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To Love as God Loves

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Contemporary christians find themselves in a secular culture that demands their allegiance and conformity. As a people of faith, they find themselves capture in culture which eventually lead to the erosion and compromise of their beliefs. How does one deal with this struggle? Is it possible to love as god loves by breaking away from those cultural mores that we find most dear? Bondi addresses those questions and more as she leads us into a conversation with the early monastic who had similar challenges.

To truly love as God means incorporating a new definition of love and humility that goes beyond our present secular understanding. A dialogue with the Desert fathers and mothers enables us to weed out those stumbling blocks which hinder us from loving ourselves, our neighbors and our God. This text serves as a key of understanding how God loves and how we can imitate that love.

Roberta Bondi brings the rich tradition of the early Church fathers and mothers into the 20th century, and invites us to learn anew what it means to love. I particularly liked what she has to say about the concepts of "perfection" and "humility." She writes in a very engaging manner, making it easy to not only understand her writing, but sparking the desire to live it out. A wonderful read for Christians and those who may have been wounded by Christianity.

To Love as God Loves Critique By Mark R. Braden

The title of this book, To Love as God Loves, challenges the reader to apply God's love in our approach to life. Bondi through select passage of Christian literature challenges us to see how "Godly love" should be striven for in His kingdom. In order to achieve that goal we must look at the commonality of our existence as men and women in God's world and be aware of what human frailties interfere with our ability to love. We must first come to fundamentally understand what is God's love and what is God's plan to use love as the foundational principal and keystone in upon which to build our life. Roberta C. Bondi effectively uses early Christian literature to present situational circumstances that can be used as metaphors of understanding God's love in our contemporary world.

Since love can assume so many different forms and be at many times be conceptual and the relationship of love to man can be situational to many different applications. Bondi's use of many different illustration' from historic Christian authors, give substance and fullness to our understanding of what love is and can be. To love, as God would have us love is to be continually aware of our relationship to our fellow man and how that relationship plays to God's intention of what he requires of loving subjects. I believe that Roberta C. Bondi accomplished her goal. She logically sets forth defining her terms, presents us with a current (albeit historical view) look at love and what keeps man from loving as God intended. She further presents solid arguments as to how human nature is conflicted by our passions and then presents us with a solution of prayer so that we might reach that, "...partially covered over but still existing image of God" (p.79) that remains with in us. She then confronts us with her image of what is God's love which she sums up by saying, "God loves beyond your dreams, extravagantly, without limit" (p.101). To love, as God wants us to love is to look within each of us and to examine our most basic of motivations in relationship with our fellow man. The early Christian mystics had insights into our humanity that exposed our human frailties as well as our ability to discern God's intent in his kingdom. Through Bonds' reflections on the early writings of the church, we see that Christian love is and has been what God's kingdom is truly and simply all about.

In an easy to read manner, Bondi addresses a "stodgy topic" (the early monastics) and transforms it into an INSIGHTFUL, Transforming look at what it means to be a Christian who loves as God loves. This book made me think that their is hope for the organized church. It made me realize that Christianity has a vital, intense and prophetic role to call people not just to know god but LOVE as God Loves

This is a short, simple companion to reading the desert fathers. Because the historical and cultural chasm that separates us from the desert fathers/mothers tradition, some of their practices and sayings can sound rather strange and bizzare. Bondi writes as an old friend to the tradition and gives some pointers to anyone with an open mind and heart to receive the gems of these ancient spiritual masters. Bondi advises us against absolutizing the desert fathers' sayings but instead to capture the essence of what they are driving at in some of their rather sometimes shocking statements. For example, the saying 'one hour of sleep a day is enough for the monk who is a fighter' probably goes against the basic rule of modern sleep hygiene. But, taken in context, it is aimed at subduing the body's many compulsions and indulgence so that the will is set free to love.

Indeed, the whole end of the desert fathers' many seemingly superhuman feats is not how far they can stretch their mortal bodies beyond normal breaking points but love. Hence, humility remains the main foundational virtue upon which the whole spiritual quest is built. It is really not in the heroic acts and death-defying stunts where love is nurtured but in the day-to-day small acts of service, hospitality and kindness.

The imagery of the sailboat is a helpful illustration of how the divine and the human come together in a beautiful synergy in the life of sanctification. Human efforts are like the steering of the sail whereas it is the powerful wind of God's grace that propels the boat forward. No desert fathers ever thought that one can make it on his own without the grace of God. Yet, few realize more than they the place of human co-operation and indeed struggles in the economy of real spiritual growth. Hence, even the murderer does not lie beyond the possibility of redemption in so far as he has the ability to cry out 'God, help me!' and yes, 'God has more pity on the murderer struggling to turn his heart and face to God than the thoughtless monk.'(loose paraphrase)

As for the approach to sanctification, Bondi identifies at least two prongs: the subduing of the 'passions' (understood here as the excessive and inordinate desires of the flesh) and a life of prayer. The discussion of the passions is done by giving a brief treatment of the classical seven deadly sins. Prayer is dealt with in the forms of the apophatic tradition - the wordless, imageless prayer of quiet - and the kataphatic tradition - using the psalms, a question, or imagery that reshapes our vision of God around biblical themes.

Overall, a short, easy companion that offers one helpful perspective and approach to harnessing the wisdom of the desert fathers, whose life's quest is to love as God does.

I was assigned this book for class. My professor used it because it was written by his professor. It focuses on how the Desert Fathers and Mothers (around the years 400-600A.D.) saw God's love. It is thought provoking, because the sayings of those saints are designed to get you to think. Sometimes, what they suggest is not what you should do, but it challenges you to reflect more on God and his world.

This book has some amazing passages about God's love and about prayer...probably some of the best, most concise explanations that I have read. I actually borrowed this book from a friend, but after reading it, purchased it for my permanent library. I highly recommend this work.

I've owned this book since it came out in 1987. Roberta Bondi was one of my seminary professors. I remember reading it with appreciation, but after these many years really didn't remember what Bondi said.
Then, preparing to preach on Matthew 5 -- "Love your enemies... be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" -- I pulled it down to re-read. It hit me with full force, and caused me to re-examine my own walk in the light of the wisdom of the desert fathers.
This is a book that I treasure.