As we reach the end of our The Four Loves Read-along, we have so far investigated Affection, Friendship and Romantic Love (the natural loves) but none of these loves are sufficient in and of themselves without another Love to support the feelings and keep them sweet. Lewis now investigates Charity, or Agape (ἀγάπη).
Yes, it’s finally my belated post for Week 4 of The Four Loves Read-along, focussing on Eros! Please read on ….!
Huh? …..
Lewis seems to be saying that we are between angels and animals, Venus is the carnal within Eros but she’s kinda funny so laugh at her or she will extract revenge, Eros is Eros but he cannot be Eros by himself, the husband is the head only if he gives most, rough play in sex can be harmless and wholesome (did I read this correctly … however notice the “can be“), while a person is not usually worshiped, Love is and then the expectations are God-like which cannot be fulfilled and then everyone is resentful and implacable and it all falls apart …. LOL!
And the above summary contain the conclusions come to after a very superficial read of a difficult chapter where, in fact, we have to do WORK to follow Lewis. So here goes …
Let’s begin afresh (please!) with Eros or Romantic L❤️ve …
Again from my The Four Loves Read-along week 2 post I’ve had thoughts brewing. On Marian’s blog, I posted a question that I’ve been musing about and I thought I’d re-post here in case anyone has any enlightening comments on it:
“Were you surprised when Lewis spoke about developing Affection for people one normally would have nothing to do with but circumstances brought them together? I find that nowadays most people choose only people they would want to hang out with. Where have the relationships gone which form in spite of themselves? Has our world changed drastically from Lewis’ world?”
I do think generally that in spite of our outward modern multi-cultural tolerances, that people actually have practically less tolerance towards the differences of people. What do you think?
I’m a few days late with this post as life is becoming rather hectic but I will try to keep up as we move along. Rest assured though; all the posts will go up eventually!
Before I continue with The Four Loves week two posting, I wanted to put down some more thoughts from week one. After reading the second chapter on Like and Loves for the Sub-Human, I said I was having difficulty finding the distinction between what Lewis called Patriotism (love of home and family) and Ethics, which he implies might replace it (I think it has in our century). Well, I was listening to a training video on workplace harassment and I believe Lewis’ point finally dawned on me. The video sounded as if it were addressing early teens, which in itself was shocking given that it was targeting fully matured adults, but I was also struck by how much we are relying on other people to tell us what to do and how to behave. People used to have an intrinsic value system, and while we’re not perfect, we would never have had to lay out instructions on common, obvious, sensible behaviour like we do today. Was the former (intrinsic value system) based on Lewis’ Patriotism: a strong sense of ties to a family, a community and a place and therefore the better you behaved the more not only the community would benefit, but everyone else also? And thus, has it degraded into a more fragmented society where people without those ties (or less of them), live only for themselves and therefore Ethics has had to step up in an almost haphazard way to try to govern people who are less able to govern themselves? I wonder …..
In any case, on to week two where Lewis examines the Greek word, στοργή (storge, with a hard “g”) which roughly translated means affection, “especially of parents for offspring”, but Lewis expands the term. Let’s see what he has to say ….
And here we go with our The Four Loves read-along! Here is the first post. I hope my notes help clarify the start of the book and please feel free to add any comments below. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I found the beginning quite dense and Lewis sometimes a wee bit difficult to follow. I think it will get easier, however, as he begins to examine each type of love.
I’m going to attach some questions to each chapter. You can use these to answer them as a post on your blog, or simply mull them over to understand the reading better. I do hope they help!
What are your ideas about love? Is love an overwhelming romantic feeling? Can it be a decision or a duty? Can you fall out of love? Have you wished for a better understanding of the love of God? Can friends love each other? What about families and our love for them? In English, we use the same word for all these feelings … love …. but the Greeks have different words for these feelings of love and each has its different distinctions. Do you want to learn more? Then please join me in my read-along of C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves for the month of June!
A very unexpected challenge popped up at Carol’s place, Journey and Destination, the 2019 Christian Greats Challenge, and after some mulling over, I’ve decided to join. I have a few books that might fit these categories that I’m reading or want to read and it might help me get through them (Augustine’s City of God, I’m looking at YOU!)
