What is Love?
What is love?
Oh, baby, don't hurt me
Don't hurt me, no more
Oh, baby, don't hurt me
Don't hurt me, no more
What is love? Yeah-yeah
(Ooh, ooh)
No, I don't know why you're not there
I give you my love, but you don't care
So what is right and what is wrong?
Haddaway. What Is Love (1993).
Nestor (was he named after Nestorius?) Alexander Haddaway’s 90s discotheque banger asks the serious philosophical question, what is love? Being of Trinidad-and-Tobago (site of the first Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church plant in the Western Hemisphere in 1952 at the behest of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie to correct the errors of Rastafarianism in favor of Orthodoxy), Germany, the U.S., and separated parents of different races could have led him to this inquiry.
If I were your philosophy professor, I would begin our class discussion with time for you to reflect on this question first, in the quiet or noisy recesses of your mind, second, on paper, third, with your neighbor or stranger, and finally aloud together in a large group setting so that you could share your thoughts.
Alas, philosophy is wisdom-love (philo-sophia), and true-blue wisdom comes from God, revealed and uncovered for us in holy writ. And, in holy writ, your thoughts are not his thoughts, and your ways are not his ways, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are his ways higher than your ways, and his thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8,9). My rabbis who founded The Ephesus School Network, especially the flagship program The Bible as Literature broadcast, have taught me since 2014 that my studying of scripture is exceedingly incomplete without learning the original tongues which it was written in: Consonantal Hebrew and Aramaic, and Koine Greek. Though he is still maligned by the ignorant on social media, this is the main teaching of our chief rabbi the Very Rev. Dr Paul Tarazi who was the recent speaker at The Commencement of the Class of 2025 of St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary; where he taught for decades. Learn the original languages, make your interpretations of the text based on this knowledge, and teach others, especially your needy neighbor, strangers, and enemies.
This past Sunday, the priest celebrating as the main priest in the eucharistic liturgy read aloud the Gospel According to John Chapter 21 from verses 15 to the end. Let us examine the issues of reading in translation by comparison of three different English translations with the Greek. For the sake of depth, I will add Ge’ez and Amharic. Then, you decide.
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. (John 21:15-19 KJV; emphasis added)
When, therefore, they had breakfasted, Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He says to him, “Yes, you know that I love you.” He says to him, “Feed my little lambs.” A second time, he again says to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He says to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He says to him, “Shepherd my flocks.” The third time he says to him, “Simon son of John, do you cherish me?” Peter was aggrieved that this third time he had said, “Do you cherish me?” and he told him, “Lord, you know all things, you know that I cherish you.” Jesus says to him, “Feed my flocks. Amen, amen, I tell you, when you were younger you tied your clothes about yourself and went walking want about wherever you wished; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie your clothes about you and will take you where you do not wish.” And he said this signifying by what death he will give glory to God. And, saying this, he tells him, “Follow me.” (John 21:15-19 The New Testament: a Translation. David Bentley Hart (DBH). Yale University Press (2017); emphasis added)
So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter. “Simon, son of John,” he said, “do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Master,” he said. “You know I’m your friend.” “Well, then,” he said, “feed my lambs.” “Simon, son of John,” said Jesus again, for a second time, “do you love me?” “Yes, Master,” he said. “You know I’m your friend.” “Well, then,” he said, “look after my sheep.” “Simon, son of John,” said Jesus a third time, “are you my friend?” Peter was upset that on this third time Jesus asked, “Are you my friend?” “Master,” he said, “you know everything! You know I’m your friend!” “Well, then,” said Jesus, feed my sheep.” “I’m telling you the solemn truth,” he went on. “When you were young, you put on your own clothes and went about wherever you wanted. But when you are old, you’ll stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you up and take you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to indicate the sort of death by which Peter would bring God glory. And when he had said this, he added, “Follow me!” (John 21:15-19 The Kingfom New Testament: a Contemporary Translation. N.T. Wright. HarperCollins Publishers (2011); emphasis added)
When I first heard that I had to learn the original tongues, I did not have ears that hear. I was aggrieved. I was upset. No way. It did not make sense or cents that the Most High God would demand his hearers speak a specific tongue. After all, he is the universal god. This passage demonstrates apodeictically why we need to study Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic.
What is love? In many translations, the word for love is exclusively used in this heated back-and-forth between Jesus (Yahweh Saves; The Chief Cornerstone) and Peter (Cepha; The Stone). My understanding of Greek is more aspirational than real, and yet even I know there are at least three words for love (those of you who know more than me please add more in the comment section below): ἀγάπη (agape), φιλία (philia), and ἔρως (eros). Agape is unconditional and sacrificial. Philia, from whence we get philosophy and philanthropy (love of mankind) and Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7; the church and city of brotherly-love) is friendly and gregarious. Eros, from whence we get erotic and erotica, is sexual and romantic.
