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Love

What do different religions say about love?

One question. Nine perspectives. Original sources.

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Overview

Every one of the nine traditions speaks about love, but each fills the word with its own content. The Abrahamic faiths and the Bahá'í writings begin with a God who loves and commands love in return; Buddhism cultivates metta, a boundless goodwill that needs no object beyond living beings themselves; Hinduism's bhakti and Sikhism's prem are devotion to the divine that overflows into how one treats others; the Tao Te Ching names compassion among its three treasures; and Shinto expresses love mainly through the generative harmony of musubi and gratitude toward the kami, enacted in ritual rather than stated as doctrine.

Nine perspectives

Christianity

From scripture

Jesus summarises the whole law in two commandments: love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. Paul's hymn in 1 Corinthians 13 describes love as patient, kind and enduring, and the First Letter of John goes further still, saying that 'God is love' and that whoever loves is born of God. Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant theologians all treat love (agape) as the central Christian virtue, though they differ on how it relates to faith, grace and works.

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Islam

From scripture

The Qur'an names God al-Wadud, the All-Loving, and describes a two-way love: those who follow the Prophet are told that God will love them and forgive them, and God promises to raise up a people 'who love Him and are loved by Him'. Every surah but one opens by invoking God's mercy (rahma), which Muslim scholars treat as the wellspring of divine love. Sufi traditions developed the language of love for God most fully; Sunni and Shi'a jurists also frame love of the Prophet and of fellow believers as part of faith.

  • Qur'an 3:31 — 'If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins.'
  • Qur'an 85:14 — 'And He is the All-Forgiving, All-Loving.'
  • Qur'an 5:54 — God will bring a people 'who love Him and are loved by Him'.
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Judaism

From scripture

The Torah commands love in both directions. The Shema, recited daily, follows the declaration of God's oneness with 'You shall love the Eternal your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.' Leviticus commands love of one's fellow as oneself, a verse Rabbi Akiva called a great principle of the Torah. Rabbinic Judaism debates whether love of God is primarily obedience, awe, or emotional attachment, and Orthodox, Conservative and Reform teachers weigh these differently, but all treat both commandments as binding.

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Buddhism

From scripture

Buddhism speaks of metta (loving-kindness or goodwill), one of the four 'divine abodes' alongside compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. The Karaniya Metta Sutta asks the practitioner to cherish all beings as a mother protects her only child and to radiate a boundless heart in every direction. The Itivuttaka says no worldly merit is worth a sixteenth part of 'the heart's release by love'. Metta is trained through meditation and is understood as a wholesome state that frees the mind, not as attachment. Theravada and Mahayana schools share this vocabulary; Mahayana adds the bodhisattva's compassion for all beings as the motive for awakening.

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Hinduism

From scripture

In the Bhagavad Gita, love takes the form of bhakti, loving devotion to God. Krishna says that a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with love is accepted, and that those who worship him with love dwell in him and he in them. Chapter 12 describes the devotee dear to God as friendly and compassionate to all beings, free from malice and ever-forgiving. Later bhakti movements (Vaishnava, Shaiva and Shakta) made love of God the heart of religion, while Advaita Vedanta reads love of others as recognition of the one Self in all.

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Sikhism

From scripture

Sikh scripture is saturated with the language of love (prem, bhao) for the divine Beloved. Guru Nanak's Wadhans hymns picture the soul-bride longing for her Husband Lord and ready to cut herself into pieces for a glimpse of him. Sheikh Farid, whose verses the Gurus included in the Guru Granth Sahib, says that a body in which love of the Lord does not well up is like a cremation ground, and warns against breaking anyone's heart, since 'these are all priceless jewels'. Love of God and love of humanity are inseparable; seva (service) is love in action.

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Bahá'í Faith

From scripture

The opening Arabic Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh present love as the reason for creation itself: 'I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee', and 'I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me.' The fifth adds that God's love cannot reach one who does not love God. Bahá'í teaching extends this to the oneness of humanity, holding that love among peoples of every background is the means by which the world is unified.

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Taoism

From scripture

The Tao Te Ching does not use a word that maps neatly onto 'love', but chapter 67 names three treasures the sage holds fast, the first of which (ci) is rendered gentleness or compassion by Legge and as love or deep compassion by others, and says that with it one can be bold and even 'victorious in battle'. Chapter 8 praises water, which benefits all things without striving, as nearest to the Tao, and chapter 49 describes the sage as good to those who are good and also to those who are not. Taoist love is thus an unforced, impartial benefiting of all things rather than a commandment.

  • Tao Te Ching 67 — Three treasures: gentleness (compassion), economy, and not taking precedence.
  • Tao Te Ching 8 — Like water, the highest excellence benefits all things without striving.
  • Tao Te Ching 49 — The sage is good to the good and to the not-good alike.
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Shinto

Expressed through practice — no direct text

Shinto has no scripture that commands love, and the theme is expressed largely through practice. The key concept is musubi, the generative power of birth, joining and harmony that Shinto thought regards as the basis of the world. The Kojiki's opening myth shows Izanagi and Izanami greeting each other as lovely and beloved before joining to bring forth the islands and the kami. In shrine practice love appears as gratitude toward the kami and ancestors, care for family and community, and the wish for harmony (wa) that festivals renew.

