Scriptural Interpretation According to the Law of Love

Augustine believes that the central message of Christianity is what he calls "the law of love," or the message of love contained in Christ's summation of the entirety of morality - "love the Lord, Your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself." Everything else in Scripture can be understood as promoting this single message. Therefore, if one does not understand the law of love then he cannot successfully interpret Scripture. The law of love is also the measure of all Scriptural interpretations. Thus, if one develops an interpretation of Scripture that contradicts the law of love, the interpretation must therefore be flawed. And even if one develops an interpretation of Scripture that fails to sufficiently uplift and focus on the law of love, then that interpretation, too, is...