What is Love

[andy]

To love is to will the good of the other, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

But this is not true. The love is the actual and material sacrifice for the sake of someone else. Hence I would write:

Father, Will, Hope.
Son, Intellect, Faith Heart, Charity.
Holy Ghost, Heart, Charity Intellect, Faith.

[Julio]

To love is to will the good of the other, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

But this is not true. The love is the actual and material sacrifice for the sake of someone else. Hence I would write:

Father, Will, Hope.
Son, Intellect, Faith Heart, Charity.
Holy Ghost, Heart, Charity Intellect, Faith.

Don't your realize brother that they are three person but refers to the same one God? Ergo, to separate each of them is not in keeping with the truth that they are one. When Jesus died as human the two persons did not die with Him. Hence God never died. Ergo, the truth that God is love and to love is to will the good of the other.

[Michael Wilson]

And I don't particularly like the definition.  It works for brotherly love, and marital love, but it fails with regards to God, and in a way is materially blasphemous.  God is perfect so there is no need for me to desire the good for God.  He is The Good.

God is absolutely perfect and has no needs; His essential happiness and perfection cannot be increased; yet "accidentally",  the honor and glory that His creatures can give Him can increase; and that is what we pray for in the "Our Father" when we pray: "Hollowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven". So St. Thomas's definition is (per usual) correct. Of course other secondary effects come from loving God: our desire to be united to Him; to see Him "face to face"; to participate in the life that He Himself has in the Blessed Trinity; all these follow from our love for Him.
St. Thomas also defines Charity not only of the love of God above all things; but also the love of our neighbor as ourselves.
We love our neighbor, even those who are our enemies, because God loves them, and wills their good; just as a man for the love of his friend, loves his wife, children and all those who his friend loves.
As to the Heart being the center of love in human beings; We are creatures composed of both a material body and spiritual soul; our body's faculties are the means through which our souls obtain their information and are able to interact with the world outside of the body. Our senses are linked to the soul's faculties, and so what affects our bodily organs also affects our souls. If we burn our hand, our soul feels the pain; if our eyes see something beautiful, our mind is filled with delight. The same for love, when we love someone, our pulse quickens and our glands secrete hormones, that affect our heart, and these also move our soul. So the faculty of loving in our soul is connected and affected by the effect of love on our heart. 

[andy]

To love is to will the good of the other, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

But this is not true. The love is the actual and material sacrifice for the sake of someone else. Hence I would write:

Father, Will, Hope.
Son, Intellect, Faith Heart, Charity.
Holy Ghost, Heart, Charity Intellect, Faith.

Don't your realize brother that they are three person but refers to the same one God? Ergo, to separate each of them is not in keeping with the truth that they are one. When Jesus died as human the two persons did not die with Him. Hence God never died. Ergo, the truth that God is love and to love is to will the good of the other.

I do realize it, however we as humans must use certain analogies for reasoning and contemplation. Unless someone is a mystic.

[james03]

To love is to will the good of the other, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

But this is not true. The love is the actual and material sacrifice for the sake of someone else. Hence I would write:

Father, Will, Hope.
Son, Intellect, Faith Heart, Charity.
Holy Ghost, Heart, Charity Intellect, Faith.

I went off of St. Augustine.  Not infallible, but he carries a lot of weight.

[andy]

To love is to will the good of the other, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

But this is not true. The love is the actual and material sacrifice for the sake of someone else. Hence I would write:

Father, Will, Hope.
Son, Intellect, Faith Heart, Charity.
Holy Ghost, Heart, Charity Intellect, Faith.

I went off of St. Augustine.  Not infallible, but he carries a lot of weight.

This is a great topic for contemplation. I still think about it.

[james03]

This is a great topic for contemplation. I still think about it.

My copy of On the Trinity recently arrived.  I'll probably post separately on it.

I was flipping through it and it is amazing how after 1600 years nothing has changed.  I read a section where St. Augustine is discussing how God is outside of time and unchanging.  A proper theologian could write the identical thing today.  In fact your could line up Feser's commentary on it with St. Augustine and not tell the difference.  I thought that was pretty cool.  Makes you appreciate Tradition.

Anyhow, it's a 400 page book.  I'll dig into it this week and post my thoughts.

[Aulef]

t see where the heart is involved in willing something, anymore than any of the other human organs would be involved in willing something such as:
The lungs. ...
The liver. ...
The bladder. ...
The kidneys. .....
The stomach. ...
The intestines.
I suppose a case can be made that any one of these organs plays some sort of a role in will or in some other human activity.

The soul and body are one. Hence the act of the soul cannot be attributed exclusively to the heart. Metaphorical expressions should not be taken in accordance with biological activities of humans.

No, they are not one. They form one...