At a glance: this is a 8-week study and discussion guide for The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, with 63 questions organized by reading assignment. Week 1 is free to read, with no card required.
C. S. Lewis's The Four Loves is one of the most illuminating explorations of love ever written by a Christian thinker. Drawing on the Greek language's four distinct words for love — Storge (affection), Philia (friendship), Eros (romantic love), and Agape (the love of God) — Lewis examines each with the clarity of a philosopher, the warmth of a pastor, and the honesty of a man who has himself known love's joys and its costs. His central argument is that the "natural loves" (affection, friendship, and eros) are genuine goods, but they are not self-sufficient. Left to themselves, they can curdle into possessiveness, exclusivity, or idolatry. Only when they are ordered beneath and permeated by Agape — God's own love poured out in Christ — do they become fully themselves and truly life-giving. As Lewis memorably writes, "To love at all is to be vulnerable," and it is precisely by accepting that vulnerability, not armoring against it, that we draw closer to God.
This study guide is designed for six to eight weeks of individual or small-group engagement. Each week, read the assigned chapter (or section) of The Four Loves before your discussion time. After reading, spend a few minutes journaling your initial reactions — what surprised you, what challenged you, what resonated. Then work through the discussion questions together, allowing each person to speak before moving on. Close your time with the prayer provided, or use it as a springboard for your own. You do not need a background in theology or philosophy to benefit from this guide; Lewis wrote for ordinary readers, and these questions are designed to meet you where you are.
By the end of this study, you can expect to see your own loves more clearly — their beauty, their distortions, and their capacity to be redeemed. You will likely find yourself thinking differently about your friendships, your family bonds, and your romantic relationships, and you will have fresh language for the way God's love both judges and fulfills every human love. Most importantly, you will be invited not merely to think about love but to risk it more freely, trusting that the God who is love himself is the safest place to bring a broken or confused heart.