WOF 480: Are We Required to Love Everyone Equally?
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Mar 10, 2025
Is love in Christianity truly equal for everyone? The podcast explores diverse types of love, from familial bonds to loving one's enemies. It questions the moral obligations we hold towards different relationships. The concept of 'neighbor' is dissected, revealing how obligations shift depending on circumstances. Insights on self-love and forgiveness are discussed, along with the influence of love in evangelization. The balance between personal responsibilities and caring for others in need adds depth to the conversation.
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insights INSIGHT
Understanding Love
Love means willing the good of the other, according to Thomas Aquinas.
Loving God means ordering our will to His supreme goodness, and loving our neighbor follows from loving what God loves.
insights INSIGHT
Degrees of Love
We don't love everyone with the same intensity or in the same way.
God loves all creatures, but to different degrees, based on the good He wills for them.
insights INSIGHT
Love of Self
Loving yourself means willing your own good.
Examples include protecting yourself when crossing the street or getting a checkup.
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Are Christians required to love everyone equally? This question has recently become a matter of public and even political debate. So how should we answer? It seems necessary to ask what “loving thy neighbor” means in practice; for example is the love between friends, the love between spouses, the love within a family, the love among compatriots, and even the love of an enemy all the same kind of love? Do these relationships all entail the same kinds of moral responsibilities? Might it be reasonable to say, for example, that we have a greater obligation to care for our own children over others’ children, our own friends over strangers, and our own country over other countries? If so, however, how can Christians coherently claim that we love all people equally?
A listener asks how to forgive and let go of bitterness. I help my kids return to church?
00:00 | Introduction 01:43 | Bishop Barron’s recent trip to London 02:08 | Understanding love in the great commandments 03:50 | Love for specific relationships 06:13 | Properly framing love of self 06:58 | Love your enemies 08:03 | Critiquing love as granting another’s desires 09:07 | The distinct love for God 11:17 | Who is my neighbor? 12:55 | Ordo amoris: the order of love 17:52 | Equal regard vs. equal treatment 20:36 | Is it ever okay to circumvent ordo amoris? 22:20 | Does the Good Samaritan counter ordo amoris? 23:40 | Does Luke 9:60 counter ordo amoris? 26:52 | The evangelical impact of understanding love 27:43 | Listener question 29:54 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
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