The Love That Satisfies [Hardcover]

Christopher West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2007

Building on the legacy of Pope John Paul II, it is significant that the first encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI is dedicated to the topic God is Love. The Holy Father demonstrates that it is agape, the self-sacrificial love of God that empowers romantic love, eros, with life-giving and meaningful existence. In The Love That Satisfies, Christopher West draws from the Pope s letter a series of insightful and inspiring reflections on the nature of eros, agape, and the relationship between the two. He shows that it is through recognizing and embracing the beauty of God s self-sacrificial love that a person is able to truly be satisfied. In uniting the love of God to the love of spouse, the nuptial bond is fulfilled. Perhaps even more profound is the reality that God and the Bridegroom of the Church has a personal love for his Bride that may certainly be called eros (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, n. 9).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher West is a research fellow and faculty member of the Theology of the Body Institute. He is also one of the most sought after speakers in the Church today, having delivered more than 1000 public lectures on 4 continents, in 9 countries, and in over 150 American cities. All three of his books Good News About Sex & Marriage, Theology of the Body Explained, and Theology of the Body for Beginners have become Catholic best sellers. Christopher has also lectured on a number of prestigious faculties, offering graduate and undergraduate courses at St John Vianney Seminary in Denver, the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and Creighton University s Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha. Hundreds of thousands have heard him on national radio programs and even more have seen him defending the faith on programs such as Scarborough Country, Fox and Friends, and At Large with Geraldo Rivera. Of all his titles, Christopher is most proud to call himself a devoted husband and father. He and his wife Wendy have four children and live in Lancaster County, PA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Ascension Press (July 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934217131
• ISBN-13: 978-1934217139
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book mixing the Theology of the Body and Pope Benedict's first encyclical, August 22, 2007

By 

Jeffrey Miller "The Curt Jester" (Jacksonville, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Love That Satisfies (Hardcover)

I found this to be a wonderful book. I have never read any of Christopher West's books before, but was aware of his work as one of the foremost teachers and populizer of John Paul II's Theology of the Body. His latest book takes Pope Benedict XVI first encyclical Deus Caritas Est for use as a guiding template on the topics of Eros and Agape. He selected 63 key quotes from the first part of Deus Caritas Est which mainly deals with the relationship of Eros and Agape and unpacks them in easily understandable language.

Reading Deus Caritas Est before I never realized how it matches up so closely to John Paul II's Theology of the Body. Though this is not surprising and any way and Pope John Paul II's understanding is quite useful in understanding and getting the most out of Pope Benedict's first encyclical. While Deus Caritas Est is not that difficult to read, it is nice to take a more leisurely stroll through some of the key ideas in the first part and to explore them more closely in the context of our society today. The book's nine chapters prominently deal with Eros and Agape, what they are, their proper relationship, and their common misunderstandings. Like just about everything in the Catholic faith once again it is a case of both/and and not the divisive separation the so-called sexual revolution has give them. It is not Eros that was poisoned by Christians, but Agape that was poisoned and a wedge driven between Agape and Eros by our culture.

Throughout the book Christopher West looks at the fruits of the "sexual revolution" which he says should be called the "pornographic revolution." Like many revolutions they often end up with a dictator in control, and this case it was the dictatorship of libido. He uses the examples of people like St. Augustine, Hugh Hefner, Bono, Truman Burbank (from the movie The Truman Show), and others to illustrate his points. The book though does not take a confrontational view in the culture wars, but gives us a proper understanding and the hope that goes with it. He also describes the tendencies to either Angelism (spirit against the body) or animalism (body to the neglect of the spirit) and the damage these unbalanced views cause. As with all heresies and errors it is the exaggeration of one truth and the diminishing of another that provides the most potent damage. It is only when we start to realize God's love for us that we can learn to respond in a fully human manner where Eros and Agape our properly balanced.

Christopher West as produced a quite magnificent book that takes serious theological ideas down to a level easily absorbed. I truly got a lot out of this book and it has given me much to think about and makes me want to read the Pope's encyclical once again to get even more out of it.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying...., December 28, 2007

By 

Adrian Ng (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Love That Satisfies (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I wasn't entirely clear on the inter-relationship between eros and agape as laid out in Deus Caritas Est. Furthermore, there have been a couple of chastity programmes that our youth ministry has been looking at and finally I chose a programme with a Christian background (not Catholic). So I have been asking myself how I would "appendix" a Catholic perspective.

The answer to my latter question came on page 32, that marriage is to be an icon of the Trinity, "to reveal, to proclaim and anticipate the eternal union of Christ and the Church". Engaging in premarital sex would then be us not pursuing our destiny to be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), which is the call of every disciple.

I think the answer to my former question comes in two ways. Firstly, eros (human, erotic love) is meant to express agape (divine, sacrificial love). The relationship between husband and wife is meant to express Christ's relationship with the Church. Secondly, the relationship between the two loves is that eros is "ascending" love while agape is "descending" love.

I stand to be corrected but I feel like the book could have benefited from a stronger editing so that the points come out clearer or the train of thought flow more logically. Maybe clear sub-headings may have helped .

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent presentation of a difficult topic, May 18, 2008

By 

T (Greenville, IN, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Love That Satisfies (Hardcover)

Christopher Wet does a fine job in making the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church accessible to the average reader.