A look at contemporary reality

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about love - perhaps much more than in any other era. Almost everyone talks of love. However, the intense love in our day has nothing to do with authentic love, as we shall see, nor is it consistent with the facts of reality. To be precise, our age is characterized by an almost complete absence of this virtue. This is confirmed by the ongoing wars with undiminished intensity, the systematic exploitation and impoverishment of peoples, the massification of societies, the exacerbation of social problems, the coldness of human relations, the isolation of people, the indifference to one's neighbor and many other things.  But who are the ones that speak of love today and in what manner?

Most certainly the Church speaks of love, which, as always, strives to convey the message of Christ's love to the contemporary world. The Lord spoke of a 'new commandment' that He gave to the world - the commandment of love (the commandment to love one another, John 13:34). On another occasion, when asked about the greatest commandment, He said that the first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your being. And the second, similar to the first, is to love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang “all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:35-40), that is, all the other commandments or virtues. Throughout the New Testament and in other sacred texts of the Church, love is constantly promoted as the supreme Christian virtue.

However, the message of the Church - at least in its authenticity - seems to have minimal resonance in current everyday life. In most cases it is confused and distorted. The majority of people, when they talk about love, they almost exclusively mean sexual relations, in all their forms, or at least they imply erotic relationships. Many believe that Christ's word regarding love includes all these cases!  But when the Church projects Her fixed position that prostitution, adultery, homosexuality, etc. are serious sins, She is actually accused of “a lack of love”(!!), of obscurantism, of heartlessness, etc.  According to contemporary perception, the so-called “free relations” are acts of love: fornication is an act of love, adultery is an act of love, the abandonment of the family for a third person is an act of love (towards that third person), homosexuality is an act of love, the parallel relations within marriage with the knowledge and tolerance of the spouses (this too occurs, unfortunately!) are an “overflowing” of love.  Polygamy is another “surge” of love, shared with a number of persons, etc..

In the contemporary heresies (obviously in the older ones also), the all-too-familiar phenomenon of “love bombarding” is observed in the process of approaching and converting new members to special groups: “Here you will discover the ideal community, where everyone loves you, everyone is willing to embrace and support you, where you will find true warmth, affection and kindness...”  are the promises advertised by these new organizations in various ways (flattery, hugs, touching, songs, games, etc.), in their attempt to create the illusion of a home and a friendly environment. However, their “love bombarding” is actually a form of manipulation that leads to psychological dependence - as psychologists assure us. Through this means, the prosyletes’ need to fully surrender to the group is greatly strengthened; when this happens, things are reversed and that “love” eventually proves to be psychological terrorism and forced compulsion that ensures complete submission to the group!

Then there are the archaeo-worshiping groups - specifically those focused on the abolition of Christianity and the return to ancient Greece’s polytheistic and idolatrous religion, by promulgating unsubstantiated assertions that Christianity is destroying the ideal world of life, of light and of love which supposedly thrived in ancient Greece, and has been imposing deprivation and darkness, changing every (ancient) value into something worthless; it is a major curse and a perversion,  by imposing sexual oppression; it is a religion of loveless obscurantists, etc..

In environments beyond the traditional Orthodox world, such as in the so-called Western civilization, we encounter an... excuse for love, a façade of nobility and kindness, which is quite impressive. When an Orthodox associates with Europeans or Americans, they often form the impression that they have surpassed even the major Fathers or the the important Ascetics of the Orthodox Church in these virtues! However, their deeds completely contradict their words and their behavior.  Behind the mask of good manners and pretentious behavior, coldness, selfishness and indifference flourish.

Forms and degrees of love

Those who identify all the aforementioned cases to Christian love are ignorant of the simple fact that there are many forms and many degrees of love. “Love is often understood in many ways” (Clement of Alexandria); that is, love is understood in many and different ways!   Entirely different cases are found listed under the word “love”. As such, not all forms of love have the same value, nor do all of them constitute virtues. There are degrees – that is, higher and lower forms of love, and yet none of what we have mentioned identifies with Christian love; with Love, as Christ taught and wills it.

For example, exclusive self-love (the love of only one’s self) is neither a virtue nor does it identify with Christian love. On the contrary, the Fathers of the Church place it among the “giants of the passions”.

The love for money (avarice), of all kinds of pleasures (hedonism) and of glory (ambition) are also gigantic passions and are neither virtues nor do they identify with Christian love.

