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c8ec114
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we are fallen fools, most of our philosophy is not "the proper use of human reason" but the improper use of human reason."
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Peter Kreeft |
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40b4bda
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The more consciously and freely we choose an evil, the more responsible we are for it and the more guilty we are of it; this is why spiritual sins like pride are greater in guilt than carnal sins.
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Peter Kreeft |
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5aa2ec5
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Sociologists and anthropologists tell us that religion has three dimensions: creed, code, and cult; or words, works, and worship; or theology, morality, and liturgy.
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Peter Kreeft |
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d5b135f
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life is a quest for love and a quest for god, and there is no car or plane for this trip. it is an old-fashioned quest made on our own two feet.
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Peter Kreeft |
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ef0e5c7
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Only Judaism and Christianity are religions of public record, eyewitnessed facts.
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Peter Kreeft |
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66e832f
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god is love, and music is the language of love; therefore, music is the language of god. music is a language more profound than words. how often have you heard a great piece of music and felt that? great music does not just make you feel good; great music suggests some profound truth or mysterious meaning that objectively true but not translatable into words. attempts to translate music's meaning into words always fail. it is like trying to..
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Peter Kreeft |
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42e2e05
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It's the most essential thing of all just because it's not a matter of how you do it at all, but of whether you do it. Like being born, or cooking: how you do it is less important than whether you do it. You can find thousands of books on prayer that give you methods of praying, hundreds of "hows"; but they do you no good at all unless you actually pray. Otherwise it's like reading a cookbook instead of cooking. You can't eat a cookbook!"
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prayer
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Peter Kreeft |
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c64d386
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that the ones who laugh the loudest and the most are usually the shallowest and the most foolish? And that the wisest are usually the gravest? Perhaps the wise are grave because they remember the grave.
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Peter Kreeft |
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6a8e26f
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If we seek the truth without realizing how far we are from it, we will be dogmatists. If we realize how far we are from the truth but do not seek it, we will be skeptics. If we both seek the truth and realize how far we are from it, we will be wise.
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dogmatism
skepticism
truth
wisdom
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Peter Kreeft |
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8d107f6
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The root of most atheism i not argument but attitude, not itellection but feeling, not the love of truth but the fear of truth.
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Peter Kreeft |
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83272e2
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Furthermore, the most popular modern answer to the question of what it means to be a good person is to be kind. Do not make other people suffer. If it doesn't hurt anyone, it's O.K. By this standard, God is not good it he lets us suffer. But by ancient standards, God might be good even though he lets us suffer, if he does it for the sake of the greater end of happiness, perfection of life and character and soul, that is, self.
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Peter Kreeft |
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1e0262e
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The more you treat someone you hate as if you loved them, the more you will find yourself loving them.
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Peter Kreeft |
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c7123df
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Thus, though Christians are in no way bound by the Jewish ceremonial or civil laws (because they were all in some way preparatory for Christ), we are still under the Ten Commandments in one way, though not in two other ways.
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Peter Kreeft |
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f73b139
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The good Jew, like the good Christian, sees behind the law to the Lawgiver, whose will is perfect love.
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Peter Kreeft |
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f8d15f3
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We cannot go from our darkness to his light, because we are working in the dark. But God can go from his light to our darkness, because he is working in the light.
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Peter Kreeft |
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ee09fee
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Why Won't We Be Bored in Heaven? Because we are with God, and God is infinite. We never come to the end of exploring Him. He is new every day. Because we are with God, and God is eternal. Time does not pass (a condition for boredom); it just is. All time is present in eternity, as all the events of the plot are present in an author's mind. There is no waiting. Because we are with God, and God is love. Even on earth, the only people who are ..
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Peter Kreeft |
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13b20d4
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A certain participation in happiness can be had in this life, but perfect and true happiness cannot be had in this life.
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Peter Kreeft |
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69b2b28
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But we will probably never see this, never move from original selfishness to universal charity and unselfishness, without the intermediate step of the family.
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Peter Kreeft |
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378bc68
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No story is more beautiful than the Gospel, even though it is a story full of pain and nails and hate and blood and sin and murder and betrayal and forsakenness and unimaginable agony and death. It is the story of what happens to the most beautiful thing, Perfect Love, when it enters our world: it comes to a Cross, to the crossroad between good and evil. All our most beautiful stories are like the Gospel: they are tragedies first, and then ..
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gospel
jesus
jesus-shock
kreeft
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Peter Kreeft |
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336db12
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For everything naturally desires good,
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Peter Kreeft |
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e155d01
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Principles without facts are empty, but facts without principles are blind.
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Peter Kreeft |
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1faec2c
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Even though we hate some of the things we do or feel, we hate them only because we love ourselves. We feel we are unworthy of such bad stuff.
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Peter Kreeft |
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9bb2948
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But we can influence (not compel) each other's choices through the mediating channels of imagination and emotion. So can angels. They can't put judgments in your mind or choices in your will, but they can put images in your imagination and feelings in your heart. (Feelings don't compel you either; your will can choose whether to follow your feelings or not.)
