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Four Essays on Love
No principle is more vital than love--the anchor for the two great commandments. These thought-provoking essays explore the deeper dimensions and applications of love. They begin with an exploration of the sources of love beyond the human heart, acknowledging love as a fruit of the Spirit of God. Next follows a study of romantic love that traces its meaning into the very nature of the Divine. Related to this is a profile of family love, and keys to employing "the language of love at home." Finally readers will find a response to the outcry, "How can there be a God of power and love when today's world is an abyss of suffering and alienation?" Writing from religious, philosophical, and personal perspectives, Truman Madsen clothes the principle of love in fresh new meaning.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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About the author
Truman G. Madsen
72 books61 followersTruman Grant Madsen was an American professor of religion and philosophy at Brigham Young University (BYU) and director of the Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. He was a prolific author, a recognized authority on Joseph Smith Jr., and a popular lecturer among Latter-day Saints. At one point, Madsen was an instructor at the LDS Institute of Religion in Berkeley, California.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 28, 2012
This book highlights the spiritual elements of love, which is an oft overlooked aspect of even romantic love. I 'love' this book. Really! My outlook on all relationships (with God, family, friends, and girls) has been profoundly influenced by this work. I also happen to resonate really well with the author's style and thoughtful word choice.
July 25, 2024
Here are some nice thoughts, many from Joseph Smith, about love:
"The characteristics of 'pure love' as 'bestowe3d,' something with which we may be 'filled,' becomes personified in the portrait of Jesus Christ in... Third Nephi... His is not an abstract, or metaphysical, or 'utterly other' perfection. He is, in all the highest senses of flesh and spirit, a personality... He is the revelation of the Father, not because 'two natures' are combined but because He is now exactly like the Father in nature... He ministers and responds to a multitude who have great spiritual capacities. His heart is 'filled with compassion.' He kneels with them in prayer, consumed by 'the will of the Father.' He calls down upon them the powers of the Spirit, first its purifying, then its glorifying, and then, I believe, its sealing powers (p. 3)."
"Love is defined in one contemporary statement as the 'reunion of the separated' (p. 6)."
"Love... is a relationship of similars. 'Intelligence cleaveth unto truth, virtue loveth virtue, light cleaveth unto light, mercy hath compassion on mercy.' Even the opposites within us must merge and harmonize before we can truly love (p. 6)."
"Love expands to the 'self' to include all selves, all life; and God, therefore, cannot be happy except in the happiness of all creatures (p. 8)."
"These instances suggest the close interrelationship of love and knowledge (p. 10)."
"We cannot apprehend nor comprehend reality as it is save through the love of God (p. 10)."
"'Charity... preventeth a multitude of sins.' In us and in others, love is the Lord's preventive medicine; and as we are now learning, it is the only lasting foundation for powerful therapy, whether for sin or for suffering (p. 11)."
"The closer we come to our Heavenly Father... the more we look upon perishing souls with compassion. 'We feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders and cast their sins behind our backs' (p. 11)."
"Ordinances are also divinely appointed 'channels' and 'keys' of divine awareness. TO receive them, to cultivate their influence within our very inward parts, is to encounter the Divine and to be ennobled and sanctified into His very image... 'Being born again... comes by the Spirit of God through ordinances' (P. 14)."
"Love cannot obliterate pain. It can give it meaning and redeeming power (p. 16)."
"'I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved--with a pureness--an intensity of elevated, exalted feelings, which would lift my soul from the transitory things of this groveling sphere and expand it as the ocean. I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed; that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife of my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion: a kind, ministering angel, given to me as a comfort, and a crown of glory forever and ever. In short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding also' (Parley P. Pratt, p. 19)."
"The spirit and power of all the prophets is the spirit and power of Jesus Christ, and His Spirit is the spirit and power of pure love, 'the chief characteristic of Deity.' It is the mission of Jesus Christ to bring into the world again and again the sunshine of light and warmth that is love (p. 24)."
"Whatever it isn't, one thing love surely is--a matter of life and death (p. 30)."
"'Love is doing what comes naturally.' Yes, when combined with doing what comes supernaturally (p. 32)."
