THE CONCEPT OF LOVE IN THE BIBLE

The present paper deals with essence, structure and manifestations of love in the Bible, through concepts of love in the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as through consideration of their relationship. The key message of the Scripture is that God has created the world out of love, and that everything created lies in that love forever. However, the notion of love in the Bible is not simple. The Bible speaks of God's transcendent love, and human, created love, and a question is posed of the relationship between them. In addition, the Bible speaks about many manifestations of love for God, love for oneself and love for fellowmen. The author shows that, according to Scripture, all that manifestations of love essentially constitute the same love. The basic premise is that the notion of love that appears in the Bible is something essentially new and unique, both in relation to the concepts of love that preceded it, and in relation to those that came after it.