"FALLING IN LOVE"

WHAT DOES "COVET" MEAN?

Scripture says:

Thou shalt not covet. Romans 7:7b

"Covet" is an old English word that means "lust". Unlawful desire. Scripture simply says that Believers are Commanded not to lust. This New Testament passage is quoted from the 10 Commandments Given to Moishe (Moses) by G-d. Exodus 20:17, Deuteronomy 5:21.

HOW "FALLING IN LOVE" BECAME IDOLATRY

The "love feelings" common to the human race are nothing new. This is one way know the Bible is true, because we can look back into ancient history and all cultures and find people affected by the same things we are. The things the Bible says are "laws", not "gods". Romans 7:28.
"The world" still elevates this "feeling", and focuses on it just as the ancient world focused (elevated, worshipped) it from time immemorial.
The ancient inhabitants of Greece and Rome were basically no different than we are. They did have a unique way of dealing with human behaviour, though. This was common also throughout the ancient world. When they would find something constant and that all people could relate to as some sort of a "power", they would simply make a "god" out of it or "deify" it. Make it into a "god" or "goddess". Human wisdom was "deified" as the "goddesss" Athena, for instance, Everything they found "common" to people, they simply deified. This also included lusts with its various manifestations.
They even had a "god" for "Falling in Love". This "god" was called Eros. Sacrifices and offerings were made to this "god", for instance, that a certain other someone would "Fall in Love" with another person. Temples were "dedicated" and idols were made to which they would sacrifice animals.
All such sacrifices were made to demons. I Corinthians 10:20. Demons were energized by these sacrifices.
You must ask yourselves: Do I exalt to pre-eminence that which has always been an idolatrous concept? Something for which "temples" were dedicated and that idol worshipped?

EROS

Eros[1] was the Greek name for the "god of falling in love". The Roman false "god" of "carnal love" (lust), "Cupid" (where we get the English word "concupiscence" in Colossians 3:5 and other places). It represented the "feelings" fleshly, soulish attraction of "love" toward a person. The "feelings" of "Falling in Love". The "attraction" or "chemistry" that a man or woman, or both, "feel" when they "Fall in Love", but without any physical or sexual part.[2]

THE WORD "LOVE" IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

There are several Greek words for "Love" in the New Testament. There are two main words used: agape (A Pure Spiritual Love, including Love towrd G-d) and phileo (a brotherly-type love). Nowhere in the New Testament is the Greek word eros found. For Love in marriage, the word used is agape (A Pure Spiritual Love). Never eros.
In time, both Greece later Rome had persons who actively sought and pursued this "Falling in Love feeling-'god'" as a lifestyle. They wanted this "feeling" in all their thoughts. The Greeks, and later the Romans had an entire "love cult" surrounding this human phenomenon of "Falling in Love". The cult of this false "god" was called the worship of Eros.

VENUS

These cultures in the ancient world would tie these "powers" to specfic planets in our solar system. The planet Mars represented the "god of war", for instance. And the planet Venus represented the "goddess of love": which the Greeks worshipped as "Aphrodite" (where we get the word "aphrodisiac"), The Romans called it "Venus". This "goddess" was also known as Ashtarte and Ishtar. The cult of "goddess" Diana (related to "Venus"), was centered in Ephesus, and had the largest following of any cult of the ancient world. This shows the importance "the world" placed and still places on "Falling in Love". Venus represented the physical expression of "carnal love". Every actual sexual activity itself.
Venus came forth out of Eros.[3]

THE SATANIC COUNTERFEITS

As pagan polytheism used counterfeit sacrifices resembling the ones later Comanded by the G-d of Israel, so too, Christianity was also counterfeited.[4]
This was through the "god" Dionysus. Dionysus was called the "god of mystical ecstasy". This is where we get the English word "ecstatics". Pagan women (they were called "maenads"), would swarm to the woods to worship by means of ecstatics. Dionysus was also called Bacchus; "the god of wine and revelry", "Twice-Born" (both physical births however). Dionysus was called Liber by the Romans (where we get the word "libertine" as one who makes lawlessness of liberty).
All worship using ecstatics was dedicated to Dionysus. The hood ornament on a Rolls Royce motorcar is called "Ecstasy" and is said to depict a "maenad" in ecstatics.

