Strange views for a Catholic.

[Habitual_Ritual]

Tried reading Kreeft once. He is wonky and wishy washy. There are far better apologists out there.

[Nicolaus]

Tried reading Kreeft once. He is wonky and wishy washy. There are far better apologists out there.

Any references?

[Scriptorium]

Kreeft does have some weak points. On one hand he is very good at ecumenism, and on another he is not. He says things that draw people to the Faith very effectively, but then he also is very conciliatory to people of other faiths, so it sometimes looks like indifference. I get what he is saying, though. As someone who left the Faith and came back, I view my time in Buddhism as providential. Without it, I would never have been prepared to come to Christ in a mature way. My Catholic upbringing to roughly age 15 was not substantial. I hungered for something which the Church did not provide to me, or I was not able to discern in my fallen nature as being provided. Mass was boring, catechesis was boring, and the Church had no substantial meaningful message related to my life. Although I still held a very weak faith in Christ, I became a Buddhist at age 19. There I found examples of holiness, a strong moral doctrine, a practical method of self-transformation and growth, and a religious structure that seemed to offer meaning to me. It wasn't until five years later that I was exposed to the traditional Mass, orthodox catechesis and doctrine, the holiness of the saints, and the many good teachers of the last 100 years or so (like Fulton Sheen). So in the providential plan of God, Buddhism truly prepared me to come back to the Faith. If you've never left, and followed another religion fervently, then you may simply not know how Christ acts through other religions. Even if you say He only acts through absence ("black grace"), that action was true and real. The culminating point of my Buddhist journey was going to a monastery to become a monk. After about four days I become obsessively claustrophobic, even though I was in an open air monastery with hundreds of acres of land to wander, and the abbot was very holy. I left there is quite a rush, and within a month I just happen to meet a lady who exposed me to the traditional Mass etc, even though I never knew anything about such a thing. And I was with Christ within a couple of months. (Oh, how I fought that grace intensely!)

So when I read Kreeft, I see that he is acknowledging that a) people are not receiving the spiritual nourishment they need, b) they have gone elsewhere, where they are receiving some nourishment. I left the Eucharist, but I found Christ through goodwill meditation, the poverty of Buddhist monks, the magisterial authority of the Buddha, and such like. He was veiled, but He was there. This does not say that the religion is able to save, or that people are fine remaining in these religions, etc. These religions are cheap knock-offs of the true Mystical Body of Christ. It is like we are committing adultery against our bridegroom. But there is a truth behind adultery, and to deny the love that they seek and, perhaps even, experience in that adultery is not the best way to draw them back to Christ. The love is good. The quest is good. Now come to the true source of that love. The fount of life. Christ. Love incarnate.

And practically speaking, Kreeft is responsible for drawing a lot of people to Christ, so I wouldn't be too quick to place oneself in a position of judgement and superiority. Just sharing my thoughts as one of those who strayed for a time. PAX!

[Gerard]

I think I heard this lecture before. 

It's akin to being in the desert, deciding to leave the oasis and drink from the mirage.  Notice, that in all of this it's the "movement of the spirit" and not the work of the devil? 

[Adam Wayne]

Kreeft does have some weak points. On one hand he is very good at ecumenism, and on another he is not.

Exactly. So in another words he's human, like the rest of us, and puts his pants on one leg at a time.

That was a heck of an interesting post, Sciptorium. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Like you say, in so many words, sometimes you've got to get out, to get in.

Been there, in an entirely different way, but God draws straight with crooked lines. This I personally know to be true.

Alll roads do in fact lead to Rome.

[Adam Wayne]

I think I heard this lecture before. 

It's akin to being in the desert, deciding to leave the oasis and drink from the mirage.  Notice, that in all of this it's the "movement of the spirit" and not the work of the devil? 

Well said as well. Unfortunately, for some the Eucharist and the mess that is New Church is also a mirage for some. I dare say, the smells and bells are also a mirage for some.

[Vetus Ordo]

Dr. Kreeft is in line with the current magisterium of the Church.

Nothing to blame here.

[Vincentius]

Kreeft equivocates "universalism" -- all men are saved?  Religious indifference or religious indifferentism?  There's a distinction.  Of course he is wrong.  Catholics flock to the false religions for several reasons, but mostly perhaps they are lacking in informed conscience.  Also, Protestantism promises an easy way to salvation, you hardly have to do anything.  Just believe and your are saved.  And once saved, these won't hinder you from attaining your heavenly reward.  Catholics who are well informed in their conscience know how difficult it is to attain salvation.  Jesus did not undergo His terrible Passion and death to make it easy for us.  Yes, He paid the ransom for sin, but that did not take us away from sinning anymore.  And losing our salvation.

[Vetus Ordo]

Also, Protestantism promises an easy way to salvation, you hardly have to do anything. Just believe and your are saved.  And once saved, these won't hinder you from attaining your heavenly reward.

That's not exactly true.

For Protestant theology, good works are the fruits of a saving faith. So while it's faith alone that justifies a man before God, it's not a faith devoid of works.

[Phillipus Iacobus]

Also, Protestantism promises an easy way to salvation, you hardly have to do anything. Just believe and your are saved.  And once saved, these won't hinder you from attaining your heavenly reward.

That's not exactly true.

For Protestant theology, good works are the fruits of a saving faith. So while it's faith alone that justifies a man before God, it's not a faith devoid of works.

What about what Luther said about mortally sinning 1000 times a day?