| "It is plain," it has been said, "that the idea of love occupies anot to say thecentral place in Christianity, both from a religious and an ethical point of view."1 Yet at the heart of this central notion a crucial obscurity persists. "Agape'' calls for love of neighbor as well as love of God, and for love of God shown through love of neighbor. How, though, is this neighbor-love to be conceived? As chapter 1 documents, Christians past and present have understood agape's call to service of others in half a dozen different, incompatible ways. To date, however, these conflicting conceptions have not been identified and listed, nor have they been systematically compared and assessed, so as to discern their implications and determine their respective credentials. Each of the six variants has had its adherents. Each has been argued for in preference to some other. But none has been validated through a systematic sifting of all six rival positions. Thus, strange as this assertion may sound after nearly two millenia of Christian emphasis on agape, the Christian norm of neighbor-love offers relatively virgin territory for inquiry. |
| The present exploration of this territory, in the manner suggested, will be both theological and philosophical, and hence should interest both Christians and non-Christians. After reaching a tentative Christian solution on the basis of Scripture and tradition, I shall examine the views of philosophers, since they have come at the issue more analytically than theologians have. However, even philosophical literature contains no treatment as comprehensive as that forced on me by Christians' rich and varied thinking through the centuries. My hope is that readers will find the scrutiny of this richness and variety intellectually stimulating, practically significant, and spiritually challenging, as I have. |
| The study's structure is simple: Three brief introductory chapters prepare three longer chapters of inquiry, and a final chapter assesses the significance of the verdict reached. |
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