The following are the categories and my choices:
Why? I’ve always wanted to read Eusebius.
While we have a genealogical continuity between Noah and Abram, Abram’s family did not worship God and were in fact polytheistic, residing in the city of Ur. God appeared to Abram and commanded him to leave his country for a new land. God’s encounter with Abram was unexpected and now signifies a personal relationship with man. Initially, He instructs Abram and offers him blessings for his obedience, and a convenant between the two is later established.
Initially I was going to use either my New King James or ESV translation for this read-along, but I recently acquired an Orthodox study bible so I thought it might be interesting to read it. There are extra books included in the Old Testament accepted by the Orthodox church that I’ve always wanted to read and what better time than this read-along? So here we go ……..
At the beginning of this year Adam at Roof Beam Reader hosted a Bible as Literature event that I wanted to participate in so badly. But knowing my overloaded schedule as late and knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace, I unhappily decided to pass. Yet how excited I was to see O’s recently announced the Bible As Literature read-along which will take just over two years. It may seem long, but the pace is perfect for me and having other readers to push me along will be just what I need. I can’t wait to start!
6th May 2019: 1:1–2:46. The Davidic Succession; 3:1–11:43. Solomon.
13th May 2019: 12:1–13:34. The political and religious schism;
14:1–16:34. The two kingdoms until Elijah.
20th May 2019: 17:1–2 Kings 1:18. The Elijah cycle.
27th May 2019: 2:1–13:25. The Elisha cycle.
3rd June 2019: 14:1–17:41. The two kingdoms to the fall of Samaria.
10th June 2019: 18:1–25:30. The last years of the kingdom of Judah.
17th June 2019: 1–9:34. Genealogies from Adam.
24th June 2019: 10–29. The reign of David.
1st July 2019: 1–9. The reign of Solomon.
8th July 2019: 10–36. The kingdom of Judah, its destruction by the Babylonians,
and its restoration under Cyrus the Persian.
1–6. The return of the Jews to Jerusalem (c. 539 B.C.);
7–10. The return of Ezra and a group of Jews to Judah.
1–2. Exposition: Life in the Persian Palace; Esther becomes Queen;
3–8:14. Haman’s plot to kill Mordecai and the Jews; 8:15–10. The resolution and the results: the Jewish victory.
12th August 2019: 1–2. Prologue on Earth and Heaven; 3. Job’s prologue.
19th August 2019: 4–27. The three cycles of dialogues between Job and his three friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.
26th August 2019: 28. A Poem to Wisdom; 29–31. Job’s closing monologue; 32–37. Elihu’s speeches.
2nd September 2019: 38–42:7–8. Two speeches by God and Job’s response; 42:9–17. Job’s restoration.
9th September 2019: 1–41. Book I.
16th September 2019: 42–72. Book II.
23rd September 2019: 73–89. Book III.
30th September 2019: 90–106. Book IV.
7th October 2019: 107–150. Book V.
14th October 2019:1–9. Proverbs of Solomon, Son of David, King of Israel.
21st October 2019: 10–22:16. More Proverbs of Solomon.
28th October 2019: 22:17–24:22. The Sayings of the Wise; 24:23–34. More Sayings of the Wise; 25–29. Other Proverbs of Solomon.
4th November 2019: 30. The Words of Agur; 31:1–9. The Words of King Lemuel of Massa; 31:10–31. The Woman of Substance.
11th November 2019: 1:1–1:2–11. Title and Initial poem; 1:12–6:9. Kohelet’s investigation of life; 6:10–11:6.Kohelet’s conclusions.
18th November 2019: 11:7–12:8. Concluding poem; 12:9–14. Epilogue.
1:1–6. Introduction; 1:7–2:7. Dialogue between the lovers; 2:8–17. The woman recalls a visit from her lover; 3:1–5. The woman addresses the daughters of Zion; 3:6–11. Sighting a royal wedding procession; 4:1–5:1. The man describes his lover’s beauty; 5:2–6:4. The woman addresses the daughters of Jerusalem; 6:5–12. The man describes his lover, who visits him; 6:13–8:4. Observers describe the woman’s beauty; 8:5–14. Conclusion.
