LOVE: That disinterested and unselfish relation between persons, in which the personality of the one is lost in the other, in which each esteems the other better than himself (Phil. ii. 3). It is not only one of the most comprehensive of BiblicalChristian conceptions, having basal signiflCanCe for dogmatics and ethics, but it also occupies a prominent place in the philosophy and literature of all . peoples and times.

When John says, " God is love,, (I John iv. 16), he does not mean to give a metaphysical definition' of the essence of God, but to state God's feelings toward us. At the same time, the woods open a profitable field of speculation in regard to the part love holds in the divine constitution. Augustine first, Richard of St. Victor next, and, after him, others, have endeavored to reconstruct the Trinity by the principle of love. Thus, the Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father (rednmctndo); both loves are united in love for an object of common affection (corulilectio), that is, in the Holy

Spirit. But the attempt has been unsuccessful; Lp~0 C~,~p~R: Presbyterian; b. at Csr- for the Holy. Spirit is a factor, not merely $ p~_ difi' in GI 1 , 818; educated at New uct, of the divine love; and, besides, in the pro- Inn Hall, Oxford, 1635. After taking the master's Lourdes Love

posed scheme, the persons of the Godhead are not sufficiently distinguished. Yet it is undoubtedly true that love is a large element of the divine essence; and later theologians, as, for instance, Dorner, in discussing the problem of the Trinity, give it much space.

Love is a basal principle in creation, in redemption, and in Christian ethics. God created the world in order that he might have a field for the exercise of his love; not that the world was necessary in any way; but it delighted him to make the world and to fill it with creatures whom he could love; and God so loved the world that he sent his Son to die for it (John iii. 16). The Son, out of his free, divine love, laid down his life for our salvation (Matt. ax. 28). God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself (II Cor. v. 19); and this love of God in Christ is the only and exclusive ground of our salvation and of our sanctification (Acts iv. 12). Love is the source and center of the development of the new life in Christ. It is the chief of the Christian virtues. Our Lord set his approval upon the Mosaic summary of the law in the form of love to God and man (Matt. axii. 3740; cf. Deut. vi. 5; Lev. aia. 18), and gave his followers the "new commandment," that they should love one another (John aiii. 34). Paul calls love "the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. x111. 10), and "the end of the commandment" (I Tim. i. 5); Peter exhorts to love as the fruit of holy living (I pet. i. 22; II Pet, i, 7); John ig particularly full open love (I John ii. 5, iv. 7, 8), and James calls love of our neighbors "the royal law" (Jas. ii. 5, 8).

Love manifests itself in the two great directions, toward God and toward our neighbor, or in the contemplative and in the practical form; the former seen in Mary of Bethany, the latter in her sister Martha (Luke x. 38-42). Our Lord gave his preference to the former. It shows itself in prayer, meditation, worship, and in the communion. The practical form manifests itself in all works of benevolence and beneficence, far and near. It is incumbent upon the Christian to unite the two. The hardest burden our Lord lays upon his disciples is to love their enemies (Matt. v. 44). Among human relationships controlled by love, marriage occupies the first place (Eph. v. 22-$31) 11 ~

no tewofthp that !be apo$1 who drew such a close parallel between conjugal love and the "great mystery" of Christ's love for the Church should treat married life so realistically (I Cor, vii.). True love can exist only between rational bejng8, To speak of love for animals or of love for a thing, is to use improper language. Self-love is also an inaccurate but indispensable term, What passes for

love in literature and on the stage is too commonly

mere sexual longing. Love for gold (I Tim. vi. 10)

and love for the world (I John 11.15) are Perversions of love, to its destruction.

Karl Burger.