J's Pages

by Peter Kreeft

First read in December of 2002.  

Check it out
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by St. Thomas Aquinas, edited and annotated by Peter Kreeft

I think Peter Kreeft is my go-to guy for dumbed down philosophy. I thoroughly enjoyed his condensed version of Blaise Pascal's Pensées and now I relied heavily on his footnotes to make sense of Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica. (Well, this edited version of the Summa.) It was difficult reading because a) Aquinas is so much smarter than I, and b) the Summa is, in one sense, a reference book. For both of those same reasons, I'm putting this book on my shelf. It provides a myriad of thoughts to ponder.

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by Peter Kreeft

First read in the winter of 2001.

I can't add much to what I wrote back in 2001. It's a delight to read once again. I'll definitely be keeping it on my shelf. If for no other reason that it got rained upon and now nobody would want to buy it.

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by Blaise Pascal & Peter Kreeft

What's the difference between a sound bite and a proverb? I think I would define a sound bite as a morsel of information that one can ingest and will probably soon forget. A proverb, on the other hand, is an idea that you can ingest and then contemplate, embrace, or even follow. It's a reminder of deeper things. Blaise Pascal's Pensées definitely fall into the "proverb" category. They are a series of notes written down for a book that he never lived to write. This book is Professor Peter Kreeft's collection, translation and commentary on Pascal's Pensées. He adds the organization and humor to make these profound thoughts into a delightful read.

If I don't put it on my shelf, my wife will.
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by Peter Kreeft

Back when I reviewed Three Philosophies of Life, I said I would have to read more of Peter Kreeft's work. Well, I finally got around to that. (Not my fault that the library doesn't carry much of his stuff.) I had read Plato's account of the trial of Socrates in Philosophy and Contemporary Issues and immediately recalled this title. When I was up at Harvest Logos looking for an Ezekiel bible study, I peeked to see if this was on the shelf and when I found it I succumbed to temptation and impulsively bought it. Anyway, this is written in play format and has Socrates, the father of Western philosophy, appearing at "Have It University" in Boston. He finds himself enrolled in courses in the divinity school there and spends the rest of the book questioning and challenging his fellow students and a couple of his teachers. All in all, it came across as a thinly veiled course in apologetics. A fairly one sided course, at that. Socrates opponents are all caught off guard and in the end, Socrates "meets Jesus" and becomes convinced of Christianity's truthfulness. I would imagine that the real apostate and heterodox Christians would be a bit harder to confound. Be that as it may, I'm keeping the book. The drama may be weak, but Kreeft is a wonderful writer and has this real poetic way of describing God's relationship with his people. I really was moved by Socrates' wonder at the reality of God taking on human form, which in turn colored my own thoughts as I worshiped this Christmas. So why I have to be honest about the book's flaws, I do recommend that you check it out despite them. 

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by Peter Kreeft

There's a dangerous place in Seattle and it's called Harvest Logos bookstore. (www.harvestlogos.com) To me, it's a Christian bookstore done right -- it gives more shelf space to books on theology and world missions than on self-help or fiction. In short, it offers a lot of good things to read. But it's run by a dangerous man named Michael. Michael will take an active interest in what you are browsing for and offer suggestions as to good things to read. And since there are good books for him to suggest and since his suggestions are sound, I spend more money there than I plan on. Anyway, on my last visit, Michael directed my attention to a collection of books by Peter Kreeft, a philosphy professor who had just been in town for a lecture. I politely looked at the collection and noticed his book Three Philosophies of Life, which is an overview of the Biblical books of Ecclesiastes, Job and Song of Songs. I was gearing up to lead a Bible study at church on Job, and on last minute impulse I grabbed the book. Once again I was not disappointed. Three Philosophies of Life is not a commentary, where the Bible is dissected and analyzed, but rather a contemplation of the three books, a look at the whole refracted through the lens of our modern culture and the human heart. Professor Kreeft sees the three biblical books as an expression of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, respectively. Ecclesiastes is "Life as Vanity", or life without God -- an empty existence under the sun. Job is "Life as Suffering", a life that also is missing the presence of our Heavenly Father but one that actively seeks, and hopes, for Him. Song of Songs is "Life as Love", the romance fulfilled and celebrated. As Kreeft studies these three outlooks on life, his own love for God pours through and entices the reader to come along and discover the our own love affair with God. This book is on my shelf, without a doubt. Unfortunately, it's not the only book written by Kreeft and Michael had a nice booklist of all the other things Professor Kreeft has written. Oh, well, who needs money anyway....

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