The Purpose of Passion: Dante's Epic Vision of Romantic Love

by Kurt Bruner, Jim Ware

Have you ever wondered if you’re following God’s plan for your love life? Whether single or married, you ache for a deep, satisfying, romantic connection—but aren’t always sure how to handle the heartache and pain that come along the way. If love is truly a gift from God, why does it sometimes lead to the heights of heaven and other times to the depths of despair?
One of the world’s greatest love stories holds the answer. In The Purpose of Passion , best-selling authors Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware journey through The Divine Comedy to discover what Dante, one of the most influential Christian writers of all time, reveals about love in his literary masterpiece. Discover the secrets that it contains about passion, romance, and spirituality—and how they are all connected. Whether you’ve found true love or ache from its absence, your love life is always driving you closer to or away from God. No matter where you find yourself on love’s path, The Purpose of Passion will lead you on a spiritual adventure through the underworld of Inferno, on a purifying trek up mount Purgatory, and into the ultimate bliss of Paradise—revealing God’s ultimate desire for your heart.

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2010

About the author

Kurt Bruner serves as Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Lake Pointe Church and on the adjunct faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary. A graduate of Talbot Seminary and former Vice President with Focus on the Family, Kurt led the teams creating films, magazines, books, and radio drama. As President of HomePointe Inc., he helps local church leaders create an ongoing culture of intentional families. Kurt is the best-selling author of more than a dozen books. Kurt and his wife, Olivia, have four children and live in Rockwall, Texas.

Reviews

[Nicholas Matthews]

Only part way through this book and loving it!

[Haelie]

Have you read Dante's Divine Comedy?

If so, did you read it because you had to, or did you choose to and enjoy it?

Either way, you have probably never been guided through "Dante's Epic Vision of Romantic Love" as Dante was guided by Virgil, nor as you will be guided through this book, The Purpose of Passion: Dante's Epic Vision of Romantic Love by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware.

As Bruner notes in the introduction to this book, he and Ware "have partnered to provide readers a scene-by-scene tour through such great book series as The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. In this volume, (they) turn to the works of a man who inspired the writings of J. R. R. Tolkein and C. S. Lewis and helped frame their understanding of the gospel itself. In fact, (his) favorite books by C. S. Lewis, including The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters, were profoundly shaped by The Divine Comedy."

As far as the premise of this book itself, Bruner again describes eloquently in the introduction:
"To be honest, I did not always associate Dante with romance. But he, perhaps more than any other writer in history, connects the dots between the ups, downs, highs, and lows of human romance and the mountains, valleys, slopes, and ravines of humanity's spiritual quest. In my case, he transformed the scenes of my relationship with Olivia (Bruner's wife) into an icon of God's romance with humanity. That's why we recommend Dante as the best guide to discovering the purpose of passion."
"...Each reflection (chapter of the book) opens with a creative retelling of a scene from The New Life or The Divine Comedy form which we connect the dots between human romance and the epic love story between God and his people."
(words in Italics and parentheses are my own descriptive additions)

I could not have introduced the book any better myself.

This book is a very easy read, in the sense that it does not take long to get through each chapter and the total length of the book is 134 pages. Additionally, the authors retell Dante's work in a very easy-to-follow and captivating way. If you ever remember reading Dante's Divine Comedy in the past and having to struggle through it due to his writing style, such is definitely not the case with this book. However, though the authors have made The Divine Comedy much "easier" to read and understand, they guide us on a journey of considering some very deep, intriguing thoughts of the connections of romantic love to the undeniable divine inner-workings with which we were all created which seek to know and be known by the ultimate Lover of our soul - our God. After all, we are the bride of Christ.

With that, I will not give away any more of this creatively woven volume. I highly suggest you take a piece of your time to read this book and ponder the countless thoughts and considerations it brings forth in you.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all, whether you have a valentine on this earth or not.

Your Creator loves you and longs to woo you into a deeper relationship with Him like none you have ever known nor will ever know on this earth.


Surrender your heart to His epic love and discover the true Purpose of Passion!

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers. No other compensation was received. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.

[John Ausmus]

The Purpose of Passion: Dante’s Epic Vision of Romantic Love is divided into three parts: Love Kindled, Love Gone Astray, and Love Fulfilled. Each part contains several chapters which relate and interpret elements of The Divine Comedy. Each part concludes with a “Getting Personal” chapter, which helps the reader to reflect and apply the ideas to real life. I should note that, in the introduction, author Kurt Bruner points out that “Dante’s works are imaginative fiction [and] not intended to be works of theology or doctrine. … His fictionalized scenes should be understood as literary devices expressing a greater theme, not as dogmatic teaching.”

Before I started reading The Purpose of Passion, I had only a vague idea of what The Divine Comedy was all about. I am certain that that played a large part in my confusion about this book! By the end I started to understand the overall concept. Because there was so much that I didn’t understand, it’s very difficult for me to review it.

I received a copy of this book, at no cost to me, for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own. Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers and the Tyndale Blog Network for the opportunity!

[Kathy Chung]

Reviewed at : Mama Kucing Books :The Purpose of Passion By Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware

Highly recommended for those broken souls or individuals who are doing some soul searching. I rate this book 3 stars out of 5. I seriously thought the cover did no justice to the book at all, and it needs improvisation.

Note :Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinion expressed herein are mine.