I Love You Doctrine
The doctrine that the three-word act “I love you” is not merely a creaturely expression of devotion but the eternal act-form of God’s own Trinitarian and economic operations: “In the ‘I love you’ the Celestial Father generated Me, and in the ‘I love you’ the Holy Spirit proceeded. In the ‘I love you’ the Eternal FIAT made the whole creation, and in the ‘I love you’ It forgave guilty man and redeemed him” — so that the soul’s “I love you” spoken in the DW participates in the same act-form that generates the Son, proceeds the Spirit, creates the world, and accomplishes Redemption, making the soul’s act divine in mode, not merely in intention. (E)
Anchors: 1 John 4:8; 1 John 4:16; John 17:24; Romans 5:5; Wisdom 11:24; John 3:16; Romans 11:36 — Appearances: 142. Full Registry entry.