Love in the Western World

WORKSHEET- BOOK II- Passion and Mysticism

1. The Incarnation ("The Word became flesh and lived among us" John 1:14) is important because Christ made Himself one of us, showed us how to love our neighbor, and commanded that we do the same. This type of love is captured in his marriage to the church. In so doing, Christ restores human love to its proper status. (Chpt 3)

a. Why do you think that Christ became man?

b. How would you describe Christ's love for us?

c. Why do you think that Christ's marriage to the church is important to couples?

BOOK VII- Active Love, or Keeping Faith

1. By taking on our humanity with all of its imperfections Christ showed us how to love each other with all of our own imperfections. As such, De Rougemont suggests that marriage is a wild attempt to live perfectly in imperfection. Is this type of love common or do we run from imperfections? (Chpt. 2)

2. In Chapter 3, De Rougemont speaks about the difference between a choice and a decision.

a. What is the difference between "choosing to marry" and "deciding to marry?"

Be very precise in answering this question.

b. While there is no guarantee a choice is well made, what is the guarantee when one decides to marry?

c. Do you think this guarantee is real? Why or Why not? (Chpt. 3)

3. Is there anything in our society that helps prepare us for what de Rougemont calls a decision to commit ourselves ‘for better, for worse' to the spouse, as he or she is or will become, for the good of the other (neighborly love)? (He describes it as fidelity in the next chapter)? (Chpt. 4)

4. The last sentence of our selection states that marriage is "the institution in which passion is ‘contained,' not by morals but by love." We will draw a diagram explaining this statement in class.

https://archive.org/stream/TheArtOfLoving/43799393-The-Art-of-Loving-Erich-Fromm#page/n35/mode/2up