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Crisol #5
Amor y responsabilidad
Un clásico sobre el amor humano entendido como plenitud de las relaciones interpersonales del hombre y la mujer. Una edición definitiva traducida directamente del polaco. Juan Pablo II fue un enamorado del amor humano. Amor y responsabilidad es el fruto de su reflexión a partir de su trato con los jóvenes "que me planteaban no tanto cuestiones sobre la existencia de Dios, como preguntas concretas sobre cómo vivir, sobre el modo de afrontar y resolver los problemas del amor y del matrimonio". Por eso, responde a cuestiones como: ¿Qué es el amor? ¿Qué relación hay entre afectividad y sexualidad? ¿La castidad es una virtud positiva o un comportamiento represivo? ¿Qué es el pudor? ¿Tienen sentido las relaciones sexuales antes del matrimonio? Al mismo tiempo es un libro de gran originalidad y profundidad filosófica. Karol Wojtyla establece un nuevo paradigma para entender la sexualidad: integrarla en el marco de las relaciones interpersonales del hombre y de la mujer, regidas por la norma personalista, que establece que la única actitud adecuada ante la persona es el amor. La unión de un brillante planteamiento con una ejecución sólida ha convertido a esta obra en un clásico de la reflexión antropológica sobre el amor, imprescindible para quien desee entender los porqués de esa realidad tan exaltadora y existencial. La edición definitiva en español traducida directamente del polaco.
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1960
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About the author
Pope John Paul II
1,046 books631 followersSaint Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected Pope at the Conclave of 16 October 1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord's Day, he solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church, lasted nearly 27 years.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994. John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.
Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path.
With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church. He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.
He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals. His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia.
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April 2005 at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord's Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church's beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father. On April 1, 2011, he was raised to the glory of the altars and on April 27, 2014 canonized.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city's 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during 38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and 246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people brought him to establish the World Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated in 1994. John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.
Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their future path.
With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church. He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.
He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating 231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full meetings of the College of Cardinals. His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters. He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia.
In the light of Christ risen from the dead, on 2 April 2005 at 9.37 p.m., while Saturday was drawing to a close and the Lord's Day was already beginning, the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church's beloved Pastor, John Paul II, departed this world for the Father. On April 1, 2011, he was raised to the glory of the altars and on April 27, 2014 canonized.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 189 reviews
August 23, 2011
This lays the all important groundwork for the Pope's later masterwork: the Theology of the Body. This is a challenging read. The language is dense and overflowing with ideas. Normally when an author introduces a complex idea, he follows it up with an "in other words.." followed by some real life examples to help ground the idea in the reader's mind. The Pope skips those things in this book, so you just get the pure complex ideas. The book is broken up in 5-8 page chapters, which took me about 15~20 minutes to get through and unpack. I ended up reading about a chapter a day, which took me a very long time to complete. But, man, it was worth it. This is the raw material of the greatest answer to the problems of our age. When these ideas get distilled into more readable books by future writers and become more entertaining and digestable to the masses, I think these ideas are going to explode and provide and complete and rounded philosophy of love and life for many people. The Church has long been accused of provided nothing but a "thou shalt NOT..." list when it comes to love and sex. The Pope here finally gives the positive and loving explanation for responsible love that is so lacking today.
December 10, 2014
In college I struggled with John Paul II's work The Theology of the Body and eventually gave up on it. It was too dense, too seemingly aimless, too full of tangents whose significance to wasn't clear enough, at least to me.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I began Love and Responsibility. It was far more accesible and straighforward, at least compared to the Wednesday audiences that make up The Theology of the Body. For me, this text is the best way to approach the Pope's theology of human sexuality that has become so popular and even trendy in circles of young Catholics. It was written somewhat earlier and drew on his pastoral work with young married couples. (Not that it's full of annecdotes -- it's still a work of theology / philosophy.) I recommend it to one and all.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I began Love and Responsibility. It was far more accesible and straighforward, at least compared to the Wednesday audiences that make up The Theology of the Body. For me, this text is the best way to approach the Pope's theology of human sexuality that has become so popular and even trendy in circles of young Catholics. It was written somewhat earlier and drew on his pastoral work with young married couples. (Not that it's full of annecdotes -- it's still a work of theology / philosophy.) I recommend it to one and all.
