Love & Valentine's...

Learning how traditions of the past are adapted to changes in cultures, beliefs and progress of civilizations is an interest of mine. What is the origin of Valentine's Day customs and symbols? What types of love are mentioned in Scripture? Below are some quick facts about the Valentine's holiday we celebrate each February and a word we use so often with little thought about its real meaning.

The celebrating of Valentine's Day ranks number first in the United States for chocolate candy sales. Annual spending in 2014 for the holiday was more than 13 billion dollars. U.S. consumers spend an average of around $116 on gifts and merchandise. Teachers receive the most Valentine's cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then sweethearts. Children ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million cards with teachers, classmates, and family members. Additionally, 196 million roses are produced to celebrate the holiday.

How did we get the day?

In 313 A.D., Roman Emperor Constantine the Great legalized Christianity and ended Rome's persecution of Christians. In 380 A.D., Christianity becomes the OFFICIAL state religion of the Roman Empire. These actions not only enabled the teachings of Christianity to spread unhindered within the empire, it encouraged non-Christians to convert to the once-persecuted religion.

The pagans, however, who adopted Christianity as their religion did not entirely abandon the traditions and practices they held before their "conversion." One of these traditions brought into the church was the fertility celebration known as the Lupercalia, which eventually became the Valentine's holiday.

"Yet the vestiges of superstition were not absolutely obliterated, and the festival of the Lupercalia, whose origin had

preceded the foundation of Rome, was still celebrated under the reign of Anthemius."

"After the conversion of the Imperial city (Rome), the Christians still continued, in the month of February, the annual

celebration of the Lupercalia . . . "

(The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons, Chapter 36, Part 3)

Twenty-four years after the death of Emperor Anthemius, a "Christianized" form of the festival of Lupercalia was officially adopted by the church as a time to honor Saint Valentine.

"Early Christians were happier with the idea of a holiday (Valentine's) honoring the saint of romantic causes than with

one recognizing a pagan festival. In 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius named February 14 in honor of St. Valentine as the

patron saint of lovers. "

(How Valentine's Day Works, Apr. 1, 2000, retrieved Jan. 11, 2011)

February 14th as the day to honor this "saint" (the Catholic Church currently recognizes at least three different martyred saints named Valentine or Valentinus) stayed on the church's Calendar of Saints until 1969 A.D. Pope Paul VI removed it from the calendar.

What was the festival of the Lupercalia?

The Lupercalia festival was partly in honor of Lupa, the she-wolf who (according to legend) nursed the infant orphans Romulus and Remus. Roman legend states that Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome in 753 B.C. The pagan festival was also in honor of the Roman god Lupercus who was the god of shepherds. Lupercus was Rome's equivalent to the Greek god Pan. The link between the Lupercalia, fertility, and romance in general is evident in the festivities that occurred during the celebrations.

(Valentine's Day, History Channel web site, retrieved Jan. 10, 2011).

The Greek historian Plutarch (c. 46 to 120 A.D.) also describes the Lupercalia and its relationship in mytholgy to fertility. The second-century Christian apologist Justin Martyr further links the worship of pagan gods to the Lupercalia when he writes of an image of "the Lycaean god, whom the Greeks call Pan and the Romans Lupercus," who is nude save for a girdle of goatskin, which stood in the Lupercal, the cave where Romulus and Remus were suckled by a she-wolf.

Valentine's Symbols

Red Roses Red roses were the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.

Red is also a color that signifies strong feelings.

Cupid In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection, and erotic love.

Cupid today appears shooting his bow to inspire romantic love.

The Heart It is unclear the origin of the familiar heart shape used for Valentine's celebration.

One possibility involves the now-extinct North African plant silphium. The city-state of Cyrene had a

lucrative trade in the plant, which looks just like the heart shape used in modern times.

Love as defined in Scripture

There are three types of love mentioned in the Bible that each use a different Greek word. This is one reason why it is a very good idea to understand a little bit about the translating of words from one language to another.

The scriptures that delineate two out of the three kinds of love that the New Testament writers discuss are in Jesus' short talk, after his resurrection, with Peter. The purpose of Jesus' discussion with Peter, who had denied him three times before he was crucified (Matthew 26:34), was not to test him but rather to encourage and strengthen him for the work God wanted him to do.

As they were eating Jesus turned to Simon and asked 'do you love (Greek: agapao) me more than these others do?' Peter, surprised by the question, said that he did, but he used the Greek word phileo to reference his feelings. Christ quickly responded that he should then take care of his lambs (John 21:15).

The first word Jesus used for this feeling was agapao. This word is found in Strong's Concordance #G25, which is the root for the Greek word agape (Strong's Concordance #G26). The best translation for Agape is that it means a caring or godly concern for someone even if you do not know or like him or her. Only God himself can give it (John 3:16 - 17). Nearly all of the references in Jesus' teachings use this word.

The word Peter used in the Bible to state the feelings he had toward Jesus (in all his responses) is phileo. It is Strong's Concordance #G5368. Its definition is 'to show signs of or otherwise denote brotherly affection.' This word is part of the name of the United States city known as Philadelphia. Humans, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, can only give this emotion toward their fellow man.

The last of the three types of love in the Greek, which is not found in John 21, is eros. Although used in the classical Greek language the word does not appear in the Bible. We get the word erotic from this Greek word. It's use is usually in reference to physical love.

Part of the reason why this word is not in the New Testament is that God is more concerned about how we treat him and each other rather than on our physical or emotional sensations.

'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your

soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'

(Mark 12:30)