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• The Four Loves
C. S. Lewis

Thomas Nelson, 1994

average customer review:based on 72 reviews
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   highly recommended  highly recommended






A Comprehensive and Comprehendible Love Story

"The Four Loves" is one of C. S. Lewis' lesser-known, but most important writings. In a brief 156-pages, Lewis captures the essences of "AFEC": Affection, Friendship, Eros, and Charity.

From the Koine Greek of the Bible, affection is "storge," friendship is "phileo," romantic and/or sexual love is "eros," and charity or love for God is "agape" (self-giving, unselfish, other-centered, grace love).

Lewis' remarkable achievement is his integrative, balanced, and holistic approach to love. Many theologian-philosophers tend to emphasize one ("agape"), demonize another ("eros"), minimize a third ("phileo"), and misunderstand a fourth ("storge").

Lewis not only correctly interprets all four loves while giving each their validity and importance in their respective spheres; he does so in his renowned pithy, provocative, philosophical, and practical style.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends."



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Timeless reading

Lewis's book on Love is one of the most insightful and helpful books I've ever read. His intellect is impressive, his theology flawless; so much so that one cannot help but benefit from reading this book... or practically any of his other works, of which there are quite a few. It's really a shame that men like this have to pass on the next life, isn't it?









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Timelessly good.

This book was first published in 1960, and as such, I'm sure a lot of people might say "Hah. It is out of date. We've learned a lot about love since then!"
To which I would reply, "No we haven't. There's nothing new, really."
The subject matter of this book is just as applicable today as it was back then. And just as applicable as it was fifty years before Lewis wrote it, because it deals with timeless meanings and principles of love, albeit, from a decidedly Christian perspective.
He begins by distinguishing what he calls Need-love (based on need, such as the love of a child for its mother) from Gift-love (selfless, the kind of love we attribute to God, or to a loving father), and then divides love into four categories, based on the four Greek words for love.
Each word is treated in its own chapter.
Affection (storge) is described as fondness through familiarity, especially between family members or people who have otherwise found themselves together by chance.
Friendship (philia) is a stronger bond that exists between people who share a common interest or activity. I love the part where he said In this kind of love, as Emerson said, Do you love me? means Do you see the same truth? - Or at least, "Do you care about the same truth?" The man who agrees with us that some question, little regarded by others, is of great importance, can be our Friend. He need not agree with us about the answer.
This kind of Friendship goes beyond mere Companionship. It's like a celebration of common ground, between people of similar interests and compatibility.
Then there is the Greek word Eros, which is love in the sense of 'being in love'. This is distinct from sexuality, which Lewis calls Venus, although he does discuss sexual activity and its spiritual significance in both a pagan and a Christian sense. He warns that if Eros is elevated to the status of a god, it has a tendency to self-destruct or at least not deliver what was promised or expected. However, he praises (to the rooftops, really) the proper (indispensable) function of Eros and Venus!
Charity (agape) is a love towards one's neighbour which does not depend on any loveable qualities that the object of love possesses. In this final chapter, Lewis presents quite a challenging and well-reasoned argument against living a life of "self-invited and self-protective lovelessness."
Overall, I think it a tremendously relevant book.
In probably the most radical statement found in the entire book, he says "The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."



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Incredible reading, awesome to re-create, simple//profound

Beginning the Intro with A newly found faith: "God is Love," says St John...We journey through these remarkable chapters with titles: "Likings and Loves for the Sub-Human; longer-AFFECTION; longest-FRIENDSHIP; EROS, shortest, yet succinctly put, CHARITY!

Early quotes/Bunyan, Coleridge, Chesterton, Kipling, St Francis, Milton, Wordsworth, then getting to William Morris who wrote the poem called "Love is Enough." One pointed-out in their briefly worded review, "It isn't!" Being the Master of Metaphor, Lewis contrasts CHARITY with gardens needing the care of tending and weeding. Either from notes or his awesome memory, he quotes judiciously many poets and writers until chapters of EROS & CHARITY. There he adds the spice of both Testaments: From giants Jacob and Esau and Isaiah to St. Luke, St. John, I Corinthians and Paul's words on Gift-love and Need-love.

Similiar to the "Weight of Glory," Lewis views his contrasting ideas, "addressed to our condition" as rivalry between the self and the human Other. Later the rivalry becomes "human Other to God." In 'oft reading these profoundly rooted ideas of Lewis, I am carried back to Seminary classrooms of John Claypool & Walter Brueggemann, remembering agreements of support in realistically based human and Divine relationships!

I noted in his first chapter "Likings and Loves...For 6 pages he employs 36 actively, moving adverbs so that his thoughts may be dramatically developed in-order to grasp and hold the reader's attention! As another review observed: This is one writer who can change profoundly my perceptions of Life thru the power of his words!

Within his total creative writing, this compacted 'dunamis' of 5 brief chapters, yet discovered in today's new-birth of C. S. Lewis, may hopefully double these 40+ reviews in quick time. From an older, yet expectant and Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood



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It's the Greek, English-speaker!

Koine Greek is the language of the New testament (and the Septuagint), as well as the spoken and written language of the early Church fathers and the seven great Christian Church councils.

Despite English being a rich language, full of diversity and vocabulary, many Koine words just don't translate well, or are poorly translated, and therein is the origin of much misunderstanding of Christian theology and cosmology. For instance, 'metanoia' is usually rendered as 'change of heart' but is more like 'a long dark night of the soul followed by a repentant altar call and acceptance of Justifying Grace.'

Thus it is with our English word love, which subsumes not one but FOUR words from Koine Greek: "storge" (affection), "philia" (friendship), "eros" (sexual or romantic love) and "agape" (selfless love).

THE FOUR LOVES lets you join C.S. Lewis, master theologian and Christian apologist, for a series of superb and profound essays into the nature of love and our relation with God.

LOVES is serious, deep stuff and a must-read, not just for Christians but for anyone interested in the origins and nature of Love. This book is a key addition to any serious collection of philosophy or theology and will truly change the way you look at love, the world, and your Creator!


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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, page 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15



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