We have all heard so often that it has almost become a cliché the Scriptural verse 1 Corinthians 13:13 that “faith, hope and love remain, and the greatest of these is love” and yet most people have never bothered to wonder what Saint Paul meant when he wrote in his letter what it means to love. There are many types of love that all use the same word in the English language. I love my mother, but I also love pizza? Intrinsically we know that both of these loves are different. In his book The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, Lewis breaks down the word love so that we can better understand what the word means.
Despite the fact that the English language has a broader scope of loving something than the French (the English language also has the word ‘like’
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Although remaining single for most of his life Lewis did have a few encounters with romance. After the death of Paddy, Lewis took care of both Mrs. Jamie King Moore (Paddy’s mother) and Paddy’s sister, Maureen honoring of an oath that Paddy and Lewis had made that if either one of them died in battle the other one would provide for their family. Almost immediately, Lewis fell in love with Jamie Moore, despite the enormous age gap between them. Lewis and Mrs. Moore had an affair for a number of years before Lewis decided to end it. Despite the end of their romantic interest, Lewis continued to care for both of the Moore women. It comes as no surprise when Lewis speaks of romantic love that he says that it is a good thing, but it is not the only things. There is more to love than feelings and it will never be able to satisfy the “need-love” that we all feel gnawing at the pit of our bellies. There is eros the exhilarating love that brings two people together and then there is also what Lewis calls venus, or sexual love. Although these two loves go hand in hand they are not the same. Lewis could attest that that having at the time The Four Loves was composed been married to his wife, Joy for two years. Lewis had married her largely so that she could stay in England (although there is no doubt that he also cared for her) despite the marriage being valid on paper, he had no interest in consummating the marriage. Through this decision Lewis proved that there is more to marital love than