6th January – 13th January 2020: 1–39. Proto-Isaiah, containing the words of the original Isaiah.
20th January 2020: 40–55. Deutero-Isaiah, the work of an anonymous Exilic author.
27th January 2020: 56–66. Trito-Isaiah, an anthology of about twelve passages.
3rd – 10th February 2020: 1–25. The earliest and main core of Jeremiah’s message.
17th February 2020: 26–29. Biographic material and interaction with other prophets.
24th February 2020: 30–33. God’s promise of restoration including Jeremiah’s new covenant.
2nd March 2020: 34–45. Zedekiah and the fall of Jerusalem.
9th March 2020: 46–51. Divine punishment to the nations surrounding Israel; 52. Retelling of 2 Kings 24.18–25.30.
1. Jeremiah mourns for Jerusalem and Judea; 2. The anger of the Lord;
3. Jeremiah’s suffering; 4–5. The Justice of God.
23rd March – 30th March 2020: 1–29. Prophecies against Judah and Jerusalem.
6th April 2020: 25–32. Prophecies against the foreign nations.
13th April 2020: 33–48. Prophecies of hope and salvation.
20th April 2020: 1. Daniel and friends at the tale of the king; 2. Daniel interprets the king’s dream.
3. The fiery furnace; 4. Nebuchadnezzar’s madness 5. The handwriting on the wall.
6. The lion’s den; 7. The vision of the son of man; 8. The vision of the ram and the he-goat.
9. Daniel’s prayer and the seventy years of the devastation of Jerusalem; 10. The final vision and promise of resurrection.
1–2. Hosea’s marriage with Gomer (biographical).
3. Hosea’s marriage (autobiographical).
4–14:10. Oracle judging Israel.
1:1–2:17. Lament over drought and plague of locusts.
2:18–32. Promise of future blessings.
3:1–21. The coming judgement.
1.3–2.6. Oracles against the nations.
4.1–8.8. Addresses to groups in Israel.
7.10–9:8. Five symbolic visions of God’s judgement.
9:8–15. Epilogue.
The vision of the fall of Edom.
1–2. Jonah flees his mission.
3–4. Jonah fulfils his mission.
1–3. Judgement.
4–5. Restoration of Zion.
6–7. God’s judgement against Israel.
1. The majesty of God.
2–3. The fall of Nineveh.
1. A discussion between God and Habakkuk.
2. An Oracle of Woe.
3. A Psalm.
1:1. Superscription.
1:2–13. The Coming Judgement on Judah.
1:14–18. The Great Day of the Lord.
2:1–15. Judgement on Israel’s Enemies.
3:1–7. The Wickedness of Jerusalem.
3:8–13. Punishment and Conversion of the Nations.
3:14–20. Song of Joy.
1:1–15. The first prophecy.
2:1–23. The second, third, and fourth prophecy.
1–8. The teachings of Zechariah.
9–10. The first and second oracle.
1–2:9. Israel preferred to Edom.
2:10–17. The Covenant Profaned by Judah.
3:1–7. The Coming Messenger.
3:8–15. Do Not Rob God.
4:1–5. The Great Day of the Lord.
1st June 2020: 1:1–2:23. Birth and Childhood of Jesus; 3–4. Baptism and early ministry.
5–7. Sermon on the Mount; 8–9. Healing and miracles; 10:1–11:1. Mission Discourse / Little Commission.
8th June 2020: 11:2–13:52. Responses to Jesus; 13:53–17. Conflicts, rejections, and conferences with disciples; 18. Life in the Christian community; 19–20. Journey to Jerusalem.
15th June 2020: 21–22. Jerusalem; 23. Woes of the Pharisees; 24–25. Judgement day;
26–28. Death and Resurrection.
1–9. Galilean ministry; 10. Journey to Jerusalem; 11–16. Events in Jerusalem.
29th June 2020: 1:1–4. Introduction to Theophilus; 1:5–4. Jesus’ birth and boyhood;
3:1–4:13. Jesus’ baptism and temptation; 4:14–9:50. Jesus’ ministry in Galilee.
