The Model of Love

Religious believers understand the meaning of their lives and of the world in terms of the way these are related to God. How, Vincent BrÜmmer asks, does the model of love apply to this relationship? He shows that most views on love take it to be an attitude rather than a relationship: exclusive attention (Ortega y Gasset), ecstatic union (nuptial mysticism), passionate suffering (courtly love), need-love (Plato, Augustine) and gift-love (Nygren). In discussing the issues, BrÜmmer inquires what role these attitudes play within the love-relationship and examines the implications of using the model of love as a key paradigm in theology.