Peter Kreeft Lecture at Biola

Tonight Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christian philosopher, spoke tonight on the Culture of Death and the Culture of Life. You can check out his personal website here. Professor Kreeft lectured on the two distinct cultures that inhabit society. The culture of death is the one that is obviously prevailing in our current society.

Kreeft spoke from a distinctly Roman Catholic perspective, which was very interesting giving that Biola is a protestant school. But he did not shy away from his Catholicism. I like that because so many time we are afraid to state our true position for fear of offending someone.

I could also tell that Kreeft truly believed in the pro-life position. He believes that the only way to conquer this culture of death is through Christ. Pope John Paul's "new evangelization" of showing Christ to the culture of death is the way to proceed. Basically, that means change "sinners into saints." It was very interesting to hear this noted Christian philosopher speak in such frankly Christian terms. I was expecting more of a philosophical treatise on life and its importance, but Kreeft took a decidely pastoral stance.

He knew he was speaking to the choir, and use that to his advantage. He quoted liberally from the Bible, and challenged the audience in a rhetorical way to "look it up."

One issue that was real interesting was his use of "white magic" vs. "black magic." Kreeft was in no way shy about the need for a supernatural answer to this war of cultures. We can not defeat this culture of death; it must be defeated from above. "Exocist are needed" was a memorable statement, yet unpacked.

Another interesting topic was this culture of death desire to have immortality. There is a concerted effort in society to live longer and longer. Kreeft called it the desire to create heaven on earth. But instead creates a living hell.

Selfless love and contemplation were two themes that Kreeft stressed to the audience. First, love of others is an imperative. Quoting C.S.Lewis we need to put first things first and ourselves a far second. Second, living a life of contemplation is important to defeating this culture of death. We need to contemplate God more and turn towards him. Bring up contemplation seem to really chime in with the spiritual formation movement.

Part of me agrees that sometimes we always feel like we have to 'do'. But, in our hurried motion we miss God. God tells us to first seek His kingdom and righteousness, but I think we are to busy seeking other kingdoms.

The night was wrapped up with questions from the audience.