The Love for evil and sin is neither a virtue, nor does it identify with Christian love.

The love that keeps a group of robbers together, for the achievement of their common goal of stealing, is neither a virtue nor does it identify with Christian love. The same is true of any other form of love that is dictated by a common interest.

Love between friends is a virtue, but it is not the same as Christian love. The same applies to love between spouses in marriage. Human love is also not the same as Christian love (we have referred to this subject specifically, in another case in issue 72 of our publication). Love between parents and children is a natural state, but it too is not the same as Christian love.

Philanthropy and performance in “good works” or what is now called “activism” (volunteerism, individual or collective actions for human rights, for the improvement of living conditions, for the protection of the environment, etc.) are usually virtues, but they also do not identify with Christian love. The Apostle Paul clearly mentions that it is quite possible for one to offer all of his belongings or even surrender his body “to the fire” (sacrificing himself!) for the sake of fellow human beings, but clarifies that if he does it without love:  “If I give away all my belongings, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but I have no love, I have no benefit” (1 Corinthians 13:3)!

But what is Christian love and what are its characteristics? The issue, of course, is so huge that we can only touch on very few aspects of it here. From the words of the Lord in the Gospels it follows that genuine love, Christian love includes everyone and everything, even our enemies. This element in particular, love for one's enemies, is not found in any other form of love. However, it is not the only element of authenticity.  The Apostle Paul assures us that genuine love 'does not seek for itself' (1 Corinthians 13:5), that is, it does not seek reciprocation and does not expect a response. On the contrary, as we can see in practice, quite often the “reciprocation” to one’s love is ingratitude and hostility on the part of those who have benefited.

One of the most exquisite texts of the Patristic Tradition is the extensive work by Saint Maximus the Confessor (580-662 A.D.) titled “Chapters on Love”. There the Saint deals in detail with the matter of authentic love.  From almost the beginning of that opus, the following are clarified:

 a) That one cannot have love for their fellow man and for the world, if they have not first acquired love for God.

b) The acquisition of love for God is hindered by the presence of passions in the soul and the body of man.

c) The curing of the passions is a necessary prerequisite for the acquisition of love for God and love for man and the world.

In the larger part of the opus, Saint Maximus deals with the process of curing the passions;  that is, he expounds the therapeutic method of the Church, for the purpose of acquiring authentic love.

The Pre-Fall and the Fallen form of love

According to the above, all the known forms of love that we encounter in the world are a fallout from the genuine and authentic form of this virtue, or are substitutes for Christian love. However, their existence assures us that love, even in its lowest forms, is a universal phenomenon in humanity and a natural state or characteristic of man. Everyone seeks it, everyone has a need to love something, and everyone strives to be loved.

But how does the fallout from authentic love occur? In order to understand this, the following theological and anthropological prerequisites are necessary.

“God is love”, according to the Holy Bible (1 John 4:16). God is love! And since man is God's creation and has been created “according to the image” of God (Gen. 1:27), he too is love. He is a miniature or a depiction of God's love. Indeed, the Fathers of the Church teach us that from his creation, man possesses a natural power so characteristic that it almost identifies with his essence. Others call it “agape”, others “eros”, others “inclination”, others “will”, others “want”, etc., meaning more or less the same thing. It is characteristic that even the ancient Greek sages had discovered the existence of this power in man (see, for example, Plato's theory on “eros”).

However, this power functioned differently in the authentic, pre-Fall state of man (while man was living in Paradise), and functions differently after the fall of man. But how do we know what was happening in the pre-Fall state of man? We do know it of course, from the revelations by God Himself, as recorded in the Holy Bible and in other sacred texts - but we know it even more from the personal experience of the Saints.

Both over time and to this day, the Saints of the Church  actually attain the pre-Fall state of the First-fashioned couple (hence are very familiar with it); but they also surpass the state of the First-fashioned ones (as they have reached the state of the “likeness”).

