In this study of Christian thought from the biblical period to Luther, Anders Nygren isolates two concepts which are central to an understanding of the inner meaning of Christianity: agape, the motit of love in early Christianity, and eros, the motif of love in Hellenistic thought. Nygren exhaustively covers the historical relations between these two motifs, and in doing so shows how the essential meaning of the Christian conception of love both responded to and influenced the historical conflicts which shaped the religion. "It is only when we understand the inner meaning of the Christian idea of love, writes the author, "that we can understand the real significance of the changes it has undergone, yet by noticing these changes we shall be the better able to see what its essential meaning is, and by watching its reactions to other conceptions of love we shall pave the way for an analysis of its content and structure."

"Agape and Eros has had a deep impact on all subsequent treatments of Christian love. Karl Barth bases his discussion of love on Nygren and one other text: Tillich refines the typology of love to include philia and libido; Reinhold Niebuhr's view of agape as self-sacrificial love was decisively influenced by Nygren, more recent treatments such as Daniel D. Williams's The Spirit and Forms of Love, Toner's The Experience of Love, and Outka's Agape define the issues in relation to Nygren's typology. It is a classic secondary work, userul in the study of the history of Western ideas, in systematic theological and ethical studies, and in historical studies of Christian thought." James M Gustafson, University of Chicago

ANDERS NYGREN was, until his death in 1977, the bishop of Lund in the Church of Sweden and an influential theologian. His many publications include Commentary on Romans, Significance of the Bible for the Church, Essence of Christianity, and Meaning and Method: Prolegomena to a Scientific Philosophy of Religion and a Scientific Theology.