Receiving God's love

"Although the controversies of the Reformation dealt more with the definition of faith than with either hope or charity, the Reformers identified the uniqueness of God’s agape for man as unmerited love; therefore, they required that charity, as man’s love for man, be based not upon the desirability of its object but upon the transformation of its subject through the power of divine agape" (Encyclopædia Britannica).

"The life of faith is the vita passiva, living as trusting receivers of God's goodness whether that be in the realm of creation or redemption... By believing the serpent humanity falsely believes itself not to be the receiver of all that is good. As a result humans must stand in a relationship of rivalry and self-justification before God... I must claim [righteousness] on the basis of my own activity rather than my receptivity" (pp. 27, 28-29 of Jack Kilcrease, Logia 19 (4), 21-33).

Tags: Agapē motif

Log in