Peter Kreeft

Most parents have no trouble telling their children how to dress, drive, study, or shave, but struggle to talk with them about how best to live--about real love, faith, integrity, values, true enrichment, and success. In the tradition of Tuesdays With Morrie, Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft shares with us the wisdom that he has compiled for his children as his best gift to them. Readable and browsable, these heart to heart chats present priceless truths to live by in a casual yet compelling way.

Peter Kreeft believes that Baise Pascal is the first post-medieval apologist. No writer in history, claims Kreeft, is a more effective Christian apologist and evangelist to today's uprooted, confused, secularized pagans (inside and outside the Church) than Pascal. He was a brilliant man--a great scientist who did major work in physics and mathematics, as well as an inventor--whom Kreeft thinks was three centuries ahead of his time. His apologetics found in his Pensees are ideal for the modern, sophisticated skeptic.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."-- Hamlet

After William Shakespeare's Horatio sees the ghost of Hamlet's father, and scarcely believes his own eyes, Hamlet tells him that there is more to reality than he can know or imagine, including ghosts.

Hamlet's statement suggests that the walls of the material world, which we perceive with our senses and analyze with our intellects, have doors that open into the More beyond them. Philosopher Peter Kreeft explains in this book that the More includes "The Absolute Good, Platonic Forms, God, gods, angels, spirits, ghosts, souls, Brahman, Rta (the Hindu ontological basis for cosmological karma), Nirvana, Tao, 'the will of Heaven', The Meaning of It All, Something that deserves a capital letter."

With razor-sharp reasoning and irrepressible joy, Kreeft helps us to find the doors in the walls of the world. Drawing on history, physical science, psychology, religion, philosophy, literature, and art, he invites us to welcome what lies on the other side so that we can begin living the life of Heaven in the here and now.

In the style of C. S. Lewis, Kreeft provides an unexcelled look at the nature of Heaven that offers readers a refreshingly clear, theologically sound, and always fascinating glimpse of that "undiscovered country." Kreeft's engaging and informative account thoughtfully answers intriguing questions about heaven that speaks to the mind and heart.

God's love is the subject of Peter Kreeft's imaginative and thoughtful book (a revised and updated version of his book Knowing the Truth of God's Love). With unusual clarity, Kreeft points out that the man or woman who begins to glimpse the God who is Creator, Redeemer, and Lover of our souls, will never be the same. He describes Scripture as God's love story and then tells why divine love is the answer to our deepest problems and the fulfillment of our deepest desires.

Posing the hard questions about love that rankle the heart, Peter Kreeft never settles for easy answers. He exposes today's superficial attitudes about love to lead people to a deeper understanding of what it means to be loved by God, addressing these issues and many more.

Voted one of Christianity Today's 1995 Books of the Year

Reasonable, concise, witty and wise, Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli have written an informative and valuable guidebook for anyone looking for answers to questions of faith and reason.Topics include:

faith and reason

the existence of God

God's nature

how we know God

creation and evolution

providence and free will

miracles

the problem of evil

the Bible's historical reliability

the divinity of Christ

the resurrection

life after death

heaven and hell

salvation

Christianity and other religions

objective truth

Whether you are asking the questions yourself or want to respond to others who are, here is the resource you have been waiting for.

The battle lines have been drawn. Many Christians have fallen into the trap of proclaiming "Peace! Peace!" when there is no peace. Hiding their eyes from the pressing issues of the day, they believe that resistance to the prevailing culture is useless. At the same time, other Christians have been too quick to declare war, mistaking battlefield casualties as enemies rather than victims. In How to Win the Culture War Peter Kreeft issues a rousing call to arms. Christians must understand the true nature of the culture war--a war between the culture of life and the culture of death. Kreeft identifies the real enemies facing the church today and maps out key battlefields. He then issues a strategy for engagement and equips Christians with the weapons needed for a successful campaign. Above all, Kreeft assures us that the war can be won--in fact, it will be won. For those who hope in Christ, victory is assured, because good triumphs over evil and life conquers death. Love never gives up. Neither must we.

Joy: we look for it, long for it, and spend our lives chasing it. Yet do we really know what it is? Is it a feeling, a state of mind, or a reward for success? Do we know where to find it? The more we seek it, the more it eludes us.

Yet joy is real. "Joy", writes philosopher Peter Kreeft, "is a mystery. It is bigger than we are." Joy's secret, however, is that it cannot be reached or found but only given. True joy is God Himself, who, giving Himself, takes us outside ourselves, across valleys of loss and mountains of triumph.

This lucid, witty reflection on the true nature of joy convinces us, page after page, that while sorrow is inevitable, joy is very, very near at hand. "It's scandalously simple," Kreeft reveals. "There's no method; you just do it." To "do" joy, we must let go of all fake happiness, all false gods. We must return, over and over, to the one true Joy, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Drawing from the wisdom of C. S. Lewis and Saint Thomas Aquinas, this instant classic by self-proclaimed curmudgeon Peter Kreeft walks us through the long, beautiful task of surrendering to deep joy, the chief work of any life worth living.

"Be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you," wrote the apostle Peter.

That is what apologetics is all about.

Here is a concise, informative guide for anyone looking for answers to questions of faith and reason. Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli have condensed their popular Handbook of Christian Apologetics, summarizing the foremost arguments for major Christian teachings and offering compelling responses to the most common arguments put forward against Christianity. In this book you'll find answers to questions about

faith and reason

the existence of God

creation and evolution

predestination and free will

miracles

the problem of evil

Christ and the resurrection

the reliability of the Bible

life after death

heaven and hell

salvation and other religions

objective truth

The Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics is the place to begin for people with questions about Christianity.