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Where traditions overlap

  • Every tradition treats love or goodwill toward others as central to a good life, not optional.
  • Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and the Bahá'í Faith all describe a mutual love between God and human beings that then flows outward to others.
  • Buddhism, Taoism and the Gita all ask for an impartial love that includes those who are not good to us.

Where they differ

  • Buddhist metta and Taoist compassion are cultivated without reference to a loving God; the Abrahamic and Bahá'í texts ground love in God's prior love.
  • Hindu bhakti and Sikh prem are intensely devotional and often use the imagery of lover and beloved; Jewish and Christian sources more often frame love as commandment and covenant.
  • Shinto expresses love through musubi, gratitude and ritual harmony rather than in a text that defines or commands it.

Sources

TraditionPassageSummary
ChristianityMatthew 22:37–39
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
Love God with all your heart; love your neighbour as yourself.
Christianity1 Corinthians 13:4–7
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
'Love is patient; love is kind... it endures all things.'
Christianity1 John 4:7–8
Bible Gateway, NRSVue
'Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.'
IslamQur'an 3:31
Quran.com
'If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive your sins.'
IslamQur'an 85:14
Quran.com
'And He is the All-Forgiving, All-Loving.'
IslamQur'an 5:54
Quran.com
God will bring a people 'who love Him and are loved by Him'.
JudaismLeviticus 19:18
Sefaria
'Love your fellow as yourself: I am GOD.'
JudaismDeuteronomy 6:4–5 (Shema)
Sefaria
Love God with all your heart, soul and might.
BuddhismKaraniya Metta Sutta (Snp 1.8)
SuttaCentral, Sujato
As a mother protects her only child, unfold a boundless heart to all.
BuddhismItivuttaka 27
SuttaCentral, Sujato
Nothing is worth a sixteenth part of the heart's release by love.
BuddhismDhammapada 5
Access to Insight, Buddharakkhita
Hatred is appeased only by non-hatred, 'a law eternal'.
HinduismBhagavad Gita 12:13–14
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
The devotee dear to God is friendly and compassionate to all beings.
HinduismBhagavad Gita 9:26
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
A leaf, flower, fruit or water offered with love is accepted.
HinduismBhagavad Gita 9:29
Holy Bhagavad Gita, Mukundananda
'The devotees who worship Me with love reside in Me and I reside in them.'
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 557 (Guru Nanak)
SikhiToTheMax
'I would cut myself into pieces for the Blessed Vision of Your Darshan.'
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 1379 (Sheikh Farid)
SikhiToTheMax
A body without love of the Lord is a cremation ground.
SikhismGuru Granth Sahib, Ang 1384 (Sheikh Farid)
SikhiToTheMax
'Do not break anyone's heart; these are all priceless jewels.'
Bahá'í FaithHidden Words, Arabic 3–4
Bahá'í Reference Library
'I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee.'
Bahá'í FaithHidden Words, Arabic 5
Bahá'í Reference Library
'Love Me, that I may love thee.'
TaoismTao Te Ching 67
ctext.org, Legge
Three treasures: gentleness (compassion), economy, and not taking precedence.
TaoismTao Te Ching 8
ctext.org, Legge
Like water, the highest excellence benefits all things without striving.
TaoismTao Te Ching 49
ctext.org, Legge
The sage is good to the good and to the not-good alike.
ShintoBasic Terms of Shinto (Kokugakuin) — 'Musubi'
Basic Terms of Shinto, Kokugakuin
'The spirit of birth and becoming... the creating and harmonizing powers.'
ShintoKojiki, Book 1, Sect. IV (Courtship of Izanagi and Izanami)
Sacred Texts, Chamberlain 1882
The two deities greet each other as lovely and beloved and join to create.

All citations on this page were opened in the linked reference editions and compared with the summaries (last full pass September 12, 2026). Links open at the verse, paragraph or section wherever the edition supports it; otherwise at the chapter or entry. Translations vary; we link to widely used public editions so you can compare. Evidence labels on each perspective follow our editorial standards.

Frequently asked questions

Which religions teach 'love your neighbour as yourself'?

The phrase comes from Leviticus 19:18 in the Torah and is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 22:39. Close parallels appear in every tradition, for example the Qur'an's call to justice and grace, Buddhist metta toward all beings, and Farid's warning in the Guru Granth Sahib not to break anyone's heart.

Does Buddhism believe in love?

Yes, but it distinguishes metta (boundless goodwill wishing all beings well) from craving or attachment. The Karaniya Metta Sutta and Itivuttaka 27 treat metta as a liberating state of mind to be cultivated deliberately.

Is love of God the same as love of people in these traditions?

Most connect them explicitly: 1 John says one cannot love God while hating a brother or sister, the Gita says God's devotee is compassionate to all beings, and Sikh scripture makes service the expression of love. They are distinguished, not separated.

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