The Four Loves – We hear often that love is patient and kind, not envious or prideful. We hear that human love is a reflection of divine love. We hear that God is love. But how do we understand its work in our lives, its perils and rewards? Here, the incomparable C. S. Lewis examines human love in four forms: affection, the most basic, general, and emotive; friendship, the most rare, least jealous, and, in being freely chosen, perhaps the most profound; Eros, passionate love that can run counter to happiness and poses real danger; charity, the greatest, most spiritual, and least selfish. Proper love is a risk, but to bar oneself from it–to deny love–is a damning choice. Love is a need and a gift; love brings joy and laughter. We must seek to be awakened and so to find an Appreciative love through which “all things are possible.”
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I’m a huge fan of C.S. Lewis and this one might be one of my favorites! Lewis describes the four loves–storge, philia, eros and charity/agape love. To love is to make yourself vulnerable, and the only place one can escape from the dangers and perturbations of love is hell. He describes how each love manifests itself, the traps of the first three loves and ultimately describes the last one–God’s love–as the highest and greatest love.
The book also featured an introduction and commentary from Charles Colson–two spiritual heroes in one book! =D
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As expected from C.S. Lewis, this book is another sharp, discerning reflection that dove layers and layers deep into a complicated subject, love. He divides it accessibly into four categories: affection, friendship, eros, and charity, and in each he provides clear-cut wisdom on how they can take on the intended shape of their rightful, God-intended, beautiful designs, but also provides necessary warnings on how each can be marred by our sinfulness. His section on Friendship reveals one of the most revering attitudes towards this brand of love that I have ever seen, which issues a definite challenge to my own attitude towards friendships and peer relationships. I would recommend reading his last chapter, Charity, to anyone interested in being dealt some serious blows on what love, at the core, the eternal kind, looks like. He discusses loving the unlovable, the humble and glad(!) position of admitting our need of God, how our ability to love can and should be completely transformed as God becomes our highest desire, among other topics. All in all a great and worthwhile read.
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