6th July 2020: 9:51– 19:27. Jesus’ teaching on the journey to Jerusalem;
19:28–24. Jesus’ Jerusalem conflicts, crucifixion, and resurrection.
13th July 2020: 1:10-18. Introduction; 1:19-12:50. The Book of Signs.
20th July 2020: 13:1-20:31. The Book of Glory; 21. Epilogue
Acts
27th July 2020:1. Preface to Theophilus; 2:1–12:25. From Jerusalem to Antioch (Petrine Christianity).
3rd August 2020: 13:1–28:21. From Antioch to Rome (Pauline Christianity).
Epistles
1:1–15. Prologue; 1:16 –8:39. Salvation in the Christ;
12 –15:13. Transformation of believers; 15:1 –16:23. Epilogue .
1:1–3. Salutation.
1:4–9. Thanksgiving.
1:10–4:21. Division in Corinth.
5:1–6:20. Immorality in Corinth.
7:1–14:40. Difficulties in Corinth.
15:1–58. Doctrine of Resurrection.
16:1–24. Closing.
1:1–11: Greeting.
1:12–7:16. Paul defends his actions and apostleship.
8:1–9:15. Instructions for the collection for the poor in the Jerusalem church.
10:1 – 13:10. A polemic defence of his apostleship.
13:11–13. Closing greetings.
1–2. Paul’s testimony on the gospels; 3–5:12. On faith and the commandments;
5:13–6. Fruits of the Spirit, the Law of Christ, and final warning.
1:1–2. The greeting; 1:3–2:10. On the blessings that the gospel reveals;
2:11–3:21. On the Gentiles; 4:1–16. On unity;
4:17–6:9. Instructions about ordinary life and different relationships;
6:10–24. On imagery of spiritual warfare.
1:1–11. Preface; 1:12–26. Paul describes his present life; 1:27–2:30. Practical Instructions in Sanctification; 3:1–4:1. Polemical Doctrinal Issues; 4:2–23. Epilogue.
1:1–14. Introduction; 1:15–23. The Supremacy of Christ.
1:24–2:7. Paul’s work for the church; 2:8–23. Freedom from Human Regulations through Life with Christ; 3:1–4:6. Rules for Holy Living; 4:7–18. Final Greetings.
1:1–10. Greeting; 2:1–20. Past interactions with the church;
3:1–13. On Timothy’s visit; 4:1–5:25. Specific issues;
4:1–12. Relationships among Christians; 4:13–18. Mourning those who have died;
5:1–11. Preparing for God’s arrival; 5:12–25. On proper Christian behaviour;
5:26–28. Final greetings.
1. On the return of Jesus and the persecution of the Thessalonians;
2–3. On the Holy Spirit and the Antichrist.
1:1–2. Greeting; 1:3–20. Negative Instructions: Stop the False Teachers;
2:1–6:10. Positive Instructions; 6:11–21. Personal Instructions.
1–2. Paul in prison; 3–4. Paul urges Timothy to be faithful and asks for some personal effects.
1. On choosing church leaders; 2–3. On Christian living.
1–3. Introduction; 4–7. Thanksgiving and intercession;
8–20. Paul’s plea for Onesimus; 21–25. Conclusion.
1–10:18. The sovereignty of Jesus over the angels and on the New Covenant.
10:19–13. On faith and the Old Covenant.
1. Putting faith into action; 2–3. On faith and deeds;
4–5. Instruction and the importance of prayer.
1:1–2. Greeting; 1:3–12. Praise to God; 1:13–2:10. God’s Holy People.
2:11–4:11. Life in Exile; 4:12–5:11. Steadfast in Faith; 5:12–14. Final Greeting.
1–2. Guidance to churches; 3. Day of Judgement.
1–2. Reassuring believers; 3–4. On the love of God;
5. The importance of faith.
1. On love.
1. On truth.
1. Warning against false teachers.
Apocalypse
19th October 2020: 1–3. Seven letters warning against deception and lawlessness;
4–7. Seven seals on a heavenly scroll opened by the Lamb.
26th October 2020: 8–14. Seven trumpets of warning.
2nd November 2020: 15–22. Seven bowls of God’s final wrath.