"Love, like anything that is harmonic and beautiful, requires endless discipline, terrible periods of the self at war with the self, tortures of involvement (you vastly increase your capacities for pain when you identify with someone else), and an infinite patience (p. 33)."
"Love centers in God and radiates from Him (p. 38)."
"We are given our bodies and our emotions not to destroy but to ride. They magnify our feelings and increase enjoyments. The body is a step up in the scale of progression (p. 41)."
"Love is a kinship of likenesses... We only come to see ourselves and others when we have a measure of revelatory love (p. 45)."
"The truth is that the soul of every child of God comes with an overwhelming need and an overwhelming capacity for such love (p. 46)."
"Are we willing to consider the possibility that neither of us knows the language of love; that we are cramped, as it were, by our native tongue; that we have a kind of blind spot which is a matter of pride? (p. 50)"
"Did you know that many bodily ills can be definitely traced to the absence of love (p. 52)?"
"'Love leads people to do things, to act with greater care. It is the painstaking concern, not the love, that has these effects' (p. 52)."
"Love is spiritual in content and portent; its roots are in the soul and, beyond the soul, in the very soul of the living God (p. 54)."
"'When you, Daddy, got out of the car and walked with me along the beach to find sea shells.' That was the one sentence of love she really heard... the language of being with, being for, being hers (p. 61)."
"Children need to know what it feels like to have their parents not just be with them but all with them (p. 62)."
"By exact analogy a woman sensitized by love can hear the strains at every level in her husband, and marvelous is the woman who knows when and how to answer them; who can open the purse of her emotional riches and match or modify or mellow or magnify--as the flash of the moment makes need--every one appropriately (p. 64)."
"One thing left to be produced at home and by hand is LOVE (p. 67)."
"'Daddy, didn't Heavenly Father care about those other children?' (p. 70)"
"Life is an obstacle course. And sometimes it is a spook alley (p. 76)."
"We don't have God's perspective (p. 80)."
"Evil, suffering, and stress are seen as eternal. They will not be destroyed, but can be utilized. They can be instruments to something good. Indeed, the highest work of suffering is a work of perfection--godliness (P. 82)."
"He may, indeed, be closest when we suppose Him to be farthest away (p. 86)."
"'All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it' (Joseph Smith, p. 94)."
"The characteristics of 'pure love' as 'bestowe3d,' something with which we may be 'filled,' becomes personified in the portrait of Jesus Christ in... Third Nephi... His is not an abstract, or metaphysical, or 'utterly other' perfection. He is, in all the highest senses of flesh and spirit, a personality... He is the revelation of the Father, not because 'two natures' are combined but because He is now exactly like the Father in nature... He ministers and responds to a multitude who have great spiritual capacities. His heart is 'filled with compassion.' He kneels with them in prayer, consumed by 'the will of the Father.' He calls down upon them the powers of the Spirit, first its purifying, then its glorifying, and then, I believe, its sealing powers (p. 3)."
"Love is defined in one contemporary statement as the 'reunion of the separated' (p. 6)."
"Love... is a relationship of similars. 'Intelligence cleaveth unto truth, virtue loveth virtue, light cleaveth unto light, mercy hath compassion on mercy.' Even the opposites within us must merge and harmonize before we can truly love (p. 6)."
"Love expands to the 'self' to include all selves, all life; and God, therefore, cannot be happy except in the happiness of all creatures (p. 8)."
"These instances suggest the close interrelationship of love and knowledge (p. 10)."
"We cannot apprehend nor comprehend reality as it is save through the love of God (p. 10)."
"'Charity... preventeth a multitude of sins.' In us and in others, love is the Lord's preventive medicine; and as we are now learning, it is the only lasting foundation for powerful therapy, whether for sin or for suffering (p. 11)."
"The closer we come to our Heavenly Father... the more we look upon perishing souls with compassion. 'We feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders and cast their sins behind our backs' (p. 11)."
"Ordinances are also divinely appointed 'channels' and 'keys' of divine awareness. TO receive them, to cultivate their influence within our very inward parts, is to encounter the Divine and to be ennobled and sanctified into His very image... 'Being born again... comes by the Spirit of God through ordinances' (P. 14)."