July 21, 2010
Wojtyla writes beautifully philosophic prose on the topic of love, particularly as it is expressed in marriage. While the material is dense, the core ideas of love as commitment to the other person as a person, love as avoiding the mistaken notion that love involves using another person as an object, and marriage as the loving union of two persons designed to produce children has profound implications for how we think about marriage today.
As a Protestant, much in the book flows quite nicely with my theological tradition, even if we rarely, if ever, express these ideas as well as they are here. The book also includes an excellent final chapter which illustrates the congruencies between modern medical findings and the more fundamental, personal and moral concerns expressed in the book. This book is a wonderful affirmation of how love can and should be expressed within the bounds of marriage and the beauty that flows from such an expression. I am very pleased to have read it.
As a Protestant, much in the book flows quite nicely with my theological tradition, even if we rarely, if ever, express these ideas as well as they are here. The book also includes an excellent final chapter which illustrates the congruencies between modern medical findings and the more fundamental, personal and moral concerns expressed in the book. This book is a wonderful affirmation of how love can and should be expressed within the bounds of marriage and the beauty that flows from such an expression. I am very pleased to have read it.
September 2, 2025
A beautiful account of how Love calls us to Himself and how we might offer our daily tasks and relationships in response
March 21, 2025
This took me a hot minute but it was quite fantastic. I feel very seen as a human being by this man through words written over 60 years ago. The things written give you that feeling of “well, that just makes sense.” It feels human and like you just got another puzzle piece to go perfectly in the right spot. Nothing felt forced and you see a little more of the full picture.
October 16, 2017
Very informative and moving book. Lots of food for thought. A definite must for all Catholics!
August 10, 2015
One of the reviewers on Amazon noted that he wished St. John Paul's picture had been kept off the cover of this, as the presence of a Pope on the cover might dissuade people who would otherwise read this book from doing so. Having finished it, I tend to agree. One need not be Catholic (or particularly religious) to enjoy this book. In a better world, it would loom much larger as an antidote to the callousness and inhumanity which characterizes sexuality in our time.
It's hard to believe that most humanists could easily dismiss this book. As the author notes, the Biblical basis for the ideas put forth in this book is pretty spare--five segments from the Gospels and a couple more from the Epistles. The most important of these segments contains the Great Commandment--love God above all things, and love thy neighbor as thyself. From this simple beginning, the author comes to the same conclusion as Kant--that we must not use human beings as mere instrumentalities in our own pursuits. Really, most of the first part of this book falls in line after this insight. The sexual ethics of the Catholic Church are meant to help us protect ourselves from using (and being used by) each other as objects. We must see each other as something innately worthwhile and special, not merely a means of pleasure. Could a humanist really argue for anything otherwise?
The second part of the book, and the rounding out of Catholic sexual ethics, is more focused on justice towards the Creator, i.e. it is the part of the book which requires theological and supernatural explanations. It's only here that I could imagine a humanist really objecting to the author's line of argument. Nonetheless, for believers, it offers a brilliant and clear explication of Catholic sexual mores. I wish I had had access to it when I was younger.
While reading, I couldn't help but think how "sex positive" the entire work is. It reminded me of the quote from Chesterton--the Catholic Church hates sex so much that it placed it at the very center of one of her sacraments! The author clearly appreciates the value of sexual relations properly realized--I daresay that he has greater appreciation for sex than a vast majority of libertines who enjoy sex as an end in itself. The difference between the author's view on sex and the modern libertine approach is that the author is never so "sex positive" that he loses sight of the fact that sex cannot be put ahead of the good of the people engaged in it.
