Astorgos means "without natural affection" or "heartless" — lacking storgē, the natural love that binds families together (parental love, filial love). The alpha-privative prefix removes this natural bond. Appearing only twice in the NT (Romans 1:31; 2 Timothy 3:3), it describes the moral degeneration of humanity apart from God. Storgē itself, while not appearing in the NT directly, is combined with philos to form philostorgos (devoted family love, Romans 12:10).
Paul lists astorgos among the marks of depraved humanity (Romans 1:31) and the last-days character profile (2 Timothy 3:3). The loss of natural family affection is presented not as a neutral development but as moral and spiritual decay — a society that destroys the most basic bonds reveals a deep rejection of God's design for human community. The antidote is not law but gospel transformation: through the Spirit, believers become philostorgoi (Romans 12:10), characterized by the warm, devoted family love that mirrors God's own heart toward His children.