Bernard of Clairvaux: on Loving God (Revised)

Jacket Description/Back: Saint Bernard's On Loving God is one of his most delightful, and most widely read, works. It stands in the tradition of the Fathers of the Church, but it carries patristic teaching into the Middle Ages and into the cloister. Its famous affirmation that God is to be loved without limit, sine modo, is taken directly from the letters of Saint Augustine. While the tract is not an example of scholastic theology, it shows a typically twelfth-century love of logic and an unexpectedly precise use of terminology. In his analystic commentary, Emero Stiegman not only introduces readers to the abbot of Clairvaux's thought, but carefully analyses his language, his logic and his theology. In doing so, he demonstrates the vital importance of reading medieval authors on their own terms, without superimposing on them categories favored by later generations, even our own.

Contributor Bio:  Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) stands among the rare handful of men and women gifted with true insight into the unseen, supernatural world. Known throughout the medieval church as a "spiritual doctor," he was given both a spectacular vision of angels and the wisdom to understand their purposes among men. Contributor Bio:  Walton, Robert Robert Walton, aka Bob, grew up in Narberth, Pennsylvania. With a degree in Archaeology from Penn State University Bob has worked tirelessly over the years to live up to his father's expectations. Having failed at that, he has traveled the world in search of the true meaning of life. Still, this has not stopped him from pursuing a career in writing that began in 2007 when he joined Pennwriters and eventually International Thriller Writers. Bob is the creator and owner of the award winning Bob's Bagels in central Pennsylvania and when he is not writing, he can be seen drinking coffee and discussing politics in his quaint restaurant. His next novel extends the story of Harry Thursday in a quest to solve the riddle of the Mask of Minos. He is also working on a science fiction novel that more directly questions the meaning of life. Contributor Bio:  Stiegman, Emero Emero Stiegman, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, has studied the theology of Saint Bernard and his contemporaries for many years and has contributed a number of learned articles in both theology and aesthetics, including his insightful Analytic Commentary on Bernard's treatise On Loving God (Cistercian Publications).