Peter Kreeft: Back to Virtue

Traditional Moral Wisdom for Modern Moral Confusion

Foreword by Russell Kirk

Ignatius Press, 1992     Amazon

Back Cover:

We have reduced all virtues to one: being nice. And, we measure Jesus by our standard instead of measuring our standard by Him. For the Christian, explains author Peter Kreeft, being virtuous is not a means to the end of pleasure, comfort and happiness. Virtue, he reminds us, is a word that means “manly strength.”

But how do we know when we are being meek – or just cowardly? When is our anger righteous – and when is it a sin? What is the difference between being virtuous – and merely ethical? Back to Virtue clears up these and countless other questions that beset Christians today. Kreeft not only summarizes scriptural and theological wisdom on leading a holy life, he contrasts Christian virtue with other ethical systems. He applies traditional moral theology to present-day dilemmas such as abortion and nuclear armament.

Kreeft restores to us what was once common knowledge: the Seven Deadly Sins have an antidote in the Beatitudes. By setting up a close contrast between the two sets of behaviors, Kreeft offers proven guidance in the often bewildering process of discerning right from wrong as we move into the questionable mores of the twenty-first century. He provides a road map of virtue, a map for our earthly pilgrimage synthesized from the accumulated wisdom of centuries of Christians, from Paul and the early Church Fathers through C.S. Lewis.

“Back to Virtue promises to establish Peter Kreeft as the Sage of our time. Never has classical virtue theory enjoyed such an advocate…witty, wise and winsome…his defense of sanctified common sense is both informed and infectious. Indeed, this is vintage Kreeft. From debunking ‘values clarification’ to expounding the meaning of hope (‘the forgotten virtue’), Kreeft is always lucid and utterly incapable of composing an incoherent sentence. Indeed, I cannot think of a more contagious Christian thinker at the present time, nor of a book that is so readable and reasonable.”  Scott Hahn, University of Steubenville

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Wikipedia peterkreeft.com