"Love cannot obliterate pain. It can give it meaning and redeeming power (p. 16)."
"'I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved--with a pureness--an intensity of elevated, exalted feelings, which would lift my soul from the transitory things of this groveling sphere and expand it as the ocean. I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed; that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife of my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion: a kind, ministering angel, given to me as a comfort, and a crown of glory forever and ever. In short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding also' (Parley P. Pratt, p. 19)."
"The spirit and power of all the prophets is the spirit and power of Jesus Christ, and His Spirit is the spirit and power of pure love, 'the chief characteristic of Deity.' It is the mission of Jesus Christ to bring into the world again and again the sunshine of light and warmth that is love (p. 24)."
"Whatever it isn't, one thing love surely is--a matter of life and death (p. 30)."
"'Love is doing what comes naturally.' Yes, when combined with doing what comes supernaturally (p. 32)."
"Love, like anything that is harmonic and beautiful, requires endless discipline, terrible periods of the self at war with the self, tortures of involvement (you vastly increase your capacities for pain when you identify with someone else), and an infinite patience (p. 33)."
"Love centers in God and radiates from Him (p. 38)."
"We are given our bodies and our emotions not to destroy but to ride. They magnify our feelings and increase enjoyments. The body is a step up in the scale of progression (p. 41)."
"Love is a kinship of likenesses... We only come to see ourselves and others when we have a measure of revelatory love (p. 45)."
"The truth is that the soul of every child of God comes with an overwhelming need and an overwhelming capacity for such love (p. 46)."
"Are we willing to consider the possibility that neither of us knows the language of love; that we are cramped, as it were, by our native tongue; that we have a kind of blind spot which is a matter of pride? (p. 50)"
"Did you know that many bodily ills can be definitely traced to the absence of love (p. 52)?"
"'Love leads people to do things, to act with greater care. It is the painstaking concern, not the love, that has these effects' (p. 52)."
"Love is spiritual in content and portent; its roots are in the soul and, beyond the soul, in the very soul of the living God (p. 54)."
"'When you, Daddy, got out of the car and walked with me along the beach to find sea shells.' That was the one sentence of love she really heard... the language of being with, being for, being hers (p. 61)."
"Children need to know what it feels like to have their parents not just be with them but all with them (p. 62)."
"By exact analogy a woman sensitized by love can hear the strains at every level in her husband, and marvelous is the woman who knows when and how to answer them; who can open the purse of her emotional riches and match or modify or mellow or magnify--as the flash of the moment makes need--every one appropriately (p. 64)."
"One thing left to be produced at home and by hand is LOVE (p. 67)."
"'Daddy, didn't Heavenly Father care about those other children?' (p. 70)"
"Life is an obstacle course. And sometimes it is a spook alley (p. 76)."
"We don't have God's perspective (p. 80)."
"Evil, suffering, and stress are seen as eternal. They will not be destroyed, but can be utilized. They can be instruments to something good. Indeed, the highest work of suffering is a work of perfection--godliness (P. 82)."
"He may, indeed, be closest when we suppose Him to be farthest away (p. 86)."
"'All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful. By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it' (Joseph Smith, p. 94)."
December 1, 2009
In this short book Truman Madsen explores the nature of love. First, from the teachings and life of Joseph Smith, we can see love as something that exists beyond ourselves – an outpouring of the Spirit, even a gift that we seek to receive from God. Second, romantic love is distinguished as exalting and pure as opposed to the diminishing effects of carnal desire. The third essay provides counsel for appreciating and strengthening family love. And finally, understanding eternal love provides some understanding for the question "How can there be a God of power and love when today's world is an abyss of suffering and alienation?"
My favorite quotes and my own notes:
Moroni 7:48 “Wherefore my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which He hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of His Son, Jesus Christ.” Note the sources of pure love: something “bestowed,” something with which we may be “filled.”
