Is there a commandment to love your parents?
score:2
No, there is no specific commandment to, 'love,' your parents.
Neither the Hebrew, 'ahav,' or the Greek, 'agape,' which may fairly be described as, 'love,' are commanded with regard to parents. We are however commanded to both, 'ahav,' and, 'agape,' almost everyone else, from The Lord to our enemies.
I guess it is assumed that we will love our parents regardless, and only have to be commanded to honour / fear / obey them.
Ahav: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H157&t=KJV
Agape: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G25&t=KJV
As to, 'honouring,' parents in the Ten Commandments, the root word is, 'kavod,' which implies weight, glory, or wealth. We are commanded to obey our parents as people who deserve great respect, but not to love them in the emotional sense.
Ex 20:12 Ex 21:15 Ex 21:17 Lev 19:3 Lev 20:9 Deu 5:16 Deu 21:18-21 Mat 19:17-19 Mar 7:9-13 Eph 6:1-2 (incomplete list, various root words)
However, honouring parents is secondary to obeying the Lord.
Deu 33:8-11 Mar 10:28-31 Luk 12:51-53 (incomplete list)
Upvote:0
Well its in the ten commandments so no its not just folk-religion. its also stated in Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing unto the lord. Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. or Exodus 20:1-17 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Upvote:1
What is "to love"?
"[To] love is to wish good to someone."1
The LORD says,
"He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”2
And his Apostle to the Gentiles in his letter to the Romans writes3,
Love for One Another
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Therefore to have God's commandments and keep them is to love God. And the proof that one loves their neighbor is in their keeping and not breaking the commandments that relate to neighbor. The first listed is,
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you."4
The "good" of father and mother from their children, established by God himself, is "honor" due to them.
Therefore honoring father and mother is loving father and mother and loving God [or at least not offending further] in keeping this commandment.
1. cf. Summa Theologica | New Advent > First Part of the Second Part > Question 26 > Article 4., Rom 15:1-3 (RSVCE) and CCC 1766 "To love is to will the good of another." All other affections have their source in this first movement of the human heart toward the good. Only the good can be loved. Passions "are evil if love is evil and good if it is good.". Please read also the entire Article 5 CCC 1762-1775.
2. cf John 14:21 (RSVCE).
3. cf. Rom 13:8-10 (RSVCE).
4. cf. Exod (RSVCE).
Upvote:1
In this context, it seems clear that "honor your parents" includes "love". But that does not imply, necessarily, feelings of affection. Jesus sharp words to the Pharisees about this commandment is instructive (Matt 15:3-6), and it focus on the "wealth" meaning of the Hebrew word. "But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,' they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it."
He is clearly talking about money or goods, not feelings of affection. This meaning is also captured in the English word "honorarium", which is money paid to someone honorable (for their service).
Jesus as Rabbi is opposed to the Pharisee teaching and says clearly that honoring father and mother includes, at least, providing for their material needs. Doing so is loving with actions (1 John 3:18). We clearly have the responsibility to love "our neighbor" (presumably including parents), and further with relatives to provide for them (1 Tim 5:8).
Upvote:1
Yes. We are commanded to love even our enemies, and specifically to care for our parents. This is a primary way in which we put our faith into practice, and people who neglect their parents cannot persist in the faith. In 1 Timothy 5:3-8, Paul is instructing a young pastor in caring for elderly widows in the Church.
Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
More post
- 📝 Who is "you" in Genesis 3:15 according to the Calvinist?
- 📝 Feast of the Holy Innocents traditions?
- 📝 What, if anything, is known about the practice of baptism for the dead in the early church?
- 📝 What is the Ontological Difference between the Catholic and the Orthodox View of God?
- 📝 Is there a term used by transgender Christians who don't want to transition because of their faith?
- 📝 Gates of hell lock forever. What does gates of hell mean?
- 📝 Which, in Catholic belief, is the higher form of prayer - the Lord's Prayer/Our Father, or the Eucharist?
- 📝 Late for Mass, can I still receive the Eucharist?
- 📝 What is the oldest surviving photograph of someone who was later canonized as a saint?
