Philosophy of Love

Philosophy of Love

  • Submitted By: jdoelove
  • Date Submitted: 04/26/2013 9:34 AM
  • Category: Philosophy
  • Words: 1499
  • Page: 6
  • Views: 95

Love has been defined as “an intense feeling of deep affection” or “to feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone).” It is an emotion that has been simplified, mystified, and tragically reduced to secular interpretation. To understand the real concept of love is to yearn for perfect love. This perfect love is defined by that late scholar Diogenes Allen, as an apprehension of things in their particularity as worthy of attention and love in their own right, quite independently of any usefulness they may have for the apprehending self. In a general sense, perfect love is that which has no specific target and is, thus, inclusive of all that surrounds us. It is the love that brings us all into one entity so that the “I” is no different from the “you.” It is the love that sees the creator in all of us. The nature of perfect love is moving away from a self-centered stance and live with the awareness of the presence of God in all things including ourselves. It is this concept of perfect love that people must strive toward. "The more our life is disciplined by attentiveness to others, and the more we cultivate an awareness of the inability of the world to give us the fulfillment that we crave, the deeper and clearer is our awareness of God's presence” The spiritual disciplines that Christian theologian Richard Foster presents can help us in our quest of knowing perfect love. The four inward disciplines—mediation, prayer, fasting, and study—improve a person’s spiritual life. The four outward disciplines—simplicity, solitude, submission, and service—reveal what people need to do to improve the world around them. The last four corporate disciplines—confession, worship, guidance, and celebration—allow people to focus on the relationships within the community and growing closer to God. The purpose of the spiritual disciplines is a way of putting us where God can work within us and guide us down the path of perfect love.
The four inward disciplines that Foster...

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