God as Love

• philosophically, the reality of evil challenges claims that god is omnibenevolent, but christians nevertheless trust in god's love from their own experience and on the basis of biblical teaching
• the Old Testament uses the Hebrew term hesed, often translated as 'steadfast love', to depict god's dependable commitment to the covenant with Israel
• the new testament equivalent of hesed is the greek word agape, which denotes god's selfless, self-giving, generous and unconditional love for humanity
• according to the writer of 1 John, 'god is love'- 1 John 4:8
• agape is part of the nature of the trinity
• because they are created in god's image, human relationships have agape at their heart

  • hence Jesus' two greatest commandments: love of god and love of neighbour
  • agape was central to fletcher's situation ethics