- 📝 Did the ante-Nicene Church fathers write in uncials?
- 📝 Is there an established concensus meaning of Vicarious Atonement?
- 📝 Does the creative "spoken word" of Jesus (e.g. Luke 18:42) demand a Young Earth Fiat Creation interpretation of Gen. 1:1?
- 📝 What could account for this 1990 radical change in belief about the German school of Higher Criticism (that began around 1860)?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church say that the plan of salvation includes Muslims?
- 📝 What is the Roman Catholic stance on levitation?
- 📝 Do Jehovah’s Witnesses recognize marriage out of their religion?
- 📝 Is There Any Database for Catholics to Determine if particular Corporations and Organizations are Good Moral Choices for Donation or Investment?
- 📝 Are brief blasphemous deliberate thoughts a mortal sin according to Catholicism?
- 📝 What is the role of the Three Persons of the Godhead in creation?
- 📝 How did the disciples' view of the messiah evolve?
- 📝 What is a "just cause" in the context of Code of Canon Law, Canon 308?
- 📝 Praise and Worship, what is the difference?
- 📝 What did salvation mean to the Israelite people of the OT?
- 📝 What is the significance of Jesus' spitting on the ground in the book of John?
- 📝 How can Psalm 137:9 be defended?
- 📝 How do you equate Christian teachings with certain worldly(non Christian) achievements/attitudes?
- 📝 According to Eastern Orthodoxy why did we inherit the sin of Adam and Eve?
- 📝 Did the city of Nazareth exist in the time of Jesus?
- 📝 Which cup of wine did Jesus tell his disciples to drink during the Last Supper?
- 📝 Did Arius say that the Son is mutable?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is there a commandment to love your parents?
- 📝 Are there any Biblical passages that say that devil is able to make you doubt your faith?
- 📝 Are there any Christian sects that say salvation is based, in whole or in part, on your response to Jesus on Judgment Day?
- 📝 Is there a specific purpose in placing a hot coal to your lips?
- 📝 Is there an instance of parents lying to their children that was approved by God in the Bible?
- 📝 Are there circumstances where to "love your neighbor as yourself" also means you put him ahead of you?
- 📝 What is the source of the idea that there will be a window in heaven to watch your enemies burn in hell?
- 📝 (Jehovah's Witnesses) What reason(s) is there to actually love God?
- 📝 Is "You cannot love your neighbour unless you love yourself" a form of antinomianism?
- 📝 Are there any Bible verses about 'Being on your Knees' that do not specifically mention praying?
- 📝 Is "There's more sanctity in a dog's loyalty than there is in all your human laws." a quote from the Holy Bible?
- 📝 Can there be free will in heaven?
- 📝 Why are there so many translations of the Bible?
- 📝 What evidence is there that Jesus was a carpenter?
- 📝 Is there any Biblical Basis for 400 years of silence between Old and New Testament?
- 📝 Why are there different divisions of the Ten Commandments?
- 📝 What reasons does Christianity give for "Why There Must Be A God?"
- 📝 Are there multiple levels to Heaven, for different levels of reward?
- 📝 Does the Trinity share one mind or are there three separate minds?
- 📝 Are there any examples of sarcasm in the bible?
- 📝 Should we love Satan since he is our greatest enemy?
- 📝 When did "tithing" come to mean "giving 10% of your gross income to the Church"?
- 📝 Is there evidence that Isaiah 53 was viewed as a Messianic prophecy within Judaism, or is it an exclusively Christian interpretation?
- 📝 What is the Biblical evidence that there are ONLY three persons in the "Trinity"?
- 📝 From where does the doctrine that there is no time in heaven originate?
- 📝 Is there a Biblical basis for not believing that Global Warming is occurring?
- 📝 Are there Old Testament Scriptures that mention salvation for the Gentiles?
- 📝 Is there any account of a religious marriage ceremony in the scripture?
- 📝 Are there theological explanations for why God allowed ambiguity to exist in Scripture?
- 📝 Are there theological differences between the Greek Orthodox church and the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox church?
