Peter John Kreeft (; born March 16, 1937) is an American professor of philosophy at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and The King's College. A convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, he is the author of over eighty books on

Christian philosophy Christian philosophy includes all philosophy carried out by Christians, or in relation to the religion of Christianity. Christian philosophy emerged with the aim of reconciling science and faith, starting from natural rational explanations wit ...

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

apologetics Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their f ...

. He also formulated, together with Ronald K. Tacelli, ''Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God'' in their ''Handbook of Christian Apologetics''.

Academic career

Kreeft was born March 16, 1937, in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Eastern Christian High School, where his class hymn was sung at graduation ceremonies. Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, he took his BA at Calvin College (1959) and an MA at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

(1961). He completed his doctoral studies in 1965, also at Fordham, where he completed a dissertation under the direction of W. Norris Clarke. He subsequently completed his post-graduate studies at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Kreeft joined the philosophy faculty of the Department of Philosophy of

in 1965. He has debated several academics in issues related to God's existence. Shortly after he began teaching at Boston College, he was challenged to a debate on the existence of God between himself and Paul Breines, an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

and history professor, which was attended by a majority of undergraduate students. Kreeft later used many of the arguments in this debate to create the ''Handbook of Christian Apologetics'' with then undergraduate student Ronald K. Tacelli. In 1971, Kreeft published an article titled "

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art, and language. In April ...

's ' Gelassenheit in the peer-reviewed journal ''International Philosophical Quarterly'', of Fordham University. In 1994, he was an endorser of the document " Evangelicals and Catholics Together". He also formulated, with R. Tacelli, "Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God".

Conversion story

Kreeft converted to

during his college years. A key turning point came when he was asked by a Calvinist professor to investigate the claims of the Catholic Church that it traced itself to the early Church. He said that, on his own, he "discovered in the early Church such Catholic elements as the centrality of the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

, the real presence, prayers to saints, devotion to Mary, an insistence on visible unity, and

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

." The "central and deciding" factor for his conversion was "the Church's claim to be the one Church historically founded by Christ." He reportedly applied C. S. Lewis's trilemma (that either Jesus is a lunatic, a liar, or the Lord): "I thought, just as Jesus made a claim about His identity that forces us into one of only two camps ... so the Catholic Church’s claim to be the one true Church, the Church Christ founded, forces us to say either that this is the most arrogant, blasphemous and wicked claim imaginable, if it is not true, or else that she is just what she claims to be." According to Kreeft's personal account, his conversion to Catholic Christianity was influenced by, among other things,

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

and Thomistic philosophy, the writings of St. John of the Cross, the logic of asking saints to pray for us, and a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

when he was twelve years old, "feeling like I was in heaven ... and wondering why, if Catholics got everything else wrong, as I had been taught, they got beauty so right..." Although a Catholic, he places central emphasis on the unity between Catholics and

