Peter J. Kreeft's Love is Stronger than Death is the book I've been needing to read for years. I can't remember the last time I was this excited reading a book with this much depth to it. It is a book about death, but more than that, it is a book about life. I highlighted half of this book, read a quarter of it out loud to Rachel, whether she was interested or not, and drank deeply from every word.
Kreeft explores death through five different faces. The first is an enemy, the second a stranger, the third a friend, the fourth a mother, and the last, a lover. Each is riveting, inclusive and convicting. He speaks freely about how we have disregarded death, ignored it in pursuit of worldly comfort. He takes us to task, imploring us to have a well-formed grasp on death, for without a good understanding of death, we cannot have a complete understanding of life.
Death is final, it is unavoidable, but it is our greatest adventure, and it burns away all that is not love. Kreeft asserts that life without death is empty, that it gives us our true selves, and that only death can bring us into complete union with God, for in death we are completely alone, and we are fully defined--'it is our total and unchangeable response to the last and greatest question: Who are you?'
'Death is the golden chariot sent by the Bridegroom to fetch his bride. The chariot moves exactly on its appointed rounds because love is exact. You, and no one else, are the bride; now, and no other time, is the moment of marriage.'
Read this short (~110 pages) exploration into death, and gain a deeper understanding of life.
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