Who could be against this? Who actually wants to live in a world where one's sexual capability is the only standard of valuation? What kind of person actually wants to be placed in a situation to use others so callously? Vanity Fair just ran an article about the "dating apocalypse" in which women (and some men) mourn the fact that the current hook-up dating culture is leaving them unfulfilled. But this is no surprise. As the author tells us, human beings don't exist for the purpose of other humans' pleasures, and using each other only for pleasures inevitably makes us feel degraded, just the same as it does to be used. As Christ tells us, we are here to love each other, and to do justice towards each other. Promiscuity and adultery deny us this love, and for this reason must be avoided. Who can fail to see the honor and beauty of this?
This is why I do wish the publisher had kept John Paul's picture off the cover. I know very many good, caring people who are deeply dissatisfied with the current state of dating and sexual relations, and who nonetheless view the Church's teachings as puritanical and oppressive. I can't help but think that an encounter with the arguments in this book--based as they are on ration, reason, and love--would not win at least a couple converts to the proper mode of sexual morality. The author's arguments appeal to what is best in us--our ration and our love for one another--and even the most strident atheist could not scoff them off wholesale. Even if ideas of justice towards the Creator are a harder sell, it would be worthwhile as a half-measure to let our generation know that there is an alternate and better way.
This is the first book I've read by Mr. Wojtyla. It is quite dry at times, as a philosophical tract should be, but it is always compelling and should be read by everybody. It is interesting to think that John Paul's greatest historical achievement will likely be his stalwart opposition to the Soviet Empire. The free West's own Bolshevist revolt has gone by the name of the Sexual Revolution; its fatalities, in the terms of wasted lives, diseases, and abortions, is not so distant from the depredations suffered under the Communists. Such reflections put into perspective how important and beautiful the Church's teachings on sexuality and humanity really are, and the fact that, long before beatification, Mr. Wojtyla could be described as "great."
It's hard to believe that most humanists could easily dismiss this book. As the author notes, the Biblical basis for the ideas put forth in this book is pretty spare--five segments from the Gospels and a couple more from the Epistles. The most important of these segments contains the Great Commandment--love God above all things, and love thy neighbor as thyself. From this simple beginning, the author comes to the same conclusion as Kant--that we must not use human beings as mere instrumentalities in our own pursuits. Really, most of the first part of this book falls in line after this insight. The sexual ethics of the Catholic Church are meant to help us protect ourselves from using (and being used by) each other as objects. We must see each other as something innately worthwhile and special, not merely a means of pleasure. Could a humanist really argue for anything otherwise?
The second part of the book, and the rounding out of Catholic sexual ethics, is more focused on justice towards the Creator, i.e. it is the part of the book which requires theological and supernatural explanations. It's only here that I could imagine a humanist really objecting to the author's line of argument. Nonetheless, for believers, it offers a brilliant and clear explication of Catholic sexual mores. I wish I had had access to it when I was younger.
While reading, I couldn't help but think how "sex positive" the entire work is. It reminded me of the quote from Chesterton--the Catholic Church hates sex so much that it placed it at the very center of one of her sacraments! The author clearly appreciates the value of sexual relations properly realized--I daresay that he has greater appreciation for sex than a vast majority of libertines who enjoy sex as an end in itself. The difference between the author's view on sex and the modern libertine approach is that the author is never so "sex positive" that he loses sight of the fact that sex cannot be put ahead of the good of the people engaged in it.
Who could be against this? Who actually wants to live in a world where one's sexual capability is the only standard of valuation? What kind of person actually wants to be placed in a situation to use others so callously? Vanity Fair just ran an article about the "dating apocalypse" in which women (and some men) mourn the fact that the current hook-up dating culture is leaving them unfulfilled. But this is no surprise. As the author tells us, human beings don't exist for the purpose of other humans' pleasures, and using each other only for pleasures inevitably makes us feel degraded, just the same as it does to be used. As Christ tells us, we are here to love each other, and to do justice towards each other. Promiscuity and adultery deny us this love, and for this reason must be avoided. Who can fail to see the honor and beauty of this?
