The God Who Loves You: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

by Peter Kreeft

God's love is the subject of Peter Kreeft's imaginative and thoughtful book (a revised and updated version of his book Knowing the Truth of God's Love). With unusual clarity, Kreeft points out that the man or woman who begins to glimpse the God who is Creator, Redeemer, and Lover of our souls, will never be the same. He describes Scripture as God's love story and then tells why divine love is the answer to our deepest problems and the fulfillment of our deepest desires.

Posing the hard questions about love that rankle the heart, Peter Kreeft never settles for easy answers. He exposes today's superficial attitudes about love to lead people to a deeper understanding of what it means to be loved by God, addressing these issues and many more:

• How can I really know God's love for me?
• If God is love, why do bad things happen to good people?

Genres: Theology, Catholic, Religion, Spirituality, Christianity, Christian, Philosophy

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Peter Kreeft is an American philosopher and prolific author of over eighty books on Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics. A convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, his journey was shaped by his study of Church history, Gothic architecture, and Thomistic thought. He earned his BA from Calvin College, an MA and PhD from Fordham University, and pursued further studies at Yale. Since 1965, he has taught philosophy at Boston College and also at The King’s College. Kreeft is known for formulating “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” with Ronald K. Tacelli, featured in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics. A strong advocate for unity among Christians, he emphasizes shared belief in Christ over denominational differences.

Reviews

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a long draught of cool water in a hot wilderness. It is a lantern leading out of a black cave. It is a tapestry in a palace. It is a symphony. It is truth blown with a silver trumpet. It is praise spoken in poetry. This book is all those things because God’s love is all those things, and this book is the single best paean of the agape of God I have ever read, written by Peter Kreeft with a mix of Lewis insight, Spurgeon emotion, and Chesterton glory.

My pastor recently said that you have passed a great turning point in your Christian walk the moment you realize God loves you. The God Who Loves You is a thunderclap of that realization.

In this book, Kreeft unpacks the famous New Testament word agape (the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew hesed): God's unique, distinctive love for mankind.

Agape is not mere affection. It is not simple charity. It is not heedless romantic love. It is certainly not need-love. Agape is God's creative, self-giving, purely generous, wholly unselfconscious love that beautifies the unbeautiful and sets them free in the joy of God.

We cannot deserve God's agape, and should not try—not primarily because sinners can never earn God's love (though that is true) but because God's love was always and is ever sheer gift. It was a gift before sin ever entered the world. Indeed, God created the world out of agape, and it is His agape that is recreating the world in the long redemption story. Agape was the point of creation and it is the point of the new creation.

God isn’t an aloof judge or an irascible tyrant, He is a kind and merciful Father overflowing with love that saves the damned, love that loves the unlovely into loveliness, love that raises the dead. Ephesians 3:19 summarizes the whole goal of life: “To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge"—and then to let it change you!

Other Christians might struggle with the opposite problem. They understand God’s love, but they don’t get His holiness, justice, sovereignty. Christ isn’t your girlfriend. Christ is your King. He isn’t just sweet violins, He is trumpets and timpani. He isn’t just nice feelings, He is muscle and toil and sweat. He isn’t just gentleness and forgiveness, He is chutzpah and satire and trouble-making. He isn’t just praise songs, He is imprecatory psalms and war hymns and battle cries. He doesn’t just love you to death, He demands your fealty and commands your worship. He doesn’t just save you from Hell, He orders you to kill your sins and live a new life. He doesn’t just show you how to get into Heaven, He shows you how to build His kingdom here on earth: how to raise kids, plant schools, sing psalms, build businesses, defy tyrants, create culture, and pick fights.

So if those are your problems, don’t stop reading the Bible at John 3:16. Read Isaiah and Ezekiel and Deuteronomy and all the rest! But if your problem is viewing God as a cold, distant, harsh, perfectionistic judge who lets you out of Hell due to a mere technicality and demands that you earn His affection, this book will change your life. Salvation isn’t simply a list of rules, it is a relationship—an infinitely priceless, joyful relationship, the only thing that makes life worth living, the only thing that makes you matter—because God truly, deeply loves you.

God's agape is like the end of Henry V when the king comes to woo Princess Kate. Henry V stutters his marriage proposal in terrible French which the poor princess cannot understand. At last, Henry declares in very simple English that her translator can grasp: “I would have her know how perfectly I love her.” That is the gospel. God’s love, as Kreeft says, is “the shoreless sea we are destined to swim in, surf in, and grow in forever.”

God is good. His agape will save your life. Ask Him to open your eyes to the ways in which it already has.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could have appreciated this as much as some of my friends have, but along with the truly good bits (most of what he says about his main topic), there’s just too much that’s not (e.g., his understanding of politics, his take on Calvinism, and his RCism).

My favorite quote (which dovetails with my recent review of The Practice of the Presence of God) is this: “If all of me believes that God loves me, then nothing in me would want to disobey Him. The way to conquer sin, therefore, is to build up faith in God’s love.”

The reader wasn’t great.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was phenomenal. One of the best books I've ever read. Dr. Kreeft's combination of beautiful writing and deep theological rich insight makes for one wonderful read on love. 10/10

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while I was at a weekend retreat. I very much enjoy Kreeft's writing style, and this book was no exception. I have read several books on this topic lately, and this was a good recap and complement. Kreeft also has a rather irreverent way of saying things which makes me remember them. A favorite from this book was "If you were on trial for the crime of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Well?

[Kyle McManamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great book. For those unfamiliar with Kreeft, he is a Catholic philosophy professor at Boston College. He has an appreciation for mystic writers and writing which I think is a healthy one, if you can take his meaning. Sometimes he will say things which sound heretical, but they aren't. I was trying to quickly finish, but one doesn't just sprint through a botanical garden.

