is to transcend the ego and enter into the state of God - (i.e. union with god, end of self-separateness, being the whole, rather than a separated individual entity).. - - When you are everything, you can lack for no thing.  And to me this is what we mean when we say God is love - no matter if we do so through a Christian lens or any other lens.

With regard to the comments raised previously, I also wanted to add that I agree - at least in a sense.  Read literally and as a historical account I'm not sure how the Bible could lead one to the the conclusion that God is love.  Especially in the Old Testament, we see quite the opposite - and the New Testament doesn't quite clear things up either.

IMHO, if that's the way it works (as it's often portrayed by literal 'bible believing Christians) - mankind it to Heaven is not a time to sing and rejoice.  It's a time to cry..     Who among us could find within ourselves a time for joy and singing while knowing that many of our brothers and sisters remain suffering..?

Nevertheless, I'm able to remain quite comfortable in my Christian faith - despite all that.  The reason, I believe, is because I understand that  the Bible - both old and new testament - presents fact and allegory side by side with nothing to distinguish between the two, save the spiritual insight of the reader.  I also believe the Bible, including the New Testament, does not portray a story of eternal preservation and victory of the ego - but rather the transcendence of it.

Or put more clearly - I'd make a rather poor fundamentalist..     lol

[jilola]

I interpret  "God is love"  as follows:
You are All. When you Love you are God. God is the state of you expressing your Love.
I don't think the sentence refers to God being a separate entity but rather a state of our being.

2cents & L&L
jouni