Jesus asks Peter do you agape me? Do you agape me? And Peter responds twice I philia you. Exasperated, Jesus asks him, do you philia me? Peter gets big mad and says you already know I philia you. DBH who is supposed to be obtusely literal (word-for-word) in his translation, renders agape as love and philia as cherishment. N.T. Wright, whose translation DBH abhors for being too dynamic ( thought-for-thought), also renders agape as love, then renders philia as friendship.
Ge’ez uses the verb ፈቀረ (f-q-r; to love) for both. Amharic uses ወደደ (w-d-d; to love), from whence the cognate in Hebrew d-w-d gives us דוד (Daweed or David; The Beloved). Wherever you see beloved in the New Testament, insert Davidic in your head, and see if it makes sense. In the context of prices of goods and services, the Amharic root here ውድ (wd) can mean expensive, from cherished or highly-valued.
It seems that Jesus expects Peter to find life in loving unto death. At this point in the story, Peter does not get it. And so the standard is lowered to at least loving in a friendly way. Are you ready to love unto death? How about a humiliating death?
A little fact checking here: There was no concept of "Rastafarianism" in Trinidad & Tobago in 1952, and that was distinctly NOT the motive for Haile Selassie I sending the EOTC into those countries.
The spiritual and religious affiliation of Diasporic Africans with Ethiopia has a very long history in the West, as evidenced in Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment of 1775, the Ethiopian Manifesto of 1829, and the subsequent widespread "Ethiopianist" movements in the Black Church and Masonic Orders. This love affair between the Ethiopians of the West and Ethiopians of the East was kindled by the glorious victory of Emperor Menilek over Italian aggressors in the Battle of Adwa, stoked during the media frenzy surrounding the Coronation of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I and Her Imperial Majesty Waleta Giorgis on November 2nd 1930, and culminated by the Ethiopian relief efforts of the 1930s during the 2nd Italo-Ethiopian War. It was this strong relationship between diasporic Ethiopians and the East African nation, evidenced in both financial and volunteer support during the war, that led to subsequent post-war correspondences and community organizing aimed at bringing the Ethiopian Church to the Western Hemisphere.
Furthermore, it has been explained in interviews with Trinidadian Rastafari Elder Bongo Grease, who was present at Haile Selassie I's visit to the Caribbean nation in 1966, that there were NO Rastafarians in the island at that time. He himself was a Pan-Africanist student during that era. Prior to the Emperor's Caribbean tour, the Rastafari groups that had begun in the USA in 1917 & 1918 were confined mainly to regions of New York and Jamaica.
In fact, many Rastafari leaders in those two regions were amongst those who agitated for His Majesty to send the Church to the West, including Joseph Nathaniel Hibbert ("Father Hibbert"), one of the four original street preachers and evangelists of Rastafari operating in Jamaica from the early 1930s. He later brought his entire congregation to be baptized when the Jamaican Mission was consecrated in 1970, and was named a "Spiritual Organizer" by Abba Mandefro (later Abuna Yesehaq).
A cohesive doctrine of "Rastafarianism" has never existed. This is not a term that is self-applied by Rastafari, but rather an academic term that has been used by outsiders to refer to their own perceptions of the movement, and to serve their own characterizations and criticisms. There are, however, diverse interpretations of the Rastafari Movement and Rastafari Culture, some of them religious in nature. Some may be said to contain "errors", from an Orthodox Christian standpoint, but others not. In fact, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has been viewed by traditional Rastafari Ancients as one of the pillar institutions of the movement. This is evidenced in the writings of Abuna Yesehaq, who claimed that traditional Rastafari embraced the Church.
It may be, however, correct to ascribe such a motive to Haile Selassie I subsequent to his visit to Jamaica in 1966, in his sending the Church amongst the Rastafari in Jamaica in 1970. Some of the Rastafari elders who met Haile Selassie I in Jamaica during that visit have testified of His Majesty's chagrin at their seeing him as Christ or Messiah, and there are recordings of Abuna Yesehaq saying that His Majesty was concerned to send him there in order to correct their misunderstandings of Ethiopian culture.
So your claim, while being in some sense true about the Church mission to Jamaica in 1970, is in no way true about the Church's establishment in Trinidad in 1952, and contains a dangerous generalization about the Rastafari.
References:
Fountainhead of Civilization: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Its Activities in the West, by Abba L. Mandefro, 1971
The Ethiopian Tewahedo Church: An Integrally African Church, by Archbishop Yesehaq, 1989
Testimony of Ancient Bongo Ken & Incient Wicka Man, Wisemind Publications (audio book available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDsjR_nVyP4)
Bongo Grease interviewed on Lion's Voice Live during a special presentation on the anniversary of Haile Selassie I's visit to the Caribbean (https://www.youtube.com/live/ssYImOKRZpI?si=G2fh702MewnMbeht)
Wikipedia page on Joseph Hibbert (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hibbert)