[Patrick O'Hannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that can only be read slowly, because although Peter Kreeft tries hard to be plainspoken, he's dealing with profundities here. On re-reading this late-eighties classic, I was struck by (among other things) how Kreeft anticipated Pope John Paul II's "theology of the body."

Kreeft's logic is sometimes infuriatingly comprehensive, but then he's a professor of philosophy -- why wouldn't it be?

Some of the images in this book stick in memory for all the right reasons. Think of the cross, for example, as "the sword of God plunged into the earth, held by the hilt from heaven." Think of the recipe for joy as "Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last." The book is packed with such insights, and Kreeft resists any temptation to sentimentalize God's love.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about God's love. Kreeft does an excellent job of explaining the idea that "God is love" and also explaining what agape really is. A lot of the book focuses on how God's love is the answer to every problem in this world, and there were a lot of points/ideas that I had never really thought about before.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heart leading the head into a sweet blend of left-brain/right-brain thinking with the philosophical/theological married with the mysticism and mystery of God's love.

[Charles Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise and to the point but well grounded in theology and scripture.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains some good theology, but isn't one of Kreeft's best page-turners.

[Frida Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a wonder that such a little book contains so much!

[Becca Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing.

[Gina Ulicny · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟.
Without a doubt! Profound wisdom woven into every page.

I hope you will read this book.

P. S. Gwen’s Review is exquisite - so I ditto her brilliant review!

[Randy Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully deep and yet readable book on all aspects of God's Love, with Kreeft waxing elegantly on how "Love Has Infinite Value," "Love Is The Greatest Good," "Love Is the Supreme Reality. " I particularly like Kreeft's chapter on "The History Of God's Love," or Kreeft passage on how all of creation is in love with God and is showing its love by obeying (growing, doing etc.,) whatever it was that God created it for. So likewise man, to love God, to really understand God's love has great overarching consequences. False definitions and false ideas about God's love have devastating consequences in life, broken homes, broken hearts,. etc.,

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one of the best books I've read recently. This book FAR transcends the basic question of, "Does Jesus love me and why?" Instead, it delves into areas such as world religions, political movements, sexuality, work, and family life (to name a few), exploring how God's love is active and should be harnessed in all aspects of our lives.

Peter Kreeft has a gift for making hard philosophical questions digestible and practical for everyday life. I recommend this book for anyone seeking to take their faith to a deeper level.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Kreeft is on of those authors who will only know the impact he's had on my life when he gets to Heaven. This book was a wonderful reminder of how much God loves me (and every other human person), and the implications of that love in several areas of philosophy: politics, morality, etc. God is your Father, and loves you in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. As Kreeft writes in the intro, this is a hard yet simple truth to convey, but I think he accomplishes it well.

[Susannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot how much I love Peter Kreeft. He’s the best contemporary author at turning the most complex ideas accessible and making you laugh out loud while doing it. So grateful to have found this audiobook in the Formed app during Lent. It really helped me see God’s infinite love in a different light, granting me hope to make it part of each day and the focal point of interacting with others at work and family. Truly recommend it. Now on to other Kreeft books!

[Maximilian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a good book. It delves deeply into the meaning of agape and its biblical explanation. Mr. Kreeft teaches with much insight and wisdom. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There's only one point on which I disagree with Mr. Kreeft: Politics. While liberal readers may agree more with him than conservative ones, I personally find his political implementations inappropriate.
But overall I highly recommend this book for a deeper insight on Christian Love.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent book! I highly recommend it!

And an excellent ending:
“The moment you lay down this book, please love God with your whole heart and keep doing it for the rest of your life. Give your whole self to God and to His images, your brothers and sisters. Risk. Be crazy. Hold nothing back. Don’t be reasonable. Don’t be an investor. Be a lover.”

[Karen Rettig · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I particularly like about Peter Kreeft’s writing is that he writes theology using conversational English and lots of metaphor. Religious writing necessarily deals with abstract realities, and it is often sterile and dry. Kreeft’s truths come alive because he wraps them in simple imagery. In this book, it is the reality of God’s love that comes alive on the page.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of bottom-lines in Christianity.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book but I did not agape it like I should do more of for God and neighbor.

[C.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well. This is the point. If not, why ever have a God?

Clear as a club to the head, and common sense, as per the usual, Kreeft nails it. With humor and love too.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Peter Kreeft. The final chapter is a little disappointing, which is the reason for 4 stars instead of 5.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book full of ideas on love for Love of God, love of neighbor, and love of self. Kreeft is a Catholic theologian and philosopher.

[Mick Best · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very accessible and very concise. Dr. Kreeft brings in material from greats such as CS Lewis, Chesterton, Tolkien, Dostoyevsky, MacDonald, Kierkegaard and makes them simple and direct. He also expounds upon Scripture in very unique ways. His style is unlike most with his pointed and swift analogies, making comparisons that leave you feeling like you were just in muddy gook and then given a chemical bath. It's not a book that takes much dissecting but its message is one that does. There are blanket statements that are a bit less scientific, but they are trivial and the book doesn't attempt to be apologetic. If you prefer to read deeper material from the writers Kreeft synthesizes, this book may not be for you. If you prefer a pleasant read that shows the different angles from which love comes and how it changes us, this is the book for you. Overall his message can only be understood by experience , but nonetheless will draw you ever closer to that experience (agape - divine love) if read with the intent to do so. Love is the bridge over which truth can cross, and Kreeft lays out the blueprint of that bridge in this book.

[Jennifer Wells · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish this book fast enough, it was the worst. Written nearly 40 years ago with “current” events, which are clearly not current. Could not keep my attention because it was not well written. Do not waste your time and read this book!