Worship and Love. Semantic and Metatheological Considerations

Abstract This article examines the attitude of worship by drawing on insights from the contemporary debate about the attitude of love. This seems justified because a certain kind of love appears to be an integral part of worship. Furthermore, the debate about love is much more developed and nuanced than the debate about worship. However, not every aspect we ascribe to love can equally be ascribed to worship. In fact, love is a very diverse phenomenon. The challenge is to focus on a form of love that, like worship, can plausibly be directed towards God. Contrary to previous attempts, it is argued that a merely passive form of love is not a suitable candidate for understanding the kind of love at play in worship. Based on considerations about love, it will be claimed that worship is an active form of value appraisal that involves reverence, awe, praise, and admiration. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this line of interpretation for metatheological considerations.