“Says the scripture, ‘Charity covereth a multitude of sins.’ Perhaps so. But the Prophet strengthened the verb. ‘Charity,’ he wrote, ‘preventeth a multitude of sins.’ In us and in others, love is the Lord’s preventive medicine; and as we are now learning, it is the only lasting foundation for powerful therapy, whether for sin or for suffering.”
“Ordinances require the upward reach from below . . . . By [covenants:] we do not essay to try or experiment or hope. We say we will do and will not do certain things – forever. This, the Prophet taught, opens the buds of our nature in a decisive act that reverberates through the heavens. Until that takes place, in sacred places in the presence of witnesses and under the influence of God, we do not deeply feel the nurturing spirit sunshine that increases love.”
“Filled with the love of God, the Prophet yet knew, to his depth, that suffering and stress like unto Christ’s are inevitable elements of life. Love cannot obliterate pain. It can give it meaning and redeeming power.”
“Is there a way out, or, at least, up? The Prophet said, “All will suffer until they obey Christ Himself.”
“We can define and describe love no better than we can define atomic fallout. But they are quite similar in that their transmission reaches to the most minute processes of the most tiny cells in the total human self. But there is a difference. Nuclear fallout is the most quietly destructive force we presently know. But love is the most quietly creative force we have ever known.”
“Children need first of all to see the way adults express love. Their language at its best will be the language learned out of the experience of consideration, kindness, courtesy, and trust. Children need to know what it feels like to have their parents not just be with them but all with them . . . [They may say,:] “My parents don’t understand me.” But when the caring is deeply felt, when there is a warm cloak in the home, understanding follows . . . enough understanding to be enough.”
“We all have that thirst to be understood. But usually we mean that we want to be loved, understood or not.”
“Here are two specific suggestions:
My favorite quotes and my own notes:
Moroni 7:48 “Wherefore my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which He hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of His Son, Jesus Christ.” Note the sources of pure love: something “bestowed,” something with which we may be “filled.”
“Says the scripture, ‘Charity covereth a multitude of sins.’ Perhaps so. But the Prophet strengthened the verb. ‘Charity,’ he wrote, ‘preventeth a multitude of sins.’ In us and in others, love is the Lord’s preventive medicine; and as we are now learning, it is the only lasting foundation for powerful therapy, whether for sin or for suffering.”
“Ordinances require the upward reach from below . . . . By [covenants:] we do not essay to try or experiment or hope. We say we will do and will not do certain things – forever. This, the Prophet taught, opens the buds of our nature in a decisive act that reverberates through the heavens. Until that takes place, in sacred places in the presence of witnesses and under the influence of God, we do not deeply feel the nurturing spirit sunshine that increases love.”
“Filled with the love of God, the Prophet yet knew, to his depth, that suffering and stress like unto Christ’s are inevitable elements of life. Love cannot obliterate pain. It can give it meaning and redeeming power.”
“Is there a way out, or, at least, up? The Prophet said, “All will suffer until they obey Christ Himself.”
“We can define and describe love no better than we can define atomic fallout. But they are quite similar in that their transmission reaches to the most minute processes of the most tiny cells in the total human self. But there is a difference. Nuclear fallout is the most quietly destructive force we presently know. But love is the most quietly creative force we have ever known.”
“Children need first of all to see the way adults express love. Their language at its best will be the language learned out of the experience of consideration, kindness, courtesy, and trust. Children need to know what it feels like to have their parents not just be with them but all with them . . . [They may say,:] “My parents don’t understand me.” But when the caring is deeply felt, when there is a warm cloak in the home, understanding follows . . . enough understanding to be enough.”
“We all have that thirst to be understood. But usually we mean that we want to be loved, understood or not.”
“Here are two specific suggestions:
“First, if I were newly or oldly wed, in the spring or autumn of life, I would have time set apart every day as dependable as tropical rain when I could be in some sense really with my companion. It would be a time when we both could concentrate on nothing but each other and speak to each other in complete rapport, telegraphing the sense of being supremely important to each other. This I would take as a religious ritual. The closer to worship the better.
