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The Four Loves

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The Four Loves

By: C. S. Lewis
Narrated by: C. S. Lewis
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About this listen

A remarkable audio edition of C.S. Lewis' beloved classic - the only existing recording of Lewis reading his own work.

C.S. Lewis - the great British writer, scholar, theologian, broadcaster, Christian apologist, and bestselling author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics - explores the essence of love and how it works in our daily lives in one of his most famous works of nonfiction based on his series of radio talks from 1958.

With penetrating logic and charming wit, Lewis explores the four aspects of love: affection, the most basic form; friendship, the rarest and perhaps most insightful; Eros, passionate love; and charity, the greatest and least selfish.

Lewis exposes the pitfalls in our loves, leading us to the agape love that God has for humankind and the type of love we must develop to nurture our relationships. Throughout this compassionate and methodical study, he encourages readers to open themselves to all forms of love - the key to understanding that brings us closer to God.

  • Features vintage BBC narration by C.S. Lewis
  • New introduction and commentary by Charles Colson
  • Discussion questions available in the audiobook companion PDF download

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Click here to see all the titles in our C. S. Lewis collection.©1960 C. S. Lewis (P)1970, 1982, 1994, 2004 The Episcopal Media Center Christian Living Christianity Relationships

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Critic reviews

"The chapter on charity (love of God) may be the best thing Lewis ever wrote about Christianity." (Amazon.com)
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This series of four readings, which I think were originally broadcast on the radio, give Lewis' thoughts on the four types of love. His analysis is incisive and intelligent, but at the same time witty and not at all dry. I have certainly learned a lot from this recording, and you'll probably find you need to listen to it more than once to get the gain of it. Highly recommended.

Lewis at his incisive best

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It is so wonderful to hear C.S Lewis read his own piece. Only he can read it the way he truly intended it and i wish there were more recordings of his voice. This is great to listen to, i've enjoyed it so much i've listened to it quite a number of times now. Only Lewis can accomplish this brilliant mix of profound wit and wisdom, which brings so much insight into our relationships and our relationship with God...of course, i'm convinced to God's delight, without taking ourselves so seriously.

Ashling

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C S Lewis is one of the most-quoted Christian apologeticists of the modern era, and I've heard him cited by adherents of a wide range of denominations. His reasoning is solid and his arguments lucid. So it's a real treat to hear him deliver one of his most influential texts in his own voice. Some of the comments in the section on 'eros' may feel a little dated now, and perhaps reflect the era and his own seclusion in the bastion of male academia of the time, but overall the insights in this short narrative remain incisive and helpful on every topic.
I have fair regard for Chuck Colson as an author, too, but would have preferred his interpolations in this recording edited out. He's really acting as cheerleader and doesn't add much insight - but each of his commentaries is short, so all is not lost.

The Master's servant's voice

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learn to love what you really mean to love and let people love you the way you want to be loved.

must read by all people who want to love

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A theologian ,a philosopher And an apologetic christian describes the four emotions human beings have.

The 4 loves

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Plain, understandable and erudite. A thoroughly enjoyable book

Excellent

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I absolutely love this book. Makes you think about the theology of the afterlife and also of the now.😀

Loved it!!

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What made the experience of listening to The Four Loves the most enjoyable?

It was wonderful to hear the voice of C.S. Lewis reading his own book - I've never heard a recording of him before.

What did you like best about this story?

The Four Loves is an interesting little book. I'm not sure I agree with all that Lewis says in it, and I think I'll need to listen to it again before I understand some things, but everything is clear, well-defended and sensible in classic Lewis style. It isn't a difficult book in the sense that it can only be understood by the very intelligent or the philosophically-minded (neither of which descriptions ought to be applied to me), but it still managed to give me a feeling of having listened to something important.

What does C.S. Lewis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

His voice! Some of the points he makes in The Four Loves are very simple and everyday, but some take more thought to get your head around. Listening to what he places most emphasis on helps to highlight the important bits in places where fools like me blink in confusion!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - the book itself is very conveniently divided up into four distinct chapters (the Audible version pairs these up to have two chapters). I stopped after each one to let what had been said sink in a bit.

Any additional comments?

I could have done without the inane 'commentary' of the guy who popped up a few times to say 'Hey! Here's another chapter! C.S.Lewis is totally awesome'. It was unnecessary and added nothing whatsoever to The Four Loves. On the other hand, there was so little of it that it really didn't impact on the book itself at all.

Classic, appealing Lewis

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I leaned a lot! The study guide that comes with it helps things stick.

Very interesting!

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These recordings are priceless. They are beautifully recorded, well preserved and the content and performance of C. S. Lewis are perfect! 5 Stars!!!

Unfortunately, some imbecile has taped onto this a series of "commentaries" or rather Introductions that are Appalling in three ways:
1) Although recorded nearly 50 years later than C. S. Lewis's talks the sound quality is disgraceful! The buzzy, muffled voice sounds like it was scratched onto a wax cylinder!
2) These are called commentaries but rather than coming after each talk they come before. Alright, but then give a summary (the majority of them are direct quotes) of what you are about to hear (including the conclusions!) and adds NOTHING original or additional to Lewis's own observations.
This would make sense if Lewis was an ancient, academic theologian that needed explanation to a modern audience but Lewis was The great populist theologian! His great acclaim came from his ability to communicate ideas previously the domain of scholars and priests to the ordinary man or woman on the street (it's why he was asked to do the talks in the first place). It's like sticking a post it note on a book by Dickens with a summary of the plot (ending and all). Underminding the "thought experiment" Lewis is taking us through.
3) Finally, it isn't even accurate or basically researched. They continually say that these talks are based on Lewis's book 'The Four Loves' but it is the other way around! He gave these talks and Later decided to go deeper into the subject by writing a book.

So 5 star performance, content and overall to Lewis.
0 star for the brainless, talentless clowns whose hands these gems have fallen into and have set in a cheap plastic bangle.

5 for C.S. Lewis 0 for abhorrent Introductions!

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