Agape and Hesed-Ahava

Goicoechea presents his third volume in a series on agape. In this book he shows in four ways how the agape of Jesus fulfills the ahava and hesed of the Hebrew Bible. First, he shows existentially how he learned and lived this for six years in a Benedictine Minor Seminary and then for three years in a Sulpician Major Seminary. Second, he demonstrates how ahava or our love for God and neighbor and hesed or God's love for us develop through the Hebrew Bible. Goicoechea argues that St. Matthew's Gospel explains the fulfilment of ahava and hesed with Jesus' agape. He concludes by drawing attention to how Levinas and Derrida, two Jewish postmodern philosophers, treat Jewish and Christian love.

"In this volume, David Goicoechea continues his decades-long study of love. He combines autobiography (his years in Catholic seminaries studying for the priesthood), biblical study, and postmodern philosophy. This is a heady mix, which leads to striking insights and correlations regarding what is the most important thing in life and death."
--Hugh Feiss, Monastery of the Ascension, Jerome, Idaho

David L. Goicoechea is professor emeritus of philosophy at Brock University. He has published widely in the areas of philosophy of love, existentialism, philosophy of religion, postmodernism, and the history of philosophy.