The Four Loves

Lewis begins with the scriptural quote: “God is love” (1). Because Lewis is a Christian with a belief in a literal, embodied God, his discussion of the four types of love will be viewed from a Christian perspective. To begin with, he distinguishes between what he calls “Gift-love” and “Need-love” (1). He uses the example of a man working and saving so that his family will be provided for in the future—a fortune he will never see—as Gift-love. To demonstrate Need-love, he describes an upset child running into its mother’s arms.

If“God is love” (1), then God must have elements of both Gift-love and Need-love. Lewis initially sees this as a philosophical problem. God can participate in Gift-love because He can bestow gifts. But for Lewis, to suggest that God might be involved in Need-love is problematic because an omniscient, omnipotent being cannot need anything or lacking anything.

Lewis sees a “paradox” (4): the times when a man is most likely to approach God are the times when he is the least like God. Meaning, he is full of need and crying for help, two things which God cannot experience. For Lewis, there are two types of “nearness to God” (4).