A PARADIGM SHIFT: THE AGE OF ROMANTICISM

In the 17th-Century, a literary, art and and philosophical movement called "The Rebaissance" came forth in the south of Europe. It drew it's thinking from the earlier pagan polytheism. They believed they had reutrned to a new "Golden Age", of ancient Greece and Rome. Paintings depictiong Eros and Venus abounded. Nicolas Poussin painted "Midas and Bacchus" with Venus and Eros (Cupid) supine in the foreground. Volumes of poetry "dedicated" to pagan "gods" (Eros) and Bacchus (Dionysus) and "goddeses" (Venus and Diana) were written widely read. Rousseau and Goethe were two of the earliest proponents.
These "Romantic works" questioned many existing "moral codes" and were centered in fantasy. Novels declaring the prospect of "Falling in Love" were everywhere read.
French literature stressed "affairs of the heart" as a thing to be desired. These might even be adulterous affairs, or the taking on of mistresses.
Reformation thinking was rejected in these Romantic works, and "Falling in Love" was substituted in its place.
The remnants of "The Romantic Age" can be seen today in paperback "Romance Novels" largely read cover-to-cover by females. There are literally hundreds of new "Romance novels" published every month! This genre evokes the "feelings" of "Falling in Love" almost exclusively. There are usually erotic and semi-erotic passages included in these "totally acceptable Romance novels", which were first introduced in the 18th Century.
Anyone who questions "Romance" with its eroticism today is scorned as being "prudish" or "puritannical".
Peoples' attitudes and Worldview is highly encouraged to be one of "Romantic love", with accompanying erotic "feelings" accepted as "good" and to be sought after as a lifestyle.
Humanistic man found himself in despair, being unable to arrive at a Universal using the Particulars. Voltaire wrote:
"Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains."
At some point he simply gave up the search.
Aquinas had opened the door to pagan thought, and although they gave up trying to find such a Universal, Aristotles' means at "arriving at truth", were not given up. They were carried on over to form the basis for the next Age:

THE AGE OF REASON

When we think of the Age of Reason, we should think of Voltaire and the French Revolution. In "The Reign of Terror" where almost all og f the nobility of France were executed by the guillotine.
Robespierre, "The King of the Terror" considered himself to be putting in practice the philosophy of Voltaire. He later also went to the guillotine. Napoleon Bonaparte soon restored order as a one-man elite.
What had started out with high hopes ended very badly.

WHO "FALLS IN LOVE"?

"Falling in Love" is "common" to the whole human race. It occurs to unbelivers as well as Believers. Some Believers have said it is "perfectly acceptable to marry an unbeliever" because they had both "Fallen in Love" with each other? Some have said if they "Fell in Love" with an umnbeliever, it was "ok" to marry them if "they promised to convert later"? Such Believers say as long as they are "In Love" it is Permissable to break G-ds' Commandments!?! Yes, this is precisely what some say!
This shows how they have placed "Falling in Love" (Eros) OVER G-ds' Commandments! And they do this without a second thought! Guess what they really worship, and it is NOT The G-d of Israel!!!
Some say they "Fell in Love" with that beautiful car, a military uniform, that new home, their "dream" vacation spot!
Gay males also say they "Fell in Love" with another gay male, and lesbians also say thay "Fell in Love" with another lesbian? Persons who were once "straight" have said the reason they become homosexual, was that the "Falling in Love-Feeling" was greater for their same sex than for the opposite sex!?!
This should tell us that "Falling in Love" is not a "spiritual experience" at all, but of the flesh instead!
It was the same way in the ancient world. "Eros knew no moral boundaries whatsoever. It does not "discriminate". Eros is lawless.

