Eklezjotwórczy wymiar miłości

Abstract

The Church is a personal reality, which permanently starts to exist anew, develops and grows. Love takes an important place in the permanent ecclesiogenesis. Divine love that is the principle of intra-Trinitarian life, is at the beginning of the Church; this is why ecclesiology talks about the agapetological Trinity-centrism in the origin of the Church. Because of Divine love the Church is born and owing to that love it becomes real in history. Love is given to the Church by God, but also it is given as a task to do. Living with love every day the Church puts into effect its salutary mission; it becomes a credible sign of salvation in the world and it awaits its fulfillment at the end of all time in God, who is Love. The aim of the article is to show the connection between love and the Church’s origin, development, existence and ultimate fulfillment. Love (Greek: agape, Latin: caritas) is understood here as a person’s unselfish giving himself to another person. The author answers the question: in what meaning does Christian love have an ecclesiogenic character in the very origin of the Church, in its becoming real in history, and in its fulfillment in Eschaton. Love occupies an important place in making the Church credible. In the Church’s agapetological credibility reference to its Divine origin and its permanent becoming real in history through love is important. Without God’s love Christ’s Church would not be established and it would not last through the ages. The Church-Agape is credible if, living with God’s love, it makes it real in the world.