From: Natali (natali_home_w@ok.kz)
Date: Tue Feb 13 2001 - 10:43:29 EST
Dear B-greekers,
Thank you for opportunity to learn B-Greek and to share thoughts.
I'd try to make use of scientific approach as it is understood in natural
sciences:
If we have several assertions on one subject and each assertion have more or
less solid evidence, a researcher should not win over other points of view
and all the more not override them but should study the evidences and find
the overall assertion that involves all the other assertions as local ones,
and also should show when and how, under what circumstances (in what
context) each relatively local assertion naturally follows from the most
overall one.
It allows anyone to remain of the same one's opinion and with that to survey
overall.
The most overall determinations of FILEW and AGAPAW are, IMO, the following:
FILEW is to have love for someone or something, based on spontaneous
(instinctive, unreasoned, unaccountable) inner attraction and personal
attachment to a love object.
It is love that mostly appears and lives in warm (or hot) heart, friendship
feeling, bearing enjoyable friendly relations *without mind influence*,
without ordering or commandment. Just so such love has not imperative mood.
Sometimes spontaneous reactions and decisions are seemed to be thoughtless,
superficial and transient ones. But to make up for it, spontaneous
attraction-attachment love is often seen as highest gift that delivers
comparatively reliable and deep gratification, let on base of instinctive
(nature) level. So due to stable, of itself, self-restoring nature of FILEW
we have the wide-spread cognate nouns such as FILOS, FILIA and a lot of
compound nouns combined with FIL.
Well, all of this is a strong aspect of FILEW.
While important deficiency in such kind of love is (sometimes fatal) lack of
FILIA/FILOS when and where it is needed or desirable.
And people in FILIA/FILOS are generally stagnant, comparatively relaxed and
sometimes thoughtless indeed. They think FILIA/FILOS is available forever.
But FILWN tastes may change slowly, insensibly, or FILWN needs may transform
in transformed circumstances. Misunderstanding and even grief are may be
from it.
AGAPAW is to have (inferred) love based on sincere appreciation and high
regard (may be habitual or thoughtless) with affection and concern in love
that we usually *consider it to be*.
An object of AGAPAW is a chosen (perhaps in passing or as a
matter-of-course) point in order to strive for it and to fill one's own life
up by it. So AGAPAW exists due to speculative identification of love object
with one's own ego -- just "for good", in order to help gratification.
AGAPAW mostly appears and lives as commitment, under influence of mind
(intellect, reason, choice, setting strong preference, vogue, habits being
cultivated, opinion, understanding, craft, intuition, sagacity, foresight,
prudence, attention, regard, consideration, cognition, decision, overcoming
efforts, work, will, etc); that is mind plays a key part in love always or
maybe sometimes but as determinative. So AGAPAW has the imperative mood.
Far-sighted reactions and decisions are seemed to be thoughtful and profound
in such love approach, and they are apt to be thoughtful so that far-sighted
love commitment may be as entirely self-sacrificing and excruciating one.
(According to the word definition, we are committed if we have pledged
ourselves to a particular system of belief or course of action. Having
chosen our objects and priorities *voluntarily*, we become, none the less,
as though slaves of them, especially if chosen preferences are false and
rather strong.)
Yes, quite often AGAPAW requires selfless conduct when it is come to be
content with a little in looking for better, or in following our own
vocation, or in order to avoid all the worst when of all evils we
reluctantly choose the lesser (reformed by our commitment) but it isn't
obvious for another people. And then, indeed, love is filled with
incomprehensible self-sacrificing, patience and fortitude.
We give preferential love treatment for AGAPAW. That is we do not give
ourselves up to love according to spontaneous attraction but as if create
love
and find its wonderful gifts everywhere (!) in the world where our interests
spread:
Important problems are that AGAPAW can not exist constantly *in itself* as
FILEW, and AGAPAW demands from us to be observant and thoughtful but such
manner for gratification may put FILEW (with its sincerity and geniality)
off.
To prevent it we should delicately cognize so subtle interaction and mutual
aid of AGAPAW and FILEW that appears sense unity AGAPH-FILIA or simply AGAPH
with all FILIA values.
I'll try to show (in the following parts) that AGAPAW and FILEW are, IMO,
practically absolute synonyms only for God and His Son.
Christ has opened God's FILIA-AGAPH for us and has been showing its ideal,
thoughtful spreading all over the world by our cognizing of AGAPAW and FILEW
mutual adding and strengthening.
(Up! Up! It's just in process of eternal discovering for mind and heart!)
Reliable stay for a (light attitude of) sincere heart is important as much
as sincerely recognized life call to learn sagacity in heart deeds.
That *IS* Christ's call to become more and more sensitive for Him not only
in spontaneous attraction and inspiration but also in understanding,
thoughtful commitments and approaches.
I ask you to let me a little excursus : Situation with cognizing of AGAPAW
subtleties, more and more delicate ones, towards AGAPAW and FILEW unity, is
analogous to nature discrete-wave dualism as it is seen by physicists. That
is the more thin fragments of the world are involved into a proper delicate
investigation, the more wave (continuous) nature of fragments appears
*simultaneously* with their particle (discrete) nature. And such growing
continuity on a smallest scale allows access to see better the entire world
unity on any scale.
...And, IMO, there may be another context when meanings of AGAPAW and FILEW
overlap considerably, till virtual interchange. It takes place in case of
mindless (in itself) choice of one's evil commitment.
Any motive *without mind mediation* is really like demonstration of FILOS
attraction in its origin subtleties. But if under the guise of spontaneity
we have connivance to our own foibles and weakness, it is rather our
mindless (evil) choice of illness by way of perverted AGAPAW self-devotion.
______________________
It's continued in Part 2
---
B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
You are currently subscribed to b-greek as: [jwrobie@mindspring.com]
To unsubscribe, forward this message to leave-b-greek-327Q@franklin.oit.unc.edu
To subscribe, send a message to subscribe-b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Apr 20 2002 - 15:36:51 EDT