FAITH IN EROS?

The "Falling in Love" feeling can be diverted toward other objects as we have seen. It can become the mental attitude as well. A complete Worldview! The intensifying desire to remain in this "feeling" can exiend to all of life; as a complete lifestyle. This quickly distorts the way one views everything!
If someone "interrupts" someone elses' "Falling in Love feeling" flow, they can be accused of being "non-loving", "not compassionate"! or "uncaring"! Because they have sought the "Falling in Love" "feelings" to the extreme, they do err. If a Scripture is used to "judge" a situation (as we are Commanded to use Scripture for), then "this cannot be fron G-d" because we are "not to judge". This "Falling in Love Feeling" has therefore become known in some circles in our own day as "Unconditional Love", and once again replaced G-ds' Commandments.
People have a "right" to be lawless and no one is allowed to say anything, because this is what "love" is to them!?! How dare we question their "Falling in Love" feelings! They are above all! They are SACRED to them![5]

BRINGING "FALLING IN LOVE" INTO THE CONGREGATIONS?

A certain phrase is heard today, "When you Fall in Love the Whole World is Jewish". Really? What sort of "evangelistic techniques" might come out of this?
The only reason, some say, for "entering into a relationship" is if the persons have "Fallen in Love and these "feelings" of "Falling in Love" are kept ongoimg. The covers of "ladies'" magazines at checkstands announce how to "rekindle those feelings you had when you first Fell in Love" and tell the women to use "new marital love techniques", dress erotically, watch erotic or pornographic movies or use "love toys" to "spice-up their love lives".

"FALLING IN LOVE WITH JESUS" AKA "AN INTIMATE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS"

Some religious organizations today teach one only needs to "Fall in Love with Jesus" and everything will be just fine. They are told to seek "An Intimate Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ" as the "ultimate high".
First of all, nowhere in the Bible does it say we are to seek any "Intimate Personal Relationship with Jesus". We are in a Covenant, NOT a a "Relationship".
Second, in places where such persons gather, there can be seen people trying to "Fall in Love with Jesus" aided by emotional "praise and worship music" that is very "feelings oriented"; communicating the "feelings" of "Falling in Love".
Sometimes if a person "Falls in Love" sufficiently, they might be seen to "Fall Out", literally, on the floor, and start moaning and groaning. They are said to have "achieved their goal" of "Falling in Love with Jesus".

NOTE: This is no way minimizes anyones' sincerity in seeking for Fellowship with the Living G-d. There can be Forgiveness, Peace, Healing and Deliverance found. Any "human works" attempt at "Falling in Love" does open the door to over-elevation of the emotional, and possible excess, however.
Let us quickly move on to Mature Divine Love.

MATURE DIVINE LOVE IN G-DS' ELECT

We are not to worship "the host of heaven", the astrological signs or the false "gods" and "goddesses" or the attitudes that were ever connected with them.
We are to move beyond the area of what was in any previous age eleveted to idolatrous worship. This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said to the married:

Thou shalt have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you. I Corinthians 7:28

For the Elect to focus on pursuing the erotic or "Venus" (or any false "gods" or "goddeses") will bring disappointment.We are not to do as Geeece or Rome did and "deify" or exalt these emotions! They are only temporary, and no matter how many people you can get interested in such they will always remain that: merely temporary.[6] These are "laws" of the flesh (Romans 7:28), and not to be "idolized" like their "god". Their "worship" is of a mental attitude: eros; that which has always been idolatry, and not the G-d of Israel.
The focus is to be kept on The Way of Divine Love which is Pure.

Nore Following Soon!

PEOPLE OF G-D MINISTRIES

© Copyright 2002 People of G-d Ministries, Inc. No reproduction or redistribution without Prior Written Consent and Approval of People of G-d.

