The passage is
Matthew 25:31-46. Sorry I should have provided a reference the first time
Quote:
Are you saying that in order to love Jesus, you would need to love your fellow humans, or that you would already love your fellow humans? Regardless, even as an atheist I can see that a Christian can say they love [the representation of] Jesus but in what way does that translate into actually loving your fellow humans?
The former is closer: both Jesus and the apostles speak of love of God and love of neighbor as being intimately connected, and that was the point of the reference to Matthew 25, but there are other examples. But also there is an idea that there is a real transformation of a human being that occurs when you attempt to love others universally, because this kind of love is from God and in some metaphysical way creates a connection with God. So Jesus said: "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
Quote:
I don't think someone can love a person they do not even know
It's likely that we are understanding love slightly differently, which isn't a shock, it's a fairly broad word with a lot of different meanings and connotations. At least in the religious sense it doesn't always mean some kind of close personal emotional thing though.
Rather than trying to define love as it's used in the new testament, it's easier to give examples of things that are called loving: to be kind, patient, to always give the benefit of the doubt, to wish for the best for the other, to be forgiving, and to be self-sacrificing for their benefit. To place the other's needs and desires and benefit ahead of one's own. Those are all things that don't require intimate knowledge of the other to attempt, they aren't primarily driven by emotion, and they also are as much about a discipline of oneself and a curtailing of your own ego as they are about the other.