Peter Kreeft writes about various subjects, mostly leaning towards Philosophy and Religion, but also has monumental book on logic called Socratic Logic, that everyone should read, or at least ponder reading, for everyone would benefit immensely from it.

In full disclosure, have only read myself a handful of philosophy books by Kreeft, as well as the logic book noted above; had not delved into any of Kreef’s religious/spiritual pieces, so this was an intriguing transition in many ways. As someone who is no longer religious by mainstream standards, but does strive for a spiritual life nonetheless, this was an intriguing foray into something divergent for me.

Why read a book that’s based around Religion, if am not practicing it? Excellent question.

For starters, Peter Kreeft has earned my respect in many ways. Kreeft has always been sensible, logical, clear, concise, and loves to keep things simple. Another notable point is that, although he often quotes from the Bible and other religious sources in his books, he’s never dogmatic about it; definitely can appreciate this, because many times people push religion in such a way that it becomes a major issue. Also, how else are individuals to understand what religion – or components of it – might mean to others, if they don’t study it themselves at some point, even at a cursory glance?

The other major element was that, if my suspicion was correct, the book would be about how to live a better life – a high quality life in a spiritual sense. This made reading the book a no-brainer per se.

Given all those reasons, and more, How To Be Holy seemed like a natural shift for myself that would venture into a different subject area that’s always been intriguing, but usually comes with laden in dogma.

In his usual way, Kreeft sets out up the mountain of meaning in search everything it takes to reach the highest peak of holiness, that of attaining sainthood. Kreeft employs insights drawn from many of the best examples available in scripture, from saints, and from philosophers in order to show not only what being holy is about, but also how to go about living in such a pious manner.

Kreeft, ever the open minded individual, even draws from Buddhism, Islam and such, not only to bolster his premise, but to show the commonalities that these ideologies might have with western ones. This is refreshing because, again, as one of my reasons mentioned earlier, how are individuals to understand what people from other faiths learn, go through, or are pondering if one is ignorant to their writings and their ideas?

This particular book offers many pearls of wisdom, and regardless of your faith, or whether you follow religion or not, this information is worth ruminating upon at length.

How much an individual gets from it will obviously be up to them, but at least Peter Kreeft has shown individuals a path that may be taken if individuals so choose, in seeking a more meaningful life, a more spiritual life, a more devoted life. ( )