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Bibliography

Books

* * '' Between Heaven and Hell'' (1982) — A Dialog with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley * ''The Unaborted Socrates'' (1983) — Socratic dialogue on abortion * ''The Best Things in Life'' (1984) — Twelve Socratic dialogues on modern life * ''Yes or No? (1984) — Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity'' * ''Making Sense Out of Suffering'' (1986) * ''Fundamentals of the Faith, Essays in Christian Apologetics'' (1988) * ''Heaven, the Heart's Deepest Longing'' (1989) * ''Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Heaven... But Never Dreamed of Asking'' (1990) * ''Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions'' (1990) * ''Summa of the Summa'' (1990) — Summa Theologica edited and explained for beginners * ''Three Philosophies of Life'' (1990) — Ecclesiastes (life as vanity), Job (life as suffering), Song of Songs (life as love) * ''Prayer: The Great Conversation'' (1991) — Straight answers to tough questions * ''Back to Virtue'' (1992) — Reprint of ''For Heaven's Sake: The Rewards of the Virtuous Life'' (1986) * ''Shorter Summa'' (1993) — Shorter version of Kreeft's ''Summa of the Summa'' * ''Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal's Pensees'' (1993) * ''Your Questions, God's Answers'' (1994) — Solid responses for Catholic teens * ''Handbook of Christian Apologetics'' (with Ronald K. Tacelli) (1994) * ''C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium'' (1994) — Six essays on Lewis' '' Abolition of Man'' * ''Shadow-Lands of C.S. Lewis: The Man Behind the Movie'' (1994) * ''Handbook of Christian Apologetics'' (Pocket Version) (1994) * ''The Angel and the Ants: Bringing Heaven Closer to Your Daily Life'' (1994) * ''Talking to Your Children About Being Catholic'' (1995) — A treasure trove of ideas * ''Angels (and Demons): What Do We Really Know About Them?'' (1995) * ''Ecumenical Jihad: Ecumenism and the Culture Wars'' (1996) * ''The Journey'' A Spiritual Roadmap For Modern Pilgrims (1996) * ''The Snakebite Letters'' Devious Secrets for Subverting Society (1998) * ''Refutation of Moral Relativism'' — Dialogues between a relativist and absolutist (1999) * ''Prayer for Beginners'' (2000) * ''Catholic Christianity'' (2001) * ''Socrates Meets Jesus'' (1987/2002) — Socratic dialogue with students of Harvard University's Divinity School * ''How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis'' (2002) * ''Celebrating Middle Earth: Lord of the Rings'' (2002) — On western civilization * ''Three Approaches to Abortion'' (2002) * ''Philosophy 101 by Socrates'' (2002) — An introduction to philosophy via Plato's Apology * ''Socrates Meets Machiavelli'' (2003) — Socratic dialogue between Socrates and Machiavelli * ''Socrates Meets Marx'' (2003) — Socratic dialogue between Socrates and Karl Marx * ''The God Who Loves You'' (2004) * ''Socratic Logic'' (2005) — A textbook on classical logic * ''You Can Understand the Bible'' (2005) — a combination of his previous books ''You Can Understand the Old Testament: A Book-by-Book Guide for Catholics'' (1990) and ''Reading and Praying the New Testament: A Book-by-Book Guide for Catholics'' (1992) * ''Socrates Meets Sartre: Father Of Philosophy Meets The Founder of Existentialism'' (2005) — Socrates and Jean-Paul Sartre * ''The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind "The Lord of the Rings"'' (2005) * ''The Sea Within'' (2006) * ''Socrates Meets Descartes'' (2007) — The Father of Philosophy Analyzes the Father of Modern Philosophy's ''Discourse on Method'' * ''The Philosophy of Jesus'' (2007) — On the wisdom of Jesus * ''Pocket Guide to the Meaning of Life'' (2007) * ''Before I Go'' (2007) — Letters to Children About What Really Matters * ''I Surf Therefore I Am'' (2008) — An exploration of Surfing * ''Because God Is Real: Sixteen Questions, One Answer'' (2008) * ''Jesus-Shock'' (2008) * ''Socrates Meets Kant'' (2009) — The Father of Philosophy Meets His Most Influential Modern Child * ''If Einstein Had Been a Surfer'' (2009) — A Philosophy of Surfing * ''Between Allah & Jesus: what Christians Can Learn from Muslims'' (2010) * ''Socrates Meets Hume'' (2010) — The Father of Philosophy Meets the Father of Modern Skepticism * ''An Ocean Full of Angels'' (2011) * ''Summa Philosophica'' (2012) — 110 Key Questions in Philosophy * ''Jacob's Ladder'' (2013) — Ten Steps to Truth * ''Charisms: Visions, Tongues, Healing, etc.'' (feat. Dave Nevins) (2013) — catalysts to "two-way" interactive prayer * ''Socrates Meets Kierkegaard'' (2014) — Questions the founder of Christian existentialism *''52 Big Ideas'' (2020) — From 32 Great Minds * ''Practical Theology'' (2014) — Spiritual Direction from Aquinas * ''Letters to an Atheist'' (2014) — Wrestling with Faith * ''The Philosopher's Bench'' (2015)(DVD) — Catholic philosophers Peter Kreeft and Thomas Howard bring philosophy to the 'man in the street' * ''I Burned for Your Peace: Augustine's Confessions Unpacked'' (2016) — Snippets and commentary from one of the most beloved books in the world * ''How to Be Holy'' (2016) — First Steps in Becoming a Saint * ''Catholics and Protestants'' (2017) — What Can We Learn from Each Other? * ''Between One Faith and Another'' (2017) — Engaging Conversations on the World's Great Religions * ''Forty Reasons I am a Catholic'' (2018) * ''Doors in the Walls of the World'' (2018) — Signs of Transcendence in the Human Story * ''The Platonic Tradition'' (2018) 8 lectures "for beginners" on the essence of the Platonic tradition throughout philosophical history * ''Socrates' Children'', 4 vols. (2019) — The 100 Greatest Philosophers * ''How To Destroy Western Civilization And Other Ideas From The Cultural Abyss'' (2021) * ''The Greatest Philosopher Who Ever Lived'' (2021) * ''Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings'' 3 vols. (2023) * ''What Would Socrates Say?'' (2024) — An Introduction to Philosophy by the Socratic Method

References

External links

Official websiteWritings at Catholic Educator's Resource
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreeft, Peter 1937 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American philosophers 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians American critics of atheism American male non-fiction writers American people of Dutch descent American religious writers American Roman Catholic writers Boston College faculty Calvin University alumni Catholics from New Jersey Catholic philosophers Christian apologists Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism Eastern Christian High School alumni Fordham University alumni The King's College (New York City) faculty People from Wyckoff, New Jersey Philosophers from New Jersey Writers from Bergen County, New Jersey Writers from Paterson, New Jersey Yale University alumni