What is the strongest kind of love?

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What is the strongest kind of love? What are all the kinds of love?
 
We should never, not for one second, love anything, any person or any created thing, more than we love God.
 
For me it would be self-sacrifice or closely related to Agapic love.
Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Encyclopedia entry on “Love” defines it as:

[A]ny strong affection, closeness, or devotion to things or persons. The Greeks distinguished four types of love: storge, philia, eros, and agape. Storge, familial love, is a word for the bond that exists between one who loves and persons, animals, and the things that surround him. It is compatible with quite a bit of taken-for-grantedness or even of hatred at times. Philia pertains to friends, freely chosen because of mutual compatibility and common values. Eros is passion, not only of a sexual nature, but also of an aesthetic or spiritual nature, for what is conceived of as supremely beautiful and desirable. Agapic love is manifested when one person has much to give to another more needy. It is generous self-donation without concern for reward.
Such distinctions become especially important in discernments about marriage, because the strength of eros love may blind one to the absence of ther types of love needed to experience a good Christian bond that, with God’s grace, can endure “till death do us part.”
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Hope this helps,

God Bless
 
Good question! At first glance it would appear to be eros, but that actually would seem to be rather weak, and tends to dissipate once satisfied. Storge, or familial love, is another contender, especially in its maternal form, but it too often has a bent toward irrationality and an unjust favoritism, which for me puts it out of the running. Philia, or brotherly love, gets my vote for strongest, and of course agape is the highest of all, but since your question was strictly about which was strongest, I’ll stick with philia.
 
I think the strongest love is the love God has for us. Amongst humans, I think the strongest love is the love a mother or father has for their child.
 
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  1. “Eros” or Erotic Love
    The Greek god of love and fertility.
    Eros represents the idea of sexual passion and desire.
    The ancient Greeks considered Eros to be dangerous and frightening
    as it involves a “loss of control” .
    Eros is a passionate and intense form of love
    that arouses romantic and sexual feelings.
    Eros is a primal and powerful fire that burns out quickly.
    It needs its flame to be fanned through one of the deeper forms of love below
    as it is centered around the selfish aspects of love, that is,
    personal infatuation and physical pleasure.
Love Catalyst: The physical body
  1. “Philia” or Affectionate Love
    The second type of love is philia, or friendship.
    The ancient Greeks valued philia far above eros
    because it was considered a love between equals.
Plato felt that physical attraction was not a necessary part of love,
hence the use of the word platonic to mean, “without physical attraction.”
Philia is a type of love that is felt among friends who’ve endured hard times together.
As Aristotle put it, philia is a “dispassionate virtuous love”
that is free from the intensity of sexual attraction.
It often involves the feelings of loyalty among friends,
camaraderie among team mates, and the sense of sacrifice

Love Catalyst: The mind
  1. “Storge” or Familiar Love
    Storge is primarily to do with kinship and familiarity.
    Storge is a natural form of affection that often flows between parents and their children,
    and children for their parents.
    Storge love can even be found among childhood friends that is later shared as adults.
    But although storge is a powerful form of love, it can also become an obstacle on our spiritual paths, especially when our family or friends don’t align with or support our journey.
Love Catalyst: Causal (Memories)
  1. “Ludus” or Playful Love
    Although ludus has a bit of the erotic eros in it, it is much more than that.
    The Greeks thought of ludus as a playful form of love, for example, the affection between young lovers.
    Ludus is that feeling we have when we go through the early stages of falling in love with someone,
    e.g. the fluttering heart, flirting, teasing, and feelings of euphoria.
    Playfulness in love is an essential ingredient that is often lost in long-term relationships.
    Yet playfulness is one of the secrets to keeping the childlike innocence of your love alive,
    interesting and exciting.
Love Catalyst: Astral (Emotion)
 
