On Loving God with an Analytical Commentary
Overview
Perhaps Bernard’s most delightful tract, On Loving God posits that everything good in human persons is an expression of God’s love and by love the person may participate in the being of the triune God. In a new analytic commentary, Stiegman examines Bernard’s language, logic, and theology, demonstrating the vital importance of reading medieval authors on their own terms, without superimposing categories developed by later generations.
Top Highlights
“If ignorance makes beasts of us, arrogance makes us like demons. It is pride, the greatest of sins, to use gifts as if they were one’s by natural right and while receiving benefits to usurp the benefactor’s glory.” (Page 7)
“There are two facts you should know: first, what you are; secondly, that you are not that by your own power” (Page 6)
“You wish me to tell you why and how God should be loved. My answer is that God himself is the reason why he is to be loved.1 As for how he is to be loved, there is to be no limit to that love.” (Page 3)
“result, dignity without knowledge is unprofitable, without virtue it can be an obstacle” (Page 5)
“the fourth degree of love: man loves himself for the sake of god” (Page 29)