“Second, if I were a parent, I would set a time at some stable point in the schedule, when each child could count on my drawing a curtain and giving my whole attention to a concentrated review of his feelings, his present struggle. My leading question might be, “What has been your happiest moment, and what your saddest moment today?” It may surprise me what strains weigh him down, and what things have lifted him up. I would hold this time so sacred that the child would be award that short of terrible emergencies I would be his and his alone for this time, and whatever we said or didn’t say , my goal would be a kind of x-ray treatment – to relieve him of the blight of indifference.”
“Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.” When parents love, really love, their children enough, they do not indulge them, but help them to see clearly what they can become, and constantly face them with processes of growth. Are we to expect less of God?”
“It is not enough to endure stoically . . . . That can keep you alive in a prison camp or in the loss of vital organs. It has been known to. ‘It has to be. Face it. It’s necessary.’ That is resignation, a kind of fatalism. But it’s not enough. The greater thing is to endure suffering with faith in the son of Man which enables it to yield its perfect result, which means the fulness of the powers of Godliness.”
“Only if we could see the outcome, even for the most bitter among us, could we estimate how wise – as well as brave – we were to enter mortality.”
“All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection if you continue faithful. . . By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it” – Joseph Smith, 1844.
June 5, 2017
Essays or speeches given by Truman Madsen on love.
August 26, 2019
4th essay was my favorite. Really enjoyed the 1st one as well.
August 26, 2020
Interesting look at different aspects of Love. This being from Truman Madsen, it is deep.
Read
July 5, 2023Book Group
November 11, 2011
There not enough stars to rate this book in my opinion...I love Truman Madsen phylosophical reflections on love; physical love, family love, humankind love and God's love. I couldn't get enough! I reread it several times. I may be parcial because I have memories of sitting in across him in a college classroom hearing his brilhant mind and heart share all this knowledge. I have to confess that he was even better in person.
April 19, 2014
Truman Madsen continues to influence my thinking and my testimony after many years. His gift of explaining complex thought to the common man is remarkable. His testimony is powerful and persuasive. I will re-read this frequently. It is worth the time and thought that goes with it. Highly recommend. He has been and always will be one of my most favorite people.
July 8, 2009
It has been said that the Constitution of the United States was "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man." (Gladstone) This is true in part because Gladstone died long before Truman G. Madsen's "Four Essays on Love" was published. :)
http://goodgazette.blogspot.com/2013/...
http://goodgazette.blogspot.com/2013/...
October 26, 2010
This is one to read with your testimony of the Prophet Joseph in the forefront of you mind. And if you do not yet have that personal witness, the truths of this book will surely inspire you to seek after it! I am so grateful to understand that all truth is connected and points to a loving and perfect Heavenly Father!
May 19, 2008
Madsen presents essays on love in the home, the love Joseph Smith experienced through his spirituality, romantic love, the benefits of affliction in our lives, and the Father's continual love for his creations. This is one to dip into often. Madsen is a gem.
March 2, 2008
deep thoughts/essays of different types of love
March 4, 2008
Love is so much more sacred and fulfulling than I ever imagined.
July 3, 2008
profound, like almost everything he does.
June 7, 2009
I really liked the section The Language of Love at Home. The entire thing was good, a lot of references to Joseph Smith. A good Truman Madsen book that's not hard to read!
November 20, 2009
Would recommend to anyone; short, beautiful and powerful. I want to read it again already. I think I like anything by Madsen.
July 15, 2010
The fourth essay, titled Human Anguish and Divine Love, is by far the best of the four; it is a small masterpiece, and one I expect to read again.
March 24, 2014
Amazing book (was discourses for college kids I believe) about true love.
September 21, 2015
Not quite the heart but certainly in the surrounding tissue.
January 27, 2016
One of my favorites! Quick, yet deep and philosophical, yet quirky and uplifting.
December 16, 2020
Good religous (LDS) essays about love of all kinds.
November 19, 2020
Profound truth
This profound discussion of pain and suffering has changed my life and given me a perspective that helped me find joy when two children died as infants.
This profound discussion of pain and suffering has changed my life and given me a perspective that helped me find joy when two children died as infants.
Read
July 14, 2025“‘There is love at first sight.’ More accurately, there is sight at first love.”
December 19, 2014
Wow! Not an easy read, but worth it...thought-provoking!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews