Love

3,000 years of ideas about the nature of love in Western culture
are brought together in this concise history. By blending the works
of many scholars and examining the significant lives, works, and
movements associated with love, Love: A Brief History Through
Western Christianity traces the evolution and impact of this
timeless topic.

• • Takes the reader on a lightning but enlightening journey
    through 3,000 years of the idea of love

• Examines the influential movements, people, and work that have
  helped shape our notion of love in Western culture, written by a
  key figure in religious history

• Tackles the historical and religious concept in Western
  society, and our efforts to apply ideas of love to social
  concerns

• Explores diverse periods and examples - from the
  theological and philosophical texts of figures such as Augustine,
  Luther, and Feuerbach to intellectual movements like Romanticism
  and tragic historic figures such as Abelard and Heloise

• Contributes valuable insights into one of history's most
  inexhaustible and timeless topics, spanning biblical views of love
  including monasticism and pietism, romantic notions of love,
  through to today's liberal religion and concept of love as
  self-fulfillment.

Auteur

CARTER LINDBERG is Professor Emeritus of Church History at Boston University School of Theology. He is the author of numerous books, including A Brief History of Christianity (2005), The Pietist Theologians (2004), The Reformation Theologians (2001), and The European Reformations (1995) – all published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Texte du rabat
"This book is doubly impressive, both for covering so much material so expertly in such a short space and also for doing it with such elegant prose."
Paul Rorem, Princeton Theological Seminary Love in all its guises has been debated since the beginning of recorded history. Its fascinating evolution in Western culture is traced in this concise history; one which spans the depth and complexity of this elusive topic. By examining the significant lives, works, and movements associated with love, this enlightening little book contributes valuable insights into one of history's most inexhaustible and timeless topics. From the theological and philosophical texts of figures such as Augustine, Luther, and Feuerbach to intellectual movements like Romanticism and tragic historic figures like Abelard and Heloise, Love: A Brief History Through Western Christianity propels the reader across 3,000 years of the idea of love.

Résumé
3,000 years of ideas about the nature of love in Western culture are brought together in this concise history. By blending the works of many scholars and examining the significant lives, works, and movements associated with love, Love: A Brief History Through Western Christianity traces the evolution and impact of this timeless topic.

• Takes the reader on a lightning but enlightening journey through 3,000 years of the idea of love

• Examines the influential movements, people, and work that have helped shape our notion of love in Western culture, written by a key figure in religious history

• Tackles the historical and religious concept in Western society, and our efforts to apply ideas of love to social concerns

• Explores diverse periods and examples from the theological and philosophical texts of figures such as Augustine, Luther, and Feuerbach to intellectual movements like Romanticism and tragic historic figures such as Abelard and Heloise

• Contributes valuable insights into one of history's most inexhaustible and timeless topics, spanning biblical views of love including monasticism and pietism, romantic notions of love, through to today's liberal religion and concept of love as self-fulfillment.

Contenu
Preface. 1. The Language of Love.

2. Biblical Views of Love.

3. A World Without Love? The Greco-Roman World and Early Christianity.

4. Caritas: The Augustinian Synthesis of Biblical Agape and Hellenistic Eros.

5. Love and the Individual: Abelard and Bernard.

6. Mystics and Troubadours.

7. Faith Formed by Love: Scholasticism.

8. Faith Active in Love: Reformation.

9. Love as Service: Pietism and the Diaconal Movements.

10. Love in the Modern World.

Conclusion: Concluding Unscientific Postscript.

Bibliography.

Index