This is why I do wish the publisher had kept John Paul's picture off the cover. I know very many good, caring people who are deeply dissatisfied with the current state of dating and sexual relations, and who nonetheless view the Church's teachings as puritanical and oppressive. I can't help but think that an encounter with the arguments in this book--based as they are on ration, reason, and love--would not win at least a couple converts to the proper mode of sexual morality. The author's arguments appeal to what is best in us--our ration and our love for one another--and even the most strident atheist could not scoff them off wholesale. Even if ideas of justice towards the Creator are a harder sell, it would be worthwhile as a half-measure to let our generation know that there is an alternate and better way.
This is the first book I've read by Mr. Wojtyla. It is quite dry at times, as a philosophical tract should be, but it is always compelling and should be read by everybody. It is interesting to think that John Paul's greatest historical achievement will likely be his stalwart opposition to the Soviet Empire. The free West's own Bolshevist revolt has gone by the name of the Sexual Revolution; its fatalities, in the terms of wasted lives, diseases, and abortions, is not so distant from the depredations suffered under the Communists. Such reflections put into perspective how important and beautiful the Church's teachings on sexuality and humanity really are, and the fact that, long before beatification, Mr. Wojtyla could be described as "great."
March 9, 2023
I will likely be mulling over this book for years to come.
Prepare yourself for sentences whose subject finds its object three pages later, Latin without translation, and profundity in every paragraph.
Am I a philosopher now???
Prepare yourself for sentences whose subject finds its object three pages later, Latin without translation, and profundity in every paragraph.
Am I a philosopher now???
July 25, 2013
Before Karol Wojtyla was elected to pope and became John Paul II, he had already written what was arguably his greatest work. Let that sink in for a moment. The great saint who gave us fourteen encyclicals such as Ecclesia De Eucharistia, Fides et Ratio, and Evangelium Vitae had already written a work greater than perhaps all of his encyclicals put together. This book was entitled Love and Responsibility, and if you love reading (soon-to-be) Saint John Paul II's writings then you'll definitely want to check out this book.
I must admit that I feel ill-equipped to review Love and Responsibility. In fact, I've been at this book for months trying to parse through it and understand it to the best of my ability. A work like this requires multiple readings to begin to even comprehend all of the topics covered, and unfortunately, I was not able to devote my time to multiple readings. However, I appreciate the new translation and notes the translator, Grzegorz Ignatik, provided, as I believe I would have had an even harder time reading this work before the new translation. As a point of introduction, there are five main topics in this book:
The Person and the Drive
The Person and Love
The Person and Chastity
Justice with Respect to the Creator
Sociology and Ethics
The text is highly philosophical and contains copious footnotes from the translator. One should try not to get bogged down though and realize that Blessed John Paul was writing about what real human love is. As far as I can surmise from the text, we best find love when we give love ourselves. Also covered in this book is the the dignity of each individual and the "responsibility" portion of the title. Our society today has warped love, and people are used and discarded by other people. That is not how God intended love when he created man and woman. Therefore, we must not only be responsible with the love we give but the love we receive as well.
It's hard to pin down a section I could describe as my favorite, but I did have one that did stand out to me. Pope John Paul II states, "Although a second marriage after the death of a spouse is justified and permitted, it is nevertheless by all means praiseworthy to remain in a state of widowhood, for in this way the union with the person who passed away is, among other things, better expressed. After all, the very value of the person does not pass away and the spiritual union with him can and should continue, even when the bodily union has ceased." This is referred to in the book as absolute monogamy and something in which I firmly believe. Like this topic and many others in the book, I appreciate the fact that Pope John Paul II didn't shy away from truth.
