The Agape-based Philosophy of the Rebellious Rabbi from Nazareth
Spiritual teachers leave behind commandments. A commandment is a rule of life. In Judaism, for example, there are 613 commandments, of which ten (Decalogue) are called fundamental; in Islam, where they are called ‘pillars’, there are five. With Jesus, strictly speaking, there is only one commandment: the commandment of love. The others are there to support this commandment.
Love as a rule of life
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:36-39
Love for God and love for your neighbor as for yourself are generally not considered specifically Christian commandments. These commandments also exist in Judaism, but they are not connected there. Their union is the expression of a religious philosophy that is different from Judaism.
Many of Jesus’ statements give the impression that he did not see it as his mission to renew Judaism at all. He wanted to offer a completely new attitude towards life, oneself and religion. And this vision of life was not only destined for the chosen people of Israel, but for everyone who “has ears to hear”.
The organic connection between love for God and love for one’s neighbor is specific to Christianity. In this way, love for one’s neighbor becomes more than an ethical rule of conduct in the Gospel, it is also spiritually charged here. Love for one’s neighbor is the most important and direct expression of love for God here: what one person does to another, he also does to God.
In the Old Testament, the commandment to love one’s neighbor is among the other commandments and sounds different because the context is different:
Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:17-18
Agape
Since time immemorial, people have helped each other, some out of compassion, others because it is the right thing to do, and still others so that they will no longer be bothered by ‘poor souls’. It is not necessary to love the person you help. In what sense is Christian charity actually love?
All texts from the New Testament have been handed down to us in Ancient Greek. In that language, the English word ‘love’ has a number of analogies.
There is eros – sensual attraction or passionate love; philia refers to love in friendship, stogo (or pragma) means love for the family and relatives, and finally there is agape, which is love for all from a feeling of inner connection with other people. In the Gospel, charity is precisely indicated by this word, as is love for God.
It is not simply compassion. It is agape that lies behind helping those who need it, supporting those who have erred, forgiving those who have done evil, as well as the selflessness with which all these and other good deeds are performed.
From a scientific point of view, love for our neighbors as for ourselves contradicts the laws of nature. The equality between oneself and others as a fundamental attitude in life does not seem to be compatible with the most important instinct of all living beings: the instinct of self-preservation. But agape is not a natural phenomenon like instincts; it lifts man above his instincts. Agape is the counterpart of instinct.
Every spiritual tradition enables people to see themselves and life from a larger perspective, one in which they are not only a part of nature and society, but also have a transcendent destination”. From this perspective, instincts are only ‘the little I’: that which is inherent to our materiality. In the same way, man in the Gospel is not only material, he is also the embodiment of the Spirit. The embodiment of the Spirit who has a different purpose than other living beings.
Jesus valued love for our neighbors more than rituals and sacrifices. In his time, a religion without such activities was unimaginable.
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24
It is clear that agape is the ultimate, which can only be achieved slowly and with difficulty. This was also experienced by the apostles, the first preachers of Christianity who, according to Christian tradition, were chosen by Jesus himself to spread his teaching throughout the world.
This is an excerpt from the letter written by the apostle Paul to the followers of Jesus on the Greek island of Corinth. In this letter he explains agape:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2
And here is the confession of that same apostle Paul from his letter to the Romans:
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Romans 7:18-19
As oneself
The second part of the commandment on love speaks about love for our neighbors. We should love our neighbors as ourselves. Love your neighbor as yourself is often shortened to just as love your neighbor. It is assumed that this is the same thing. But shortening the commandment to those three words changes its meaning. “Love your neighbor” only refers to love for that neighbor. “Love your neighbor as yourself” also presupposes love for yourself. Love for yourself that should not be greater than that for others, but also not less. Love your neighbor as yourself: this is about equality between you and all others.
However, the main Christian confessions endorse a different attitude towards the self and towards others: loving others is good, but loving yourself is bad. Self-love is one of the greatest sins in Christianity. Broadly speaking, a true Christian should not love himself but regard himself as a sinner, repent of his sins and ask God for forgiveness and grace. The practice of the church consists of the education, the maintenance and the service of such self-awareness. It is seen by the guardians of the church as a good means in the fight against ‘pride’, which is known in modern terms as egoism.
Any psychologist will say that this is a bad idea. The feelings of guilt and the fear of punishment for sins that Christians live with are destructive, and destructive feelings have never done anyone any good. Nor are they able to destroy human egoism. We have factual proof of this: the two-thousand-year struggle that Christianity has waged in this way with human egoism has not made Christians or their descendants any less egoistic than the followers of other religions.
I am mentioning all of this only because the ecclesiastical explanation of the commandment to love our neighbors has become the general consensus on the matter. Moreover, this representation is seen as the only correct and only possible one, even though this commandment itself also allows for a different understanding of its essence. Why is there this comparison: “as yourself?” In ecclesiastical Christianity no meaning is attached to it. However, if we do focus on it, then a completely different antidote to egoism arises.
Let us once again connect this most important commandment in Christianity with the psychology of egocentrism. It is inherent in this psychology to put oneself forward in relation to others. Egoism means that you love yourself more than others, that you think more of yourself than of others, that you do more for yourself than for others. Showing remorse for such an attitude towards yourself does not essentially change this attitude. Egoism can only be tackled at the root if you consciously place yourself on an equal level with others. This equalization is therefore the essence of loving your neighbor as yourself. When this form of love begins to determine the behavior of people, egoism in their relationships is automatically eliminated.
Egocentrism arises from our natural tendency to isolate ourselves from others and to provide for our own needs. To a certain extent, egocentrism is inherent in all of us. When this self-centeredness reaches its peak, a person ceases to perceive reality outside the circle of his own interests.
Since being egocentric narrows one’s consciousness, all spiritual traditions see it as an obstacle to experiencing transcendent reality and therefore teach their followers to overcome it. In other words, they learn to overcome the natural tendency to separate from others and they learn not to identify one’s own personality with one’s own ego.
This ‘point of view’ is also contained in the Commandment on love, but it is not on the surface. From one perspective it becomes visible, from another it is not.