Celebrated my cuz's birthday at my Grandma's yesterday... had my first taste of port. Found the taste too sweet to my liking... realised why they call it a dessert wine. Anyway, picked up the copy of the New Paper on Sunday and started flipping through it. Was once more convinced that the New Paper is a trashy tabloid... save for their excellant sports coverage. But came across this article that made me cringe and gasp...
Love is being taught in Shanghai now... read on...
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/story/0,4136,72067,00.html?
Sad that we can't freely teach what REAL LOVE is. But for those in NTUCF & NIECF, press on with the PRC's! :) For the rest of us, let's press on with whoever the Lord places in our path. We need to share with others what Love is all about
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1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (ESV)
How true! When China shuts its doors to God, it also shuts out true love.
agreed
So, to have taught the nature and the beauty of the love between a man and a woman is a bad thing? In no way am I speaking here of physical love (sex), and reading the linked article I do not think that Jane Eyre and the other references spoken of would be either.
No, sirs, with respect for the enthusiasm that you have for your religion, there is something missing here. Perhaps you could explain for me...
"Is there a difference in Mandarin between what is known in English as "love" and "romance""
"love" for me is the emotional foundation of the relationship between my wife and I. It is the "glue" that keeps us together.
"romance" is the emotion behind buying my wife a bunch of flowers, a dinner with candles and a nice wine, a slow walk in the park, or watching the sun set.
Neither of these two have anything to do with religion.
Or have I missed the point and you are trying to tell me I should not love my wife as I do, and that I should love your god instead?
In Greek, there are at least 3 words for "love" in English - agape for the type of love that God shows to us and which we are to show to others, phileo (as in Philedelphia) for brotherly love, and eros for erotic love. When we talk of true love, it's agape we speak of.
Which is a very neat and tidy way of avoiding the question and at the same time creating a feeling of arrogant superiority because I do not speak the same greek as you. You see, I am a very simple man. I ask what I think are simple questions, and hope to get simple answers. What i got this time around is a very short exposition in the meaning of ancient greek words.
For my part, I am not qualified to expound upon the nature of the love of any god. But then the article that started this debate was not either.
I asked two simple questions which, I humbly thought, someone might be able to answer. Apparently not. ODHSNM...
Well, it is going to take one heck of a lot for anyone, all of you included, to stop me from loving my wife in the way that I do. I personally hope that the education programme written of in the article is successful.
If it has the effect of increasing the love and respect between future husbands and wives, and their married children, then it will go well beyond my hopes. If one or two future couples find the same happiness as my wife and I from "learning" of the true love and romance between man and woman then the programme will have been successful.
I agree with you on that. It's just a tragedy that love has to be taught.
As to my previous comment, it was to answer your question on whether love in mandarin has 2 meanings. The Christian Bible was partially written in Greek, which was why I showed the differences in the types of love. Not to show off any linguistic superiority, of which I have none.
Anyway, as you asked in your comment, there is a difference in mandarin between love and romance. Romance is more a feeling or emotion as you pointed out in your comments, while true love is expressed in actions, it's more than a feeling. Hence, your sacrifice of time and money to "buy (your) wife a bunch of flowers, a dinner with candles and a nice wine, a slow walk in the park, or watching the sun set." could be an expression of that.
However, Christians contend that the supreme love is demonstrated by God's sacrifice of his only Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for us, his undeserving, sinful, rebellious creatures. Hence, we only know true love if we know God and his love for us.
Not trying to demean any human love between men.
Hey probligo,
firstly, am glad that the love you have for your wife is strong :) not many people have that kind of love nowadays... sad...
Well, the love between a man and a woman is a wonderful love. In fact, its also one of the strongest! However, the point that I was trying to bring forth was that however wonderful this love is, its not a perfect love. Its not an Agape(unconditional) love.
Rather, as mentioned earlier, and as you would have heard many times in the dominant Christian environment you are in, that kind of unconditional love was manifested in the ultimate sacrifice that my Lord Jesus made for me. My sins put Him on that cross. And, the ability for us to love sources from that love that was displayed. Our ability to love comes from a God who IS love.
I found it a tragedy that love between a man and a woman had to be taught as what we need to hear first of all is the kind of love God had for us. From there on, our love for our wives, girlfriends, friends will take on a fresh, new perspective. It will definitely strengthen our love for them and thus, our relationships will strengthen too :)
Thanks for your comments and sharing so far probligo! The points you have brought up are indeed interesting and food for thought :)
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