"You must love yourself"

"You should love your neighbour as you love yourself."

(Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 19:19; Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8)

There is a pernicious reworking of the Biblical command, which has pervaded Western Christianity over the past 40 years or so. It turns it round to be a command to love ourselves.

There are three seemingly watertight reasons for turning it round like this. (1) Logic: If we are to love our neighbours as ourselves, we must love ourselves as our neighbours. This is the simple logic of: If X = Y, then Y = X. (2) Does not the command presuppose love for ourselves? If we hate ourselves, how can we love our neighbours properly? (3) From a psychological point of view, how can we love our neighbours if we are full of self-doubt and inferiority complexes, depression, anxiety, identity crises?

YET, (1) Is that kind of logic really what the Scripture intended? (2) What does it mean to love our neighbours and to love ourselves? (3) Is contemporary psychological and psychiatric theory really a truth to accept?

(1) Is that kind of logic really what the Scripture intended?

The logic of equals. It is assumed that the "as" in this verse is identical to the logical "=" sign, but is this true? The logical "=" sign is a relationship between two numeric variables X and Y, which are both numerical quantities. But loving our neighbours and loving ourselves are not numerical quantities. Jesus made this clear in Luke 10:25ff. the parable of the Good Samaritan. When an expert in the Mosaic Law cited this verse, and asked "Who is my neighbour" - which asks to quantify the variable 'neighbour' - Jesus answered with a story and then a command, "Go and do likewise" - "Do as the Samaritan did". Jesus did not say "Treat yourself and ensure that you are OK before you treat others."

(2) What does it mean to love our neighbours and to love ourselves?

The Greek word translated "as" in the New Testament verses, hos, does indeed imply presupposition of love for, or valuing of, self. In the Hebrew, which these New Testament verses were quoting, it seems to be similar. So, it seems, the command does indeed presuppose that we love ourselves.

However, what does this "love yourself" mean? In those verses, NT and OT, does it really mean what we have taken it to mean? In these days of identity crises, in which individualism reigns supreme, "love yourself" seems to imply "treat yourself as important", "ensure your own needs are fully supplied", and even "pamper yourself" and "ensure you are happy and self-satisfied". In the non-individualistic days of the people of Israel wandering in the desert, which is when the Levitical Law was given, I very much doubt that it meant these things. To me, it seems more likely that it was just taken for granted that every person (and especially every man) would love themselves in some rather basic way, for example of protecting themselves against attack and seeking to preserve their lives against marauding animals and perhaps their reputation against calumnies. It is unlikely that the command presupposed that one must first pamper oneself.

(3) Is contemporary psychological and psychiatric theory really a truth to accept?

Contemporary psychology emphasises self-identity and self-security. It is attractive to (resonates with) today's individualistic mindset, and with the increasing stress we feel or are aware of in today's lifestyles. However, it might not be a 'truth' that we should accept and adopt unquestioningly. It is, for one thing, deeply pervaded by individualism. (Also, is it not true that around 40-50% of psychological theories cannot be replicated, and hence must be suspect?) So, the urge from contemporary psychology should be at least questioned, if not resisted.

Conclusion

Therefore, I am very suspicious when people say "Love your neighbour as yourself" means "Love yourself". I suspect that, in well over half the cases where this happens, it is, at heart, an excuse for our own self-centredness. If so, it is the very opposite of love.

Think of others?

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About This Page

This page, URL= 'http://www.abxn.org/s/love.youself.html', is on-going work in developing a 'New View' in theology that is appropriate to the days that are coming upon us. Comments, queries welcome.

Compiled by Andrew Basden. Written on the Amiga with Protext in the style of Classic HTML.

Created: 11 October 2020, completed 13 September 2021. Last updated: