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Origen says somewhere(1) that in his opinion the
Divine Scripture wishing to hinder the word love from
giving occasion of evil thoughts to the weak, as
being more proper to signify a carnal passion than a
spiritual affection, instead of this name of love has
used the words charity and dilection, which are more
honest.
But S. Augustine having deeply weighed the use of
God's word clearly shows that the name love is no
less sacred than the word dilection, and that the one
and the other signify sometimes a holy affection and
sometimes also a depraved passion, alleging to this
purpose different passages of Holy Scripture.
But the great S. Denis, as excelling doctor of the
proper use of the divine names, goes much further in
favour of the word love, teaching that theologians,
that is, the Apostles and their first disciples (for
this saint knew no other theologians) to disabuse the
common people, and break down their error in taking
the word love in a profane and carnal sense, more
willingly employed it in divine things than that of
dilection; and, though they considered that both
might be used for the same thing, yet some of them
were of opinion that the word love was more proper
and suitable to God than the word dilection.
Hence the divine Ignatius wrote these words: "My
love is crucified." And as these ancient theologians
made use of the word love in divine things to free it
from the taint of impurity of which it was suspected
according to the imagination of the world, so to
express human affections they liked to use the word
dilection as exempt from all suspicion of
impropriety. Wherefore one of them, as S. Denis
reports, said: "Thy dilection has entered into my
soul like the dilection of women."(2)
In fine the word love signifies more fervour,
efficacy, and activity than that of dilection, so
that amongst the Latins dilection is much less
significative than love: " Clodius," says their great
orator, " bears me dilection, and to say it more
excellently, he loves me."
Therefore the word love, as the most excellent,
has justly been given to charity, as to the chief and
most eminent of all loves; so that for all these
reasons, and because I intend to speak of the acts of
charity rather than of its habit, I have entitled
this little work, A Treatise of the Love of God.
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