AGAPE

Greek Agape, in the New Testament, the fatherly love of God for man, as well as man's reciprocal love for God. The term necessarily extends to the love of one's fellow man. The Church Fathers used agape in the sense of love feast to designate both a rite (using bread and wine) and a meal of fellowship to which the poor were invited. The historical relationship between the agape, the Lord's Supper, and the Eucharist is still uncertain. Some scholars believe the agape was a form of the Lord's Supper and the Eucharist the sacramental aspect of that celebration. Others interpret agape as a fellowship meal held in imitation of gatherings attended by Jesus and his disciples; the Eucharist (emphasizing Christ's death) is believed to have been joined to this meal later but eventually to have become totally separated from it. The possibility that Jesus may have given a new significance to Jewish ritual gatherings of his day has complicated the problem of interpretation.