In the pre-Fall state of man, therefore, all the power of love was directed towards God. God was the first and the par excellence “beloved”, “loved”, “inclination”, “desire”, “will”, etc. Being in this state - since man loves God first and foremost – then, through God, he loves all His creations, persons and things, without any distinction, unimpassioned and selflessly. According to the Fathers, the essence of the human fall lies in the fact that the power of love within man did not disappear with the Fall of the First-fashioned ones; it was only diverted, that is, it changed direction and destination: instead of being turned towards God, it is now turned towards man himself. Thus, the fallen or post-fall man loves himself first and foremost, and he “loves” everything that surrounds him, persons or things, even God - through himself! But what does that mean? It means he no longer loves all creatures indiscriminately, neither unimpassioned, nor selflessly as before, but now distinguishes between “friends” and “enemies”, “good” and “bad” things;  he regards as “friends” only those around him who satisfy him, and those who do not satisfy him or annoy him, he regards as “enemies”; The things that give him pleasure, he calls “good”, and those things that do not give him pleasure or harm him, he regards as 'bad'. That is why the Lord insisted that genuine love is also addressed to enemies: “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44 etc.)!

Thus man became connected to the environment almost exclusively, through his impassioned relationships. This is approximately the process by which the passions are born, according to the Orthodox Tradition. In this impassioned state, man passionately loves whoever and whatever he loves, and passionately hates whoever and whatever he hates.  Love in this state is not an authentic love, but an ailing one, as it is characterized by the elements of selfishness and self-interest. We are all carriers of this sickly love now.  If we all examine ourselves more deeply, we will find that we love selfishly and self-centeredly – that is, impassioned.  It is the kind of (improper) love, which seeks immediate reciprocation and correspondency - a “self-seeking” love, as elucidated by the Apostle Paul.

In order to better understand the above, let us keep in mind the definition that Saint Maximus the Confessor has given to the term “passion” (Greek: pathos). He characteristically states: “Passion is a movement of the soul contrary to nature - either in the form of an unreasonable love, or in the form of an uncritical hatred for someone/something that is tangible.”

Passion is an illness of the soul and an obstacle between God and man. The more a person is bound to strong impassioned relationships with persons or things of this world, the more he becomes alienated from God, and the more his impassioned relationships with persons or things of the world are relaxed, the stronger his relationship with God becomes. That is why the holy Fathers stress that in order for man to truly love God, he must “hate” the world.

Towards the authenticity of love

It is obvious that genuine love is far from being a mere emotional state, a human “feeling”. It is something much deeper and more substantial. It is possible for someone to love emotionally and enthusiastically, without having real love, simply because he loves with the sickly, post-Fall love. This kind of love definitely needs curing. The essence of a spiritual life, the very destiny of man, is, in one sense, the transformation of the impassioned and self-seeking love, which “seeks for itself” into an unimpassioned and unselfish love, which “does not seek for itself' (1 Corinthians 13:5). This presupposes, as we have seen previously, our catharsis-cleansing of passions, the curing of our passions.

How is this curing achieved? It can only be achieved through Christ (Christ is “the Healer of our souls and bodies”), with the will, of course, and with the contribution of man. Apart from Christ, there can be no cure for passions, nor genuine love! Christ, however, is active in the Church and through her Holy Mysteries. The Church and the Sacraments are the place and the way for the acquisition of authentic love. The Fathers emphasize in particular the healing energy of the Mysteries of Baptism, Confession and the Divine Eucharist: we are baptized “for the remission of sins” (Symbol of Faith); we confess for the resolution of our sins and we receive Holy Communion “for the remission of sins and for eternal life”.  However, the Mysteries do free us from sin, but they do not automatically cure the passions. The curing of the passions requires time, with the ascetic contribution of the person. Nevertheless, every participation in the Mysteries is a strong blow to the passions, until we are finally cured of them.

The more that man progresses in the process of cleansing (catharsis) of the passions and the restoration of wholesome and unconditional love, the more he approaches the “likeness” of God, “ Who is love” (1 John 4:16). But what does the expression 'God is love' mean? Does it mean that God is love per His Essence? We know that the Essence of God is completely inaccessible and incomprehensible to man, but also to angels, and is above every characterization and every name. However, it is the uncreated Energy of God that is revealed to us as Love: Love is the uncreated Energy of God, with which He creates, maintains and saves man and the world.

Therefore, as long as man strives to achieve authentic love, within the Church and the way that we mentioned, the more he partakes of the uncreated Energy of God, and the more he partakes of it, the more he is deified, that is, he becomes “alike to God” and “a god by grace”. If Love on the part of God is His uncreated Energy, the (authentic) love on the part of man is the deification-theosis of man. And if the Saints of the Church are in a state of theosis, then the Saints are the only ones who can love genuinely and authentically, exactly as Christ wants and does love us!

Translation:  A.N.