I would love to tell you that Love and Responsibility is a book you can pick up and read one weekend and walk away feeling wiser and spiritually richer. On the contrary, it is a VERY challenging read. That is not to discourage you from reading this 5-star book. Quite the contrary. Anything worth understanding will take effort on your part. You will have to pore over this book and struggle to understand some points of it. The fruit it will yield you, though, will be all the sweeter. Pick this book up along with Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, and you will have the two essential texts for seeing into the mind of the brilliant Saint John Paul II.
I must admit that I feel ill-equipped to review Love and Responsibility. In fact, I've been at this book for months trying to parse through it and understand it to the best of my ability. A work like this requires multiple readings to begin to even comprehend all of the topics covered, and unfortunately, I was not able to devote my time to multiple readings. However, I appreciate the new translation and notes the translator, Grzegorz Ignatik, provided, as I believe I would have had an even harder time reading this work before the new translation. As a point of introduction, there are five main topics in this book:
The Person and the Drive
The Person and Love
The Person and Chastity
Justice with Respect to the Creator
Sociology and Ethics
The text is highly philosophical and contains copious footnotes from the translator. One should try not to get bogged down though and realize that Blessed John Paul was writing about what real human love is. As far as I can surmise from the text, we best find love when we give love ourselves. Also covered in this book is the the dignity of each individual and the "responsibility" portion of the title. Our society today has warped love, and people are used and discarded by other people. That is not how God intended love when he created man and woman. Therefore, we must not only be responsible with the love we give but the love we receive as well.
It's hard to pin down a section I could describe as my favorite, but I did have one that did stand out to me. Pope John Paul II states, "Although a second marriage after the death of a spouse is justified and permitted, it is nevertheless by all means praiseworthy to remain in a state of widowhood, for in this way the union with the person who passed away is, among other things, better expressed. After all, the very value of the person does not pass away and the spiritual union with him can and should continue, even when the bodily union has ceased." This is referred to in the book as absolute monogamy and something in which I firmly believe. Like this topic and many others in the book, I appreciate the fact that Pope John Paul II didn't shy away from truth.
I would love to tell you that Love and Responsibility is a book you can pick up and read one weekend and walk away feeling wiser and spiritually richer. On the contrary, it is a VERY challenging read. That is not to discourage you from reading this 5-star book. Quite the contrary. Anything worth understanding will take effort on your part. You will have to pore over this book and struggle to understand some points of it. The fruit it will yield you, though, will be all the sweeter. Pick this book up along with Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, and you will have the two essential texts for seeing into the mind of the brilliant Saint John Paul II.
backburner
December 14, 2008Want to return to this; setting it aside with the greatest reluctance and only because I have started too many books at the same time. (sigh)
Have read and reread Intro and first chapter three times. Dense text or I've got from summer sludge on the brain--probably both. However, it really seems to be one of those books which if I force myself to keep working on it will yield hundred or sixty or thirty fold.
Have read and reread Intro and first chapter three times. Dense text or I've got from summer sludge on the brain--probably both. However, it really seems to be one of those books which if I force myself to keep working on it will yield hundred or sixty or thirty fold.
January 1, 2025
Incredible - I am so humbled by my inability to love and the ways I have failed to love in the past but here’s to Jesus redeeming so much!! JP2 knows the human heart so well and this is a must read in our current age! First part is pretty heady, but then it’s like reading your soul in the middle, and then he gets practical. I love an organized read, especially from this great saint. Go off king.
January 29, 2022
Everyone should read this book before they enter into a romantic relationship. It will change the way you view love.
February 17, 2008
Think that the Roman Catholic prohibition of birth control is about being a spoil-sport and killjoy? Think again. Here is the moral theology upon which the Roman Catholic stance is based. It may actually be a beautiful thing.
July 6, 2009
John Paul II did it again. He philosophically got me thinking and questioning. Great for studying.
August 7, 2024
Wow. I will be referencing this book for the rest of my life. This is the book that this generation needs.
February 17, 2023
read for school:
I’ve read this book twice now and honestly it’s so good! Even if you aren’t currently in a relationship, a lot of the things JP2 writes are still super applicable. I also really like how he bases his book not just on ethics but also on science and the subjective experiences of men and women. This book could (and should) be read by Catholics and non Catholics alike!
