Customer comments on this selection.
 Self-congratulatory
I should have balked at the title, really: for centuries Jews and Christians have been studying and praying the Bible all their lives long and yet have been unable to `understand' the Bible... And yet, this 330-page book will get you to "understand" it, and what is more, Peter Kreeft is the one who will make it all happen.
Before choosing this book, you should know Kreeft's standpoint: the Church is the "most revolutionary institution that has ever existed" (p.206), he mentions the Church's "infallibility and consistency throughout two thousand years" (p.209). What history books has the author been reading?! In case you are wondering, all these wondrous qualities which pertain to "the Church" in fact refer only (we learn at p.113) to the Roman Catholic Church; the others apparently don't count.
On p.17, we read that "there are only two kinds of people. We are either God's children or Satan's". There are "two spiritual races...: the damned and the saved" (p.20). (I wonder to which group Kreeft believes he belongs). Therefore his biblical `guide' is littered with the consequences: Samuel was "good and strong" (I'm not sure if Agag would have agreed). Saul was "an evil king", "that he lost his kingdom, his life, and probably his soul" (p.50). (Who on earth is this man to write that Saul `probably lost his soul'?... Although we have learnt on p.17 that Kreeft's god "is indeed a God of justice and thus of punishment" and apparently Kreeft thinks he knows pretty well when God gives his thumbs-up and when he doesn't). The author also seems to have a thing against "wimps", mentioned several times.
Every chapter or so, the writer can not hold himself from making snide, reductive comments about those who do not believe like him: namely, the "liberal and modernist theologians". Two out of many examples, Machiavelli is claimed by him to be one of the first modernists; and on p.26, Kreeft writes: "far be it from a modernist to bow in superstitious slavery before objective data!".
He even has the time (p.18) to make an utterly superficial, ignorant comment about the entire Oriental religions: "the Oriental form of ignoring real physical evils by creating a mystical inner paradise through yoga and meditation".
When the author is not being dismissive and sarcastic about those who believe differently from him, he quite simply writes of their opinion: "It is a lie, of course" (p.18).
Amongst his suggestions for improving the showing of the Roman Church in the West: to train the clergy as exorcists (p.226).
Another conclusion is that "John-Paul II (alive at the time) is in many ways like Saint Paul... I do not know whether he (the ex-Pope) has seen an angel. But I would not be surprised. Let us pray that God has raised up a second Paul to help convert the world a second time" (p.228).
I am somewhat alarmed that Peter Kreeft has written 40 books of this style.
 Academic, but Understandable
Prof. Kreeft has a gift for making somewhat dry material come alive. He is also great at demonstrating the big themes in the Bible -- the parts that you may miss if you do not have a 'big picture' point of view. He is more academically minded that similar books I have read -- which I like, but it may not be everyone's preference. I plan to read more of his works in the future. FYI... Prof. Kreeft is a Catholic and he does talk about Catholicism from time to time, but this is a book that mainstream Protestants can learn from -- don't be put off by his Catholicism.
Guidebook through the Bible
If I were to take a trip to China I would read about China: where to go, what to see, what is important, what is
China's history, etc. Well, this book guides you through the Bible. What was the purpose of each book. What was the motivation of the writer. This is a mini course in the Bible. Everyone interested in growing in knowlege of the Catholic Bible must read this. Everyone interested in growing in your prayer life MUST read this.
Another enlightening work by Prof. Kreeft
I am using this book as a study guide for reading the Bible in a homeschool high school class. How can anyone argue with the logical, cogent, and humorous ideas of this learned man? His books appeal to the intellect and reason, as well as Faith.
Jana Carpenter
Best Bible handbook
I have looked at several handbooks of the Bible (Halley's, Ryken's, New Jerome, Hollman, Bowker's) and this one is clearly the best. Because the author (Peter Kreeft of Boston College) is a philosophy professor, he focuses on explaining the IDEAS contained in the bible, which is really what ordinary people are looking for when they study the scriptures.
The text includes messianic interpretation of the Old Testament (the study of how prophets such as Isaiah and Zechariah predicted the life of Christ hundreds of years in advance) while more "critical" bible study materials dismiss or downplay this.
Kreeft includes moral (or "ethical" since he's a philosopher) interpretation of the Bible, such as the occasion when he outlines the cyclical nature of sin in his chapter on Joshua and Judges.
Kreeft also makes use of symbolic (or allegorical) interpretation, and anagogic interpretation (what the Bible is saying about the salvation of souls). The book is clearly supportive of Catholicism, but should be useful to anyone who wants to understand the Bible according to the original intent of the writers (Kreeft supports "traditional authorship" of the scriptures). The book has a very evangelical tone, though some dispensationalists may not like it because Kreeft supports amillennialism and sidesteps the evolution-creation controversy.
|
