Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions

This comprehensive reference work examines the concept of love across diverse religious traditions, offering a systematic exploration of how different faiths conceptualize divine love, human love, and the relationship between the two. Greenberg assembles contributions from specialists in various religious studies fields to create an encyclopedic treatment that spans major world religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and numerous other traditions.

The volume approaches love as a fundamental religious category that illuminates core theological questions about the nature of divinity, human purpose, and ultimate reality. Each entry examines how particular traditions understand divine love as an attribute of God or the sacred, how human beings are called to embody love in religious practice, and how love functions as a bridge between the human and divine realms. The work reveals that while love appears as a universal religious theme, its specific meanings and manifestations vary considerably across traditions.

Contributors analyze scriptural sources, theological treatises, mystical writings, and ritual practices to trace how concepts of love have developed within each tradition. The encyclopedia covers diverse expressions including agape in Christianity, hesed in Judaism, ishq in Islamic mysticism, bhakti in Hinduism, and metta in Buddhism. Entries also address philosophical questions about whether divine love is conditional or unconditional, how it relates to divine justice, and whether human love for God differs qualitatively from interhuman love.

The work's methodology combines phenomenological description with historical analysis, allowing readers to understand both the distinctive features of each tradition's approach to love and the broader patterns that emerge across religions. By presenting love as a lens through which to examine religious thought and practice, the encyclopedia contributes to understanding how different traditions conceptualize the divine-human relationship. The systematic coverage reveals that while traditions may differ in their metaphysical frameworks, most posit love as essential to understanding divine nature and human spiritual development.

This reference work serves scholars and students by providing authoritative entries on a theme that cuts across conventional boundaries in religious studies. Rather than advocating for any particular theological position, it offers a scholarly resource for understanding how diverse religious communities have understood and experienced love as a fundamental aspect of religious life and thought.