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Love Basics for Catholics

Illustrating God’s Love for Us throughout the Bible

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Pub Date 10 Mar 2023 | Archive Date 10 Apr 2023


Description

When you begin to see the Bible as a love story, it transforms how you understand love, sex, marriage, family—and your relationship with God.

Join popular scripture scholar John Bergsma on a journey from the union of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to the wedding feast of the Lamb in the book of Revelation. Along the way, you’ll discover how marriage in the Bible reveals the profound love between God and his people.

Focusing on nine key biblical marriages, Bergsma uncovers what these relationships teach us about God’s covenant love

  • Adam and Eve reveal marriage as the culmination of creation and a reflection of the Trinity.
  • Ruth and Boaz embody tenderness, fidelity, and virtue.
  • Solomon and his bride in the Song of Songs celebrate the goodness of the body and human love.
  • Christ the Bridegroom shows us the ultimate union between Jesus and his Church.

With his signature stick-figure illustrations and engaging, accessible style, Bergsma brings scripture and salvation history to life in a way that is both memorable and meaningful. He also sheds light on church teachings on marriage and relationships—including monogamy, the single life, the Sacrament of Matrimony, and Jesus’s words on divorce—revealing how each flows from God’s faithful love expressed through the covenants of scripture.

“The story of salvation,” Bergsma writes, “is a romantic comedy because it is literally about love from beginning to end!”

Discover the love story at the heart of scripture—and be invited into God’s love.

When you begin to see the Bible as a love story, it transforms how you understand love, sex, marriage, family—and your relationship with God.

Join popular scripture scholar John Bergsma on a journey...


A Note From the Publisher

John Bergsma is a professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He served as a Protestant pastor for four years before entering the Catholic Church in 2001 while pursuing a doctorate specializing in the Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls from the University of Notre Dame.



In addition to teaching scripture at Franciscan, Bergsma is a frequent guest on Catholic radio, and he speaks regularly at conferences and parishes nationwide. Bergsma has published a number of academic and popular works on the Bible and the Catholic faith, including Bible Basics for Catholics, New Testament Basics for Catholics, Psalm Basics for Catholics, and A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: Old Testament.

John Bergsma is a professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. He served as a Protestant pastor for four years before entering the Catholic Church in 2001 while pursuing a...


Advance Praise

"Lighthearted and profound, this book is a must read.”
Deacon Jason and Rachel Bulman
Contributors to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

“Through John Bergsma’s trademark teaching style, simplicity, and humor, you will see love, marriage, and family in thrilling clarity as both human and divine, historical and eternal, personal and universal. We’ll call this required reading for all our couples!”
Damon and Melanie Owens
Cofounders of Joyful Ever After

“This book proves, once again, that Bergsma is not only a keen biblical mind but a masterful teacher, taking the most profound and deepest scriptural truths and making them understandable and digestible for any age. This little gem is a must read for all Catholics!”
Mark Hart
Coauthor of Our Not-Quite-Holy Family

“This small book is deceptively simple. It is clear yet deep, practical yet profound. Indeed, only someone who is both a great scholar and a master teacher could’ve written it. And the line drawings make the lessons more memorable and teachable—for all ages! Highly recommended.”
Scott Hahn
Catholic theologian

"Lighthearted and profound, this book is a must read.”
Deacon Jason and Rachel Bulman
Contributors to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries

“Through John Bergsma’s trademark teaching style, simplicity, and...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781646801961
PRICE $16.95 (USD)
PAGES 160

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Featured Reviews

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Thank you to NetGalley and Ave Maria Press for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review. (Publish Date: 10 Mar 2023)

“Love Basics for Catholics: Illustrating God’s Love for Us throughout the Bible” by John Bergsma was an enlightening and engaging book.

The author’s fun stick-figure illustrations and comical examples were very enjoyable and made his Biblical references easier to grasp from a modern perspective.

The author showed so many great examples of how different stories in the Bible all represent the love between God and his people. I felt enlightened by his perspective and found myself rereading the stories afterwards to feel a stronger impact of the words and connection with God.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and found it a delightful read. I would recommend it to anyone curious about connections between God’s love for us through scripture.

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