ABSTRACT
Eros and agape have not remained antithetical for a long time. Having been a pupil of Neo-platonism, St. Augustine incorporated it into Christian dogma. He states that the Latin word caritas constitutes the combination between eros and agape. Agape is directed toward man and causes him to love and to long for God properly. Without agape man runs the risk of being involved in earthly love. Thus the function of agape is to purify eros. To a large extent, St. Augustine's caritas became the established doctrine of the Catholic church.65
