Finding Love: A Journey Through the New Testament - Hardcover

by Vernon K. Robbins (Author)

Finding Love: A Journey through the New Testament by Vernon K. Robbins is a thematic exploration of love as it emerges, evolves, and is expressed throughout the New Testament. Written during and after the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the book weaves together personal reflection, biblical scholarship, and historical context. Robbins argues that love--particularly agape[set macron over e] love--is not uniformly present across all New Testament texts but gradually becomes a central theological topic. He guides readers through each book's unique portrayal: divine love hidden in secrecy and suffering in Mark; reshaped Torah love and enemy love in Matthew; prophetic wisdom love in Luke; mystical and cosmic Love in Paul's letters, John's Gospel, and 1 John; and finally a fully formed theological proclamation that "God is love." The book invites readers to consider how ancient texts about love--both divine and human--resonate today amid global crises, personal transformation, and communal faith journeys. Conveying scholarly insight with an accessible tone, Robbins creates a spiritual and intellectual roadmap for anyone interested in understanding how love became foundational to Christian identity and action, all the while encouraging personal reflection and renewed commitment to love in contemporary life.

Author Biography

Vernon K. Robbins is Emeritus Professor of Religion and Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities at Emory University. His book Jesus the Teacher (1984) launched sociorhetorical interpretation in New Testament studies, and his Exploring the Texture of Texts (1996) and The Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse (1996) presented its programmatic strategies. He is featured in Genealogies of New Testament Rhetorical Criticism (2014), edited by Troy W. Martin, as one of "five pioneers" of New Testament rhetorical criticism during the late twentieth and early twenty-first century.