The Self, The Other, and The Lord

What is the foundation of love? This study will address the question of whether fear of God or love of God is the real motivation for charity in human interaction, while perhaps equating the two terms more than might be initially evident. I will argue for a theistic understanding of love, advocating for the idea that humans can be selfless when their view of humanity is aligned with God’s view of us. Functioning from a largely Christian perspective, the paper will explore the implications asserted by all the world’s great religions that divine love itself can inspire charitable human conduct. I will argue that it is not in fact fear for our own salvation that causes religion to motivate us. Rather, it is the realization that ethical action is truly possible through the power of a divine love that draws all creation back unto itself. Using the Gospels of the New Testament, the work of Homer, Dorothy Day, and Pope John Paul II, among others, I will make a case for divine love as the necessary (although often invisible) foundation for human charity.