Are non-Christians incapable of love?

ImperatorWall said:

I disagree wholeheartedly, Paul's statements would make little sense if this were true.

Read Romans 9 in it's entirety and there is little doubt Paul is referring to a very real hatred of God directed at Esau's person.

Just for fun:

Strong's entry 3404 for "hate" in Romans 9

Original Word: μισέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: miseó
Phonetic Spelling: (mis-eh'-o)
Short Definition: I hate, detest
Definition: I hate, detest, love less, esteem less.

Usage in the NT (active hate):

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said , Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

Luke 1:71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye , when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from their company], and shall reproach [you], and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

Luke 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying , We will not have this [man] to reign over us.

John 7:7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth , because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before [it hated] you.

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived , serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, [and] hating one another.

1 John 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

Revelation 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

Usage in the NT (passive hate):

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved .

Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Mark 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake : but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved .

Luke 21:17 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake.

John 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved .

Ephesians 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

Hebrews 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Jude 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling [them] out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

Revelation 2:6 But this thou hast , that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate .


So, looking at all of those verses that use the word, I cannot see one example of "hate" being used to mean anything other than hate as is commonly understood. There is no hidden meaning attributable only to God that lessens the sting of the word.

I can compile a similar list of verses that use it from the OT if you like, but I have no doubt they will show the same thing.

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The [fn]oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through [fn]Malachi.

"I have loved you," says the LORD.

But you say, "How have You loved us?"

"Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob;

but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness."

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xfreakazoidx said:

Feeling convicted? Like I said most non-christian people I've met do think like that. They seem to think love is a billion things not related to true love. Looks don't matter, having great sex doesn't matter, being smart doesn't matter. The heart is the one thing that matters.

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TX_CO_Matt said:

So, I went back to my old Life Group last night just to kinda see what it was like now...it's full of freshman.

Anyway, we were discussing Sermon on the Mount, specifically divorce. This girl talks about how she's a tutor and most of her kids' parents are divorced. She goes on to say that most of them aren't Christians, I understood that. Then she made quite a claim...

People who are not Christians are not capable of actually loving another person because they don't know God's love. Thus, why we have such a high divorce rate because the love they feel isn't real love.


My personal thought was HOLD THE FRONT DOOR. I'm pretty the divorce rate in he church is just as high as outside, if not higher, so don't act like it's only their problem or their fault, I think everyone's to blame. Secondly, so only Christians can be charitable, have life long marriages, have a desire to help people in need, etc.


No one really responded to her statement, so I don't know if they agreed with her or was in the same position of "um no, I think you're misunderstanding something", but didn't want to start an argument.

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anewday said:

Absolutely not. I know of so-called Christians who have odd ways of showing their supposed love to others. I've seen non-Christians show more love than Christians.

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Exactly. So have I. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's a bit of 'weirdness' in some of the marriages at my church.

So yes, again, like I said before, non-Christians are capable of loving just as much as Christians.

Miss Spaulding said:

Exactly. So have I. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's a bit of 'weirdness' in some of the marriages at my church.

So yes, again, like I said before, non-Christians are capable of loving just as much as Christians.

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TX_CO_Matt said:

So, I went back to my old Life Group last night just to kinda see what it was like now...it's full of freshman.

Anyway, we were discussing Sermon on the Mount, specifically divorce. This girl talks about how she's a tutor and most of her kids' parents are divorced. She goes on to say that most of them aren't Christians, I understood that. Then she made quite a claim...

People who are not Christians are not capable of actually loving another person because they don't know God's love. Thus, why we have such a high divorce rate because the love they feel isn't real love.


My personal thought was HOLD THE FRONT DOOR. I'm pretty the divorce rate in he church is just as high as outside, if not higher, so don't act like it's only their problem or their fault, I think everyone's to blame. Secondly, so only Christians can be charitable, have life long marriages, have a desire to help people in need, etc.


No one really responded to her statement, so I don't know if they agreed with her or was in the same position of "um no, I think you're misunderstanding something", but didn't want to start an argument.

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anewday said:

Oh yeah? How so? More than the "you're a Christian and I'm a Christian, so we should get married despite our differences, lack of attraction, etc" type people? Yeah I wonder about some couples...

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Miss Spaulding said:

That, yes. But also very, very hardcore...ummm...I'm not sure how to describe it. But you walk away from them seriously questioning the home life of the couple/family. It's not everyone though, of course, but there's always a certain couple/family here and there and there.

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TheyCallMeDave said:

There have been unbiased scientific studies conducted which show a marked difference between atheists and christians for example, in the area of character and behavior. I have a couple of these Studies for anyone who is interested in this topic.

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MacFall said:

I'm just interested in seeing this purported "unbiased study" more than the content. I don't think those exist.

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Isambard said:

I would be. Mind posting them?

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TheyCallMeDave said:

If you arent interested in reading the content which IS and MAKES UP the Study...then what exactly are you interested in then ?????

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ImperatorWall said:

Any "love" that does not flow from a regenerated heart and a love for Christ is not really love.

The only reason we as Christians can love anyone else is because He first loved us.

Anything else is ultimately twisted and selfish at its roots, no matter how noble and kind it appears on the outside.

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