FOOTNOTES

[1] This is where we get the word "erotic" which is related to lusts.
[2] "Perhaps the greatest conribution C.S. Lewis makes to understanding sexuality and love is his clear distinction between "being in love" and Love in its deeper, more mature form.
(Freud) "considered all forms of love as expressions of sexuality, Lewis made a clear distinction between eros, "the romantic feelings" of a couple 'in love'", and going on to Maturity. Nicholi.
"By Eros, I mean of course, that state which we call 'being in love'". Lewis.
"The carnal or animal sexual elements WITHIN Eros, I intend (following an old usage) to call Venus. And I mean by Venus what is sexual, not in some cryptic or rarified sense, but in a perfectly obvious sense; what is known to be sexual by those that experiemce it; what could be proved to be sexual by the simplest observation." Lewis.
"I always tell my Harvard students that if they learn nothing more than to understand clearly this distinction, they may save themselves a lifetime of unnecesary stress." Nicholi.
C.S. Lewis wrote that physical relations were being taken far too seriously in our culture. Ads that depict eros or focus on it are only to make money, which is another form of idolatry.
[3]
When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, when sin hath conceived, it bringeth forth death. James 1:15
As a sidenote, a once-popular song, "Cupid" was recorded by a person named Sam Cooke. You may have heard it: the one that goes, "Cupid, draw back your bow, and let your arrow go, straight to my lover's heart, for me..." Sam Cooke was later shot dead by a woman in a hotel room.
[4] A few seek to "prove" Christianity "pagan" because pagan rites (which may have been later renamed), appear similar. The same argument is used for pagan Egyptian sacrifices that resemble ones G-d Commanded in the Torah which pre-date the Torah, and also "The Law of Hammurabi" which pre-dates the Mosaic Law, but is similar in many respects. Therefore the Torah is "pagan"? We do not think so, and neither is True Christianity. Because the pagan "gods" and "goddesses" were separate from each other, they had many differences. THey were always quarreling and fighting among each other. No such thing existed in Judaism or in Christianity.
There is evidence that Roman Catholicism adopted pagan ways, however. Click here for The Two Babylons.
[5] "The worlds'" worship of "Falling in Love" hasn't really changed since the ancient world. We are bombarded by "Love Songs" and TV shows and videos exalting eros daily.
The Righteous Brothers "classic hit": "You've lost that lovin' feelin', and it's gone, gone, gone, and I can't go on."
[6] The divorce rate in the professing Church is now over 50%. Many of these failed marriages came about based on the "feelings" of "Falling in Love". If there is no Maturity, sooner or later the "feelings" they trusted in as being "love", or even "True Love" will wane. If one partner or both, believed that this "Falling in Love feeling" was all there was supposed to be to "love", they can believe it is "all over". Then if one or the other meets someone who "rekindles" their "Falling in Love feeling" with them, they can feel justified to divorce the other because "they fell out of love".
Many second marriages fail as well as they pursue this "feeling"; it wanes there also. They simply never Mature to Divine Love.
All manner of sin can be committed if they have "Fallen in Love", including adultery. This exposes "Falling in Love" for what it really is; not something to be pursued at all, but merely lawlessness. This was the motivation behind the adulterous Strange Woman using eros and saying, "Come let us fill ourselves with loves".
"Falling in Love" must not be elevated and incorporated into a "lifestyle". "Falling in Love" is something that happens between two people that care about each other very much. But, it has to lead to The Way of Mature Divine Love as soon as possible, or there can be problems.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CREDITS

Freud, Sigmund. The Complete Correspondance of Sigmund Freud and Ernest Jones, 1908-1939. Edited by R. Andrew Paskauskas. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press. 1993.
Lewis, C.S. The Four Loves.
Nicoli, Dr. Armand M., Jr. The Question of God. "C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex and the Meaning of Life". New York. The Free Press. 2002.