Designed for students and pastors alike, the short and accessible volumes in the IVP Pocket Reference Series will help you tackle the study of biblical languages, church history, apologetics, world religions, Christian spirituality, ethics, theology, and more.

In his typical lucid and original style, the popular spiritual writer Peter Kreeft explores many aspects and questions about prayer, the center of our spiritual lives. In a series of imaginative dialogues (like prayer itself), Kreeft shows how prayer can be an exciting adventure, an inexhaustible joy, a conversation with God--the source of wisdom and strength.

Written in a practical, yet inspirational manner, this book addresses important areas like: finding the time to pray, praying when you don't feel like it, using the prayer book God wrote, how to overcome sin through contemplation, and how to see God everywhere. Kreeft communicates a vision for prayer that becomes a profound conversation with the God who created, redeemed and sustains us--a conversation that is the most important experience in human life.

Prayer: The Great Conversation will benefit anyone who finds it hard to pray or to read books about prayer. Kreeft's stimulating insights and ecumenical, "mere Christianity" approach make this a unique book about prayer that should appeal to Christians of all denominations.

A shortened version of Kreeft's much larger Summa of the Summa, which in turn was a shortened version of the Summa Theologica. The reason for the double shortening is pretty obvious: the original runs some 4000 pages! (The Summa of the Summa was just over 500.) The Summa is certainly the greatest, most ambitious, most rational book of theology ever written. In it, there is also much philosophy, which is selected, excerpted, arranged, introduced, and explained in footnotes here by Kreeft, a popular Thomist teacher and writer. St. Thomas Aquinas is universally recognized as one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived. His writings combine the two fundamental ideals of philosophical writing: clarity and profundity. He is a master of metaphysics and technical terminology, yet so full of both theoretical and practical wisdom. He is the master of common sense. The Summa Theologica is timeless, but particularly important today because of his synthesis of faith and reason, revelation and philosophy, and the Biblical and the classical Greco-Roman heritages. This little book is designed for beginners, either for classroom use or individually. It contains the most famous and influential passages of St. Thomas' philosophy with copious aids to understanding them.

In this engaging fictional conversation, Peter Kreeft gives credible voices to C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Billy Graham as they discuss one of the most contentious questions in the history of Christianity: Is Jesus symbolically or substantially present in the Eucharist?

These widely respected modern Christian witnesses represent three important Western theological traditions. Graham, an ordained Southern Baptist minister who traversed the world and the airwaves to spread the good news of salvation, represents evangelical Protestantism. Lewis, an Oxford professor, a prolific Christian apologist, and the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, was a member of the Church of England. Also an Oxford don, Tolkien was a friend of Lewis, the author of The Lord of the Rings, and a Roman Catholic.

While Lewis and Tolkien likely discussed the Eucharist during their long friendship, the conversation in this book never took place--but it could have, says Kreeft, who faithfully presents the views of these three impressive men.

Three Approaches to Abortion will help you persuade others--including "pro-choice Catholics" that abortion is an evil society we cannot permit or tolerate.

Abortion has been and remains a crucial issue in American politics. Unfortunately, many Americans don't see abortion for the evil it is--the unjust killing of millions of human beings each year. Even many Catholics have been confused by the "pro-choice" (read: pro-abortion) rhetoric of those who say that they personally accept Catholic teaching about abortion, but they can't impose it on others.

You've heard argument after argument about this topic. Maybe you think there is nothing more to say.

Well, there is.

Three Approaches to Abortion, by popular author Peter Kreeft, cuts through the nonsense of the "pro-choice" position. He shows in an irrefutable way why abortion is evil and why it's illogical to support abortion rights while claiming to be "personally opposed to abortion." Kreeft's commonsense approach to the issue, his lucid arguments, easy-to-grasp illustrations and examples, and his thoughtful dialogue between a pro-lifer and a "pro-choicer" make this book an invaluable tool in the pro-life cause.

The greatest teacher of philosophy in all of history was Socrates, according to philosopher Peter Kreeft. In 2,400 years, no one has topped him or his Socratic method, teaching not by monologue, but by dialogue; not by lecturing, but by logical questioning. Yet of the hundreds of textbooks for beginning philosophers today, none uses his method.

Kreeft has imagined Socrates University: a log, with Socrates at one end and a typical intelligent modern student beginner at the other, conversing about the problems at the heart of each major division of philosophy.

Nothing teaches more effectively than concrete examples and apprenticeship. Like the real Socrates, this fictionalized version by Kreeft is grounded in common sense and commonsense logic, fair and open-minded on all issues but demanding good reasons for every opinion.

The Psalms are the most popular, most universally loved and used book in the Bible, which in turn is the most popular book in the world. They are hymns, songs, poems and prayers, both formal (liturgical and communal) and informal (spontaneous, personal, and individual); and this gives them many layers of meaning rather than one, unlike theologies and creeds.

They Psalms are literally inexhaustible, so a new book of reflections on them is always welcome. Especially a book by the beloved, widely read, best-selling author and philosopher, Peter Kreeft.

In this work Kreeft shares his personal explorations into the riches of the Psalms, his profound expeditions into this deep ocean of the divinely inspired spiritual water. He focuses on the dozen or so Psalms that are most people's favorites, including Kreeft.

Kreeft says that the Pslams are powerful prayers, and a spiritual weapon that God himself has given us for our great task of spiritual warfare, which is human life on earth.

What prayers did Jesus and his disciples pray? The Psalms! As all Jews have always done ever since they had them. The Psalms are God's answer to our plea, 'Teach us to pray.' Christ prayed them not only in synagogue but throughout His life, and at his death. He prayed Psalm 22, 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?' even as He was dying on the Cross.
- Peter Kreeft, from the Introduction