Introduction  Biblical interpretation can sometimes be very simple. Sometimes it can be very difficult.  What looks like a fairly straightforward sentence in English, say “God is love” (1 John 4:8), can lead to confusion because the three words “God”, “is”, and “love” all require definition and clarification.  Is it drawing an equivalence between “God” and “love”, suggesting an interchangeability? Is it saying something about a quality that God possesses, or expressing something about his character? Or is it saying something about the nature of God? Is it all, some, none? Reading the whole sentence might give us some more clarification: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, ESV) Taken in the broader context, we can see that the short phrase “ God is love ” is presented as something of an explanation about what “lov...