I’ve read this book twice now and honestly it’s so good! Even if you aren’t currently in a relationship, a lot of the things JP2 writes are still super applicable. I also really like how he bases his book not just on ethics but also on science and the subjective experiences of men and women. This book could (and should) be read by Catholics and non Catholics alike!
December 9, 2012
Un libro imprescindible para profundizar en la concepción del amor y del matrimonio desde un punto de vista católico, que hunde sus raíces en una ética personalista y que pretende distanciarse de los ultilitarismos hedonista y puritano. Tiene una estructura progresiva que va desde un plano general de análisis del objeto y sujeto del amor, de lo que significa "gozar de" y "gozar con", hasta problemas concretos en las relaciones sexuales entre los cónyuges. Para leer y releer continuamente.
August 29, 2011
One of the three most important books I have read. Within, Karol Cardinal Wojtyla (Bl. John Paul II) plays the philosopher, expertly employing phenomenology girded by Thomism to discuss sexuality, relationships, and the meaning of human love. Although often mentioned as a precursor to Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, Love and Responsibility stands well enough on its own.
June 21, 2012
This is a philosophical master work in Christian Phenomenology. Beware, though. This is not a spiritual book or a papal encyclical. It's a complex work of philosophy which requires foreknowledge of phenomenology and metaphysics. John Paul is in his most intellectual and, therefore, least accessible in this work.
September 19, 2014
If I were, say, the dictator of my own country, I would make this astounding book a required read for all people between the ages of 16 and 19. Then, for their 20th birthday, as a tradition, I would have the parents buy them another copy to read again. This book presents a necessary and vital understanding of love.
August 17, 2014
This book is the best book I have ever read. This is a must read for all Catholics especially young people. I highly recommend this book. It has changed the way I view relationships and has helped me to grow in my relationship.
February 17, 2009
Life altering. Incredibly dense. Read it with several really smart people and you might get a hint at the amazing things JP2 was suggesting.
December 10, 2009
A MUST READ.
Read
February 16, 2010Wanna know what real love is?
February 8, 2011
This book can save any marriage in trouble or strengthen the spousal relationship. Incredible concept about utility and about charity. Must read for any one who cares about love
January 8, 2014
A classic!
July 18, 2024
I didn’t actually finish it for the second time I just discovered I only really prayerfully needed the first chapter that’s all
September 18, 2024
Imagine someone actually explaining how and why your body and brain act the way they do in regard to chastity, relationships, and life in general. Scratch that, don’t imagine it. This book is the answer. JP2 is the best and he explains all things at an adult level without merely scratching the surface. I’ve learned so much and this is in my top five books of all time. Don’t stress over the big words, use google and ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and BOOM you’re fluent in explaining what the heck is going on in your brain while dighting to uphold the responsibility of loving another human well.
I have found the philosophical foundation of this book to aid in understanding Theology of the Body as a whole. I think of it as understanding the morality and ethics involved in reactions before introducing theology, which has helped me have a better basis of understanding and become familiar with JP2’s writing style. If you’re struggling with TOB but still have questions, this could be a great starting point for you!
I have found the philosophical foundation of this book to aid in understanding Theology of the Body as a whole. I think of it as understanding the morality and ethics involved in reactions before introducing theology, which has helped me have a better basis of understanding and become familiar with JP2’s writing style. If you’re struggling with TOB but still have questions, this could be a great starting point for you!
October 16, 2025
A rigorously philosophical foundation for the Church’s sexual ethics, in Wojtyła’s deeply personalist style. It offers a more detailed ethical analysis, in what I find to be a much more accessible tone, than “Man and Woman He Created Them.” Although it inspires some further questions, and leaves me longing to have a deeper conversation with Wojtyła about these topics, it is extremely rewarding and universally relevant to the question of what it means to love as a human person. Any person would benefit from reading it.
December 31, 2024
Every person should read this book!
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