> No expert I, but my first impression upon reading these verses when the
> question arose was precisely what David has written here - that we have
> an excellent example of the words being used interchangeably. It seems
> to me that only by straining out lexical gnats and swallowing
> syntactical camels would one be able to generate an argument that could
> show that the apostle meant something different in the context of this
> verse between FILEW/FILADELFIA and AGAPE.
Expert I no, but a distinction I've been trying to make in my narrow studies is:
"Whereas eros desires its own species, agape desires outside its species.
Thus, eros is attraction for "sexual" generation: agape is asexual attraction.
Therefore, agape is used for the love of the creator for the created in the
New Covenant (Jn 3:16) and for the love between the heavenly Father and
the incarnated Son (17:24)."
Any comments? I wonder how well this holds up in a broader context.
Will Wagers taxis@gte.net "Reality is the best metaphor."