William F. Stapleton

The Four Loves

The Four Loves is a book by Clive Staples Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian perspective through thought-experiments and examples from literature. The content of the examination is prefaced by Lewis' admission that he initially mistook St. John's words "God is Love" for a simple inroad to his topic. By distinguishing need-love (such as the love of a child for its mother) from gift-love (epitomized by God's love for humanity), Lewis happens upon the contemplative that the natures of even these basic categorizations of love are more complicated than they, at first, seem. As a result, he formulates the foundation of his topic ("the highest does not stand without the lowest") by exploring the nature of pleasure, and then divides love into four categories, based in part on the four Greek words for love: affection, friendship, Eros, and charity. It must be noted, states Lewis, that just as Lucifer — a former archangel —perverted himself by pride and fell into depravity, so too can love—commonly held to be the arch-emotion—become corrupt by presuming itself to be what it is not ("love begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be a god").

Charity

Charity, (agapē, ἀγάπη) is the love that brings forth caring regardless of circumstance. Lewis recognizes this as the greatest of loves, and sees it as a specifically Christian virtue. The chapter on the subject focuses on the need of subordinating the natural loves to the love of God, who is full of charitable love. Lewis states that "He is so full, in fact, that it overflows, and He can't help but love us." Lewis compares love with a garden, charity with the gardening utensils, the lover as the gardener, and God as the elements of nature. God's love and guidance act on our natural love (that cannot remain what it is by itself) as the sun and rain act on a garden: without either, the object (metaphorically the garden; realistically love itself) would cease to be beautiful or worthy. Lewis warns that those who exhibit charity must constantly check themselves that they do not flaunt—and thereby warp—this love ("But when you give to someone, don't tell your left hand what your right hand is doing."—Matthew 6:3), which is its potential threat.

Here you may listen to C.S. Lewis himself as he expounds upon and examines the greatest of loves, Agape.

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The Four Loves

The Four Loves is a book by Clive Staples Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian perspective through thought-experiments and examples from literature. The content of the examination is prefaced by Lewis' admission that he initially mistook St. John's words "God is Love" for a simple inroad to his topic. By distinguishing need-love (such as the love of a child for its mother) from gift-love (epitomized by God's love for humanity), Lewis happens upon the contemplative that the natures of even these basic categorizations of love are more complicated than they, at first, seem. As a result, he formulates the foundation of his topic ("the highest does not stand without the lowest") by exploring the nature of pleasure, and then divides love into four categories, based in part on the four Greek words for love: affection, friendship, Eros, and charity. It must be noted, states Lewis, that just as Lucifer — a former archangel —perverted himself by pride and fell into depravity, so too can love—commonly held to be the arch-emotion—become corrupt by presuming itself to be what it is not ("love begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be a god").

Eros

Eros (ἔρως) is love in the sense of 'being in love'. This is distinct from sexuality, which Lewis calls Venus, although he does spend time discussing sexual activity and its spiritual significance in both a pagan and a Christian sense. He identifies eros as indifferent. This is good because it promotes appreciation of the beloved regardless of any pleasure that can be obtained from them. It can be bad, however, because this blind devotion has been at the root of many of history's most abominable tragedies. In keeping with his warning that "love begins to be a demon the moment [it] begins to be a god", he warns against the danger of elevating eros to the status of a god.

Here you may listen to C.S. Lewis himself, as he expounds upon and explains the word "Eros."

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The Four Loves

The Four Loves is a book by Clive Staples Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian perspective through thought-experiments and examples from literature. The content of the examination is prefaced by Lewis' admission that he initially mistook St. John's words "God is Love" for a simple inroad to his topic. By distinguishing need-love (such as the love of a child for its mother) from gift-love (epitomized by God's love for humanity), Lewis happens upon the contemplative that the natures of even these basic categorizations of love are more complicated than they, at first, seem. As a result, he formulates the foundation of his topic ("the highest does not stand without the lowest") by exploring the nature of pleasure, and then divides love into four categories, based in part on the four Greek words for love: affection, friendship, Eros, and charity. It must be noted, states Lewis, that just as Lucifer — a former archangel —perverted himself by pride and fell into depravity, so too can love—commonly held to be the arch-emotion—become corrupt by presuming itself to be what it is not ("love begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be a god").

Friendship

Friendship (philia, φιλία) is a strong bond existing between people who share a common interest or activity. Lewis explicitly says that his definition of friendship is narrower than mere companionship: friendship in his sense only exists if there is something for the friendship to be "about". He calls Companionship or Clubbableness a matrix for friendship, as friendship can rise in the context of both. Friendship is the least natural of loves, states Lewis; i.e., it is not biologically necessary to progeny like either affection (e.g., rearing a child), eros (e.g., creating a child), or charity (e.g., providing for a child). It has the least association with impulse or emotion. In spite of these characteristics, it was the belief of the ancients, (and Lewis himself), that it was the most admirable of loves because it looked not at the beloved (like eros), but towards that "about"—that thing because of which the relationship was formed. This freed the participants in this friendship from self-consciousness.

