In his first Encyclical, Pope Benedict helps to clarify the meaning of love. He examines the nature of various kinds of love—human love and divine love, eros, friendship, and charity.

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Product Description

Deluxe Hardcover Collectors' Edition

Everyone needs love. Everyone desires love. But not everyone understands love. In fact, love is probably the most misunderstood subject in history.

In his first Encyclical, Pope Benedict helps to clarify the meaning of love. He examines the nature of various kinds of love—human love and divine love, eros, friendship, and charity. He writes beautifully and inspirationally of how man was made for love by the God who is love, the God who became one of us out of love—Jesus Christ.

In the second part of the Encyclical, Benedict addresses the Church's practice of love. He examines the relationship between justice and charity, as well as the call of every Catholic to serve others in love. The Pope's "love letter" to mankind is remarkably accessible and timely.

Jewels from "God Is Love" ~ Deus Caritas Est

"'God is love and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him' (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny."

"We have come to believe in God's love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, that gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction."

"St. John's Gospel describes that event in these words: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should . . . have eternal life' (3:16). In acknowledging the centrality of love, Christian faith has retained the core of Israel's faith, while at the same time giving it new depth and breadth."

"In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence, this message is both timely and significant. For this reason, I wish in my first Encyclical, to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us, and which we in turn must share with others."

"I wanted here—at the beginning of my Pontificate—to clarify some essential facts concerning the love which God mysteriously and gratuitously offers to man, together with the intrinsic link between that Love and the reality of human love."

—Pope Benedict XVI

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60498 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 108 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781586171636
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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Customer Reviews

Benedict's first encyclical
I am shocked, absolutely shocked, that no one has reviewed Pope Benedict XVI's first papal encyclical, "God Is Love". At the very least you would expect a Catholic or two to show up and say a few words about the supreme pontiff's elegant treatise on the transformative power of God's love. It's been nearly eight months since the Vatican released it! Where are the reviews? Sad, sad, sad. Well, I'll write a review for Benedict's epistle even though I'm not a Catholic. Nor am I a Jew, a Muslim, a Buddhist, or a Protestant. I'm just an agnostic, albeit one who holds sympathies for the Catholic Church, with a bachelor's degree in religious studies (degrees in history too, but that doesn't count here). I decided to read "Deus Caritas Est" (the Latin title) when I realized I have never read a papal encyclical. They serve several important purposes within the Catholic Church. One, encyclicals tend to lay the groundwork for a pope's legacy. Two, they attempt to offer answers to serious temporal problems facing Catholics around the world. Three, they explain certain policy decisions taken by the leadership. Four, and lastly, encyclicals often clarify hazy doctrinal issues that arise from time to time.

Benedict divides "God Is Love" into two parts. The first, and most difficult, section involves a theoretical discussion on the various aspects of love. According to the pontiff, there is two of major importance. The first, eros, is a grand, soaring love that has little to do with giving of oneself. Agape, the second form of love, is more contemplative and grounded, a love that is more concerned with giving than receiving. Both forms of love are healthy and good in and of themselves, but Benedict admonishes the modern tendency to embrace eros as it pertains to bodily pleasures. Love without the spiritual component found in Christianity, the pope argues, is an empty love that causes more harm than good. Only when we realize that eros and agape go together, that they are two sides of the same coin, do we understand the depth and greatness of God's love. He also contends that it is through God that both loves become united for the benefit of mankind. Benedict cites a number of sources--Virgil's Eclogues, Nietzsche, the Old Testament, and the Gospels among them--in his examination of the various aspects and definitions of love. It's pretty obvious the new pope is quite the theologian.

After the tough slog through the first part of the encyclical (Benedict himself admits it is a difficult trek), the second part feels like a piece of cake. This section discusses how Catholic charities must channel God's love to help ease humanity's sufferings. There's some standard stuff in here one would expect from the head of the Catholic Church--love thy neighbor, don't puff up with pride or feel superior because you help the needy, and admonitions to stay the course in an increasingly dark and dangerous world. Good and true, such advice. Benedict goes further, however, by urging Catholic charities to retain their religious character, to avoid Marxist cant about foregoing charity in favor of a nebulous social justice down the road. He also points out that Catholic organizations should watch out lest they become part of the state and the political process (read: shun secularization). "Deus Caritas Est" concludes with a very short examination of saints and charity. He cites Martin of Tours, Francis of Assisi, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Mary, and others as examples of how love and charity should work in the earthly realm. Also included in an appendix is an introduction Benedict wrote for the edition of the encyclical published in Famiglia Cristiana.

I remember back when Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. The media went nuts over his selection. They blasted him for being a conservative, and there were many dark insinuations that this pope would attempt to take the Catholic Church back to the Middle Ages. His association with a certain youth association in Germany at the end of World War II hinted at something far bleaker, although anyone with half a brain understood that membership in this group was mandatory and meant nothing about this man's character. It was just another smear tactic employed by liberals angry over the Church's refusal to ordain female priests and its failure to get with the program and endorse abortion. After reading this encyclical, though, I'm starting to wonder about this pope's conservative credentials. I was hoping for a vigorous attack on the alienation inherent in modernity, or at least the very least secular liberalism and its manifold evils. No such luck. He touches on a few of the destructive behaviors in the present day, such as drugs and loose morals, but not in any substantive detail. Perhaps his next encyclical will deal with these issues in greater depth.

I usually reserve a final paragraph in my reviews for criticism of the product. How the heck can I do that here? I'm reading something written by THE POPE! Not only that, he's a pope who is a noted theologian. Who am I to criticize his use of source material or pick apart his arguments? I leave it to better men than I, ones with a Ph.D. in theology, to critique the whole agape versus eros theory proposed by the pontiff. I will offer up one slight suggestion that might have made the first part of the encyclical easier to read. It seems to me that I might understand his arguments better had he defined the terms eros and agape much earlier in the text. The epistle just launches into the theory without defining the concepts until several pages later. Who knows how this happened? Maybe translation problems are to blame. It's a small point, I know, but that's all I'm going to say in the negative. In the positive, "God Is Love" is an inspirational read even for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

The Pope makes you believe
Fantastic and beautiful. This is the first book I read from the Pope and I could not put it down. Love is so important to us and Ratzinger makes you believe in it like no one else can. Very readable and straight from the heart of a great man. This book blew me away and made me feel that God no matter what is always there for us all we have to do is believe. All Catholics and Christians in general should own a copy of this. With all the hate and violence going on in this world it's good to know that love is still the most powerful and beautiful thing out there.

God is Love
A clear and concise illumination of the theologic reason for this statement. It actually is not in the creation story but derives from it. It was also fun to read. See the mind of the new pope at work. The press accounts of him being a dour, humorless conservative are wrong,