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Peter Kreeft |
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3d44965
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St. Thomas is as practical and plain and reasonable in ethics as Aristotle, or Confucius, or your uncle.
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Peter Kreeft |
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4f6c325
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Dostoyevsky says, "love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams" (The Brothers Karamazov)."
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Peter Kreeft |
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4894ce8
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What distinguishes the saved from the damned is their relation to Christ. This is not St. Thomas' opinion, this is Christ's own clear teaching. What
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Peter Kreeft |
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1034a17
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A God made in the world's image can't save the world.
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Peter Kreeft |
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7ab97cf
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Therefore the prayers we offer in the Mass for the world are far more powerful than the prayers we offer outside the Mass, even if the prayers we offer outside the Mass are the same prayers, and even if there are more of them, and even if they are offered for the same people, or for more people, and even if they are offered with the same faith and devotion on our part, or even with a little more faith and devotion on our part.
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Peter Kreeft |
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0e14925
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We are bored with God because our heartsq do not hunger for God, seek God, love God
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Peter Kreeft |
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d9e60ea
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Because" is ambiguous. It could mean only a subjective motive ("Because I'm paranoid, I believe that man is going to kill me"), or it could mean an objective reason ("Because he's pointing a gun at me and squeezing the trigger, I believe that man is going to kill me"). "We believe in angels because we seek security" is only a subjective, psychological motive. "We believe in angels because God has revealed to us in the Bible that they exist"..
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Peter Kreeft |
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faa57fc
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The only honest reason for anyone ever to believe anything is that it is true, that it is really there.
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Peter Kreeft |
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80d5cec
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The fifties were far from utopia, but we all know they were significantly happier than today. At this point someone will respond by quoting the ultimate law of life: "Ah, but you can't turn back the clock. You can't go home again. You can't stop progress." Yes, you can. This 'ultimate law' is a lie. ...We can stop this false god Progress. But instead we have stopped real progress. Real progress means getting closer to our goal. And the goal..
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Peter Kreeft |
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177918b
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You will have noticed by this time, of course, that St. Thomas almost always solves a dilemma by making a distinction. That is not a quirk of his personality or even of his method, but a reflection of the nature of reality. Reality is complex: it has many dimensions, "there are more things in Heaven and earth than are dreamed of in your [always-simplistic and abstracted] philosophy" (Hamlet). This is the source of nearly all dilemmas and ap..
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Peter Kreeft |
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7538885
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Article 10: Whether symbolic logic is superior to Aristotelian logic for philosophizing? Objection 1 : It seems that it is, for it is a modern development, and would not have become popular if it were not superior. In fact, 99% of all formal logic textbooks in print today use symbolic rather than Aristotelian logic. Objection 2: It is as superior in efficiency to Aristotelian logic as Arabic numerals to Roman numerals, or a computer to an..
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Peter Kreeft |
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a76bbf8
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Belief in angels makes an even bigger difference if you believe in God and pray, because your prayers to God to send angel help will be answered.
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Peter Kreeft |
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301d05a
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Some philosophers
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Peter Kreeft |
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5f0a8d2
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are more like Dog and Cat and Bird than like Lassie and Fido and Spot. Therefore,
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Peter Kreeft |
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da90cfd
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Therefore if we lack the feeling of repentance but nevertheless want to repent; if we choose repentance with the will; we are then repenting, since repentance is that choice of the will.
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Peter Kreeft |
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50c1566
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The most serious religious objection to Purgatory, on the part of Protestants, is that the anticipation of the pains of Purgatory detracts from a happy death ("blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord"--Rev 14:13). But that is like saying that the pains of labor detract from the joy of childbirth. Deferred happiness is still happiness. In"
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Peter Kreeft |
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733b8e6
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Seek and you shall find" does not refer to anything else: long life, conquest of earthly enemies, freedom from pain, disease, death, betrayal, weakness, and so on. But it does refer to God and to that which God is: "God is agape." That is why all who seek it find it. De Caussade says: "If you search for this kingdom where God alone rules, you can be quite sure you will find it" (p. 112)."
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Peter Kreeft |
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8ef3ef6
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Humans are the lowest (least intelligent) of spirits and the highest (most intelligent) of animals. We are rational animals, incarnate minds, the smartest of animals and the stupidest of spirits:
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Peter Kreeft |
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0cb8a0c
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Kennedy: You mean it's not a matter of good deeds versus bad deeds, a kind of moral bookkeeping? Lewis: No indeed. Look at the thief on the cross. He made it to paradise even though his life's red ink certainly outweighed the black. Kennedy:
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Peter Kreeft |
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024a395
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Presumption and despair are opposite deadly sins. We hear a lot about despair, and the need for hope; but what is presumption?
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Peter Kreeft |
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d544187
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Kamo god da ides, s tobom ide i tvoj andeo cuvar. Prije nego sto se spremas nekamo ici, razmisli je li to mjesto prikladno za jednoga andela.
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angels-and-demons
catholicism
christianity
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Peter Kreeft |