Here you may listen to Part 2 of C.S. Lewis' lecture on The Four Loves.  In this installment Lewis explains and examines the brotherly kind of love, Philia.

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The Four Loves

The Four Loves is a book by Clive Staples Lewis which explores the nature of love from a Christian perspective through thought-experiments and examples from literature. The content of the examination is prefaced by Lewis' admission that he initially mistook St. John's words "God is Love" for a simple inroad to his topic. By distinguishing need-love (such as the love of a child for its mother) from gift-love (epitomized by God's love for humanity), Lewis happens upon the contemplative that the natures of even these basic categorizations of love are more complicated than they, at first, seem. As a result, he formulates the foundation of his topic ("the highest does not stand without the lowest") by exploring the nature of pleasure, and then divides love into four categories, based in part on the four Greek words for love: affection, friendship, Eros, and charity. It must be noted, states Lewis, that just as Lucifer — a former archangel —perverted himself by pride and fell into depravity, so too can love—commonly held to be the arch-emotion—become corrupt by presuming itself to be what it is not ("love begins to be a demon the moment he begins to be a god").

Affection

Affection (storge, στοργή) is fondness through familiarity, especially between family members or people who have otherwise found themselves together by chance. It is described as the most natural, emotive, and widely diffused of loves: natural in that it is present without coercion; emotive because it is the result of fondness due to familiarity; and most widely diffused because it pays the least attention to those characteristics deemed "valuable" or worthy of love and, as a result, is able to transcend most discriminating factors. Ironically, its strength, however, is what makes it vulnerable. Affection has the appearance of being "built-in" or "ready made", says Lewis, and as a result people come to expect, even to demand, its presence—irrespective of their behavior and its natural consequences.

Here, you may listen to part 1 of C.S. Lewis' short lecture on The Four Loves.  In this audio lecture, Lewis examines and expounds upon the Greek word Storge.

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This 5th installment in the “Being Missional” series builds upon Romans 12:5 “and we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” The community of believers as we found them in the early church, and as we must become in postmodern America, is a transformational community. By that, we mean that it is composed of people whose lives have been transformed by Christ, that it involves people who continue the transformation of lifestyle through obedience to Christ, and also that the presence of the community in the world transforms the world around it. The structure and practice of the Christian community are in view in this session.

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What God IS is Love

“Beloved, let us love one another,” John writes, “for love is from God, and everyone who does love is born of God and knows God.  Anyone who doesn’t do love cannot possibly know God, because what God IS is love.”  Not only by His longing for our freedom, but by the love, which is both His chosen mode of being and the very essence of His existence, shall we come to know and understand God.  Once these things are in place, we can begin to understand what to expect in our relationship with Him.

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This little series of talks is aimed, in a roundabout way, at helping us all have some common metaphors, examples and stories that will provide us with a common framework for understanding what we mean when we say “Missional.”

Part 4 continues the discussion on what it means to be missional, looking at the structure of the church. Our idea of proper organization is probably not biblical, since the New Testament says precious little about actual church orgainzation. We have been given great latitude concerning the practical aspects of organization in the church, and yet we continue in the same pattern we have used for hundreds of years. We need to consider organizational principles that will meet the needs of the church in the new century, not in the 16th century

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This little series of talks is aimed, in a roundabout way, at helping us all have some common metaphors, examples and stories that will provide us with a common framework for understanding what we mean when we say “Missional.”

Part 3 continues the discussion on what it means to be missional, looking at the elements that make up church with a view to sharpening our focus. The church needs leaders, everyone knows. But how do we get transformational leaders if all we do is look at those faithful few who are still happy with the status-quo in the church? We need to look outside the box, perhaps even outside the circle of people we like, and who agree with us, to find the leaders who can carry the church into the next generation.

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On the Longing of God

I find it almost a universal truth these days that people sense an empty spot in their lives in regard to understanding who God is and what He’s trying to do, both in the world and in their own lives as well.  Through this series of teaching sessions I’ll explore the various ways of coming to know God more intimately, understanding Him as a Father of fathers, and highlighting the difference between knowing ‘about’ God and actually coming to ‘know’ Him in a personal, intimate and, some might say, dangerous way.  My goal here is more to provoke independent thought than to give pat answers, since I believe, as the book of Hebrews teaches, that the first step in faith is to “believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

In this introductory session we will explore the steps God has taken to draw men and women near.  God longs for fellowship with His lost creation, and finds that through the sacrifice of Christ.  In truth, we can never know God apart from what Jesus has revealed to us about Him.  But we find that as we approach Jesus, Himself very God, we come into intimate relationship with the Father as well.

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