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  1. “Mania” or Obsessive Love
    Mania love is a type of love that leads a partner into a type of madness and obsessiveness.
    It occurs when there is an imbalance between eros and ludus.
    To those who experience mania, love itself is a means of rescuing themselves;
    a reinforcement of their own value as the sufferer of poor self-esteem.
    This person wants to love and be loved to find a sense of self-value.
    Because of this, they can become possessive and jealous lovers,
    feeling as though they desperately “need” their partners.
    If the other partner fails to reciprocate with the same kind of mania love,
    many issues prevail.
Love Catalyst: Survival instinct
  1. “Pragma” or Enduring Love
    Pragma is a love that has aged, matured and developed over time.
    It is beyond the physical, it has transcended the casual,
    and it is a unique harmony that has formed over time.
    You can find pragma in married couples who’ve been together for a long time,
    or in friendships that have endured for decades.
    Unfortunately pragma is a type of love that is not easily found.
    We spend so much time and energy trying to find love
    and so little time in learning how to maintain it.
Unlike the other types of love, pragma is the result of effort on both sides.
It’s the love between people who’ve learned to make compromises,
have demonstrated patience and tolerance
to make the relationship work.

Love Catalyst: Etheric (Unconscious)
  1. “Philautia” or Self Love
    The Greeks understood that in order to care for others,
    we must first learn to care for ourselves.
    This form of self-love is not the unhealthy vanity and self-obsession
    that is focused on personal fame, gain and fortune as is the case with Narcissism.
Instead, philautia is self-love in its healthiest form.
It shares the Buddhist philosophy of “self-compassion”
which is the deep understanding that you have the strength to love yourself
and feel comfortable in your own skin,
will you be able to provide love to others.
As Aristotle put it, “All friendly feelings for others are an extension of a man’s feelings for himself.”

You cannot share what you do not have.
If you do not love yourself, you cannot love anyone else either.
The only way to truly be happy is to find that unconditional love for yourself.
Only once you learn to love and understand yourself,
will you be ready to search for the spiritual freedom of the Self.

Love Catalyst: Soul
 
  1. “Agape” or Selfless Love
    The highest and most radical type of love - according to the Greeks -
    is agape, or selfless unconditional love.
    This type of love is not the sentimental outpouring
    that often passes as love in our society.
    It has nothing to do with the condition-based type of love
    that our sex-obsessed culture tries to pass as love.
Agape is what some call spiritual love.
It is an unconditional love, bigger than ourselves,
a boundless compassion, an infinite empathy.
It is the purest form of love that is free from desires and expectations,
and loves regardless of the flaws and shortcomings of others.

Agape is the love that is felt
for that which we intuitively know - as the divine truth:
the love that accepts, forgives and believes for our greater good.

Love Catalyst: Spirit
 
To me, the strongest type of Love (in a greek sense) is Agape (the unconditional, altruistic Love) as it is the most mature kind of Love for a christian, and is the Love traditionally associated with God’s nature itself.
 
It is interesting to look at this passage from John’s Gospel bearing in mind the two Greek words ἀγαπᾷς and φιλεῖς . The first ἀγαπᾷς means unconditional love , and the second φιλεῖς means to have affection for .

Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

The first two times Jesus asks Peter , “Do you love me ?” the word Jesus uses for love is ἀγαπᾷς . He is speaking of agape , unconditional love . And Peter answers using for love φιλῶ . He is saying that he has affection for Jesus .

The third time Jesus changes the word . He asks Peter if he loves him using the word φιλεῖς .So he is asking Peter if he has affection for him . Peter replies as before saying that he has affection for Jesus .

So we can see the reason why Peter is hurt the third time he is asked .

Twice Jesus asks him if he loves him unconditionally . And Peter replies that he has affection for Jesus .

But the third time Jesus asks him not whether he loves him unconditionally , but whether he has affection for him , and noting Jesus’ change of words Peter is upset .
 
You don’t need money. Don’t need fame. Don’t need no credit card to ride this train. It’s strong and it’s sudden and it’s cruel sometimes But it might just save your life.

That’s the power of love.
 
I didn’t know that, now I understand this passage more. Excelent contribution!!
 
“Tougher than diamonds,
whips like cream
Stronger and harder
than a bad girls dream” -

I know that song - Back to the Future
 
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