In the following excerpt, Merton discusses Bernard's ideas regarding the active, contemplative, and apostolic lives in his Sermons on the Song of Songs.

In the following essay, Leclercq surveys scholarship on Bernard's life and major writings in the 800 years after his death and reflects on the sociological, psychological, and linguistic possibilities for further research.

In the following essay, Smerillo explores the idea of Deus caritas est–God is love—as presented in Bernard's first twenty-one letters.

In the following essay, Stiegman argues that theological humanism underlies Bernard's writings, noting that he held a deep sense of human worth and profoundly humanistic ideas about the genesis of human love.

In the following essay, Paulsell discusses the connection between virtue and spiritual progress in Bernard's sermons on the Song of Songs.

In the following excerpt, Merton surveys Bernard's best-known writings, which he says offer a coherent doctrine that embraces life. The critic characterizes them as the work of a mystic who emphasizes grace and expresses in lyrical terms his love for Jesus.

In the following essay, Renna compares Bernard's outlook regarding the goals and function of monks to that of the Anglo-Saxon Bede.

In the following excerpt, Pranger speculates about the effect that the physical environment of the Cistercian monastery may have exerted on Bernard and his writings.

In the following essay, Moritz examines Bernard's ninth sermon in his Sermons on the Song of Songs and argues that it reflects Bernard''s conviction that the Church is Christ's true bride.

In the following essay, Renna explores Bernard's attitude toward the Latin classics, explaining that while he himself was learned in classical works, Bernard opposed the study of pagan writings for monks.

In the following essay, Englert discusses Bernard's seminal ideas on monastic humility as the theological model for the fourteenth-century mystical text The Cloud of Unknowing.

In the following excerpt from a work originally published in 1940, Gilson explores some of the influences on Bernard's writing, including Aelred of Rievaulx, Gilbert of Holland, Isaac L'Etoile, Cistercian mysticism, and, most importantly, Cicero's writings on love.