Quotes of the Week - 2007-05-13

"Humanity is fickle. They may dress for a morning coronation and never feel the need to change clothes to attend an execution in the afternoon.
So Triumphal Sundays and Good Fridays always fit comfortably into the same April week."
-Calvin Miller
-The Singer

"Institutions have a poor safety record. The guillotines of orthodoxy keep a clean blade that is always honed for heresy. And somewhere near the place where witches die an unseen sign Is posted whose invisible letters clearly read:
WE ARE PROUD TO REPORT
0 WORKING DAYS LOST TO
INJURY OR ACCIDENT.
-THE MANAGEMENT."
-Calvin Miller
-The Singer

"Where do the old gods live?
In temples tended by old, old men.
And the Young gods?
In young men who dream of building temples so that they
Will have something to tend when they are old, old men.
It is better to belive than dream.
For dreams grow old and so do dreamers.
Dreamers die but not believers."
-Calvin Miller
-The Song

"At stoning angels stand apart
And weep above the martyrs' groans.
But demons always grin, and keep
Both hands grasping - filled with stones."
-Calvin Miller
-The Song

"A God too large to walk in human shoes
Has outgrown every home of human use.
And heavy skeptics weighted down with doubt
Can never rise to find what God's about."
-Calvin Miller
-The Finale

"A humanist in choking sea
Called for help presently
Received in full intensity advice.
'You must swim, if you would be.
Rescue breeds dependency;
Self-reliance makes one free.'
'That's nice!'
He said,
And floated easily
And dead."
-Calvin Miller
-The Finale

"Socrates: Just quoting your Scriptures. I suppose I should not insult the academy. It was the invention of my favorite pupil, after all. But when it talks about a grape, I wonder why it has to squeeze out the juice and turn it into a prune."
-Dr. Peter Kreeft
-Socrates Meets Jesus

"1. What priority does the Bible hold in my personal schedule?
2. Am I involved in a church where I will learn truth on which to build my life?
3. If I stumble spiritually, are there people in my life who will hold me to what I say I believe?
4. If I'm overwhelmed with sorrow, will the people in my life comfort me with a godly perspective?
5. When I hear a conversation that contradicts the clear teaching of God's Word, how do I respond? Do I withdraw? Do I ignore it? Do I step up?
6. Am I committed to living the truth? If I'm in a situation that evolves in such a way that it is not pleasing to the Lord, am I committed enough to the truth to speak up for what is right?
7. Am I promoting the Book God wrote among the people I love? Do I talk about what I'm learning? Am I passing along the treasure?
8. Do those who know me agree that God's Word is the source of my wisdom for decisions and choices?
9. Do I have an immovable commitment to God's truth as the primary resource for my whole life? Do I evaluate all other sources of knowledge and wisdom through the grid of Scripture?
10. Which question above do I need to specifically work on? Am I willing for the Spirit of God to show me what I need to change? Will I start today?"
-Dr. James MacDonald
-The Weekly Walk 2007-05-14

"O Mary concieved without sin,
pray for those who turn to you.
Amen."
-Paulo Coelho
-The Witch of Portobello

Meme Booked by 3 - May From Shelly's Bookshelf

Meme Booked by 3 - May From Shelly's Bookshelf She adapted this month's questions from a Newsweek feature.

1. Name up to 3 books you think everyone should read.
The Bible (Modern Translation)
In Conversation With God - Francis Fernandez Carvajal
The Best Things in Life - Peter Kreeft

Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

2. Name up to 3 authors you think everyone should read.
St. Josemaria Escriva (esp. The Way, Furrow and The Forge)
C.S. Lewis (Both Fiction and Nonfiction)
J.F. Powers

Dan Millman
Daniel Quinn
Sven Lindqvist

3.Name up to 3 books no one should read.
The Sea Within - Peter Kreeft
Their Kingdom Come - Robert Hutchinson

Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk
The Forever War - Joe Haldeman

I specifically tag Vehige at Thursday Night Gumbo, and Jim at Real Life Rosary because there answers are always so interesting, and I also tag Keith Little at The Corch. If you want to play leave your answers in the comments or leave a link back to your answers on your blogs. Have fun and thanks to everyone who plays.

I did two different versions of this meme one for my Catholic Blog and one for my General Blog.

(I have linked to my reviews of that book or other books by the same author.)

Catholic Carnival 118

The Carnival is up at Postscripts From The Catholic Spitfire Grill the theme this week is 'Prayers of the Faithful'! Check it out.

Check out the Catholic Carnival submission form complete with screenshots in this post: BlogCarnival.com Submission form.

Or join the Google group to be made aware of call for submissions and when new Carnivals are up and where they are up.

The Catholic Carnival FAQ.

(Next weeks will be hosted here.)

Your Computer Just Died! Don't Panic!

Your Computer Just Died! Don't Panic!

What do you do if your computer dies midterm or starts getting more 'blue screens of death' than used to film 300? It's time to get a new machine. There are many issues to consider when getting a new machine: laptop vs. desktop, Mac vs. PC, if a PC XP vs. Vista and many, many more. In this article we will explore some of these questions and you can journey with me in the process of replacing a seven-year old laptop.

Unfortunately, I went through this trauma last term. It started with a crash from time to time and worked up to my machine rebooting more often than running. So I was desperate for a computer, but not so desperate I ran out and bought the first machine on sale at Future Shop or Staples. Don't Panic! Take a deep breath -- you can survive without a functioning computer for a day or two if need be.

First, talk to your friends and find out what computer store they use. Here in Waterloo, there is a large variety from which to choose. My old laptop was seven year's old and had served me well, but I had not bought a computer or components in a number of years. Seek the advice of people who have purchased recently, or who know computers. Talk to the geeks in your life and ask questions, especially if you're an artsy who doesn't know what the specs on computers mean.

Next, you have to look at your budget, what you can afford or what you are willing to spend. This will greatly affect your decision. If your budget is limited, or funds are at a premium, you eliminate Mac almost from the top. PC's and Windows-based laptops are significantly cheaper in general. You can also get significantly more computing power from a PC over a laptop for the same price. The second advantage, if money is an issue, is PCs upgrade far more easily than either Macs or laptops. Therefore, I had narrowed the decision to a clone PC.

The reason I went with a clone, is that Dell, Compac, HP and some IBMs all require proprietary hardware like an Apple. You have to go back to the original company for parts and work down the read. For a clone PC, you can pick up a Hard Drive or Optical Drive almost anywhere and pop it in to upgrade or expand your computer. Not so with these name brands.

But where to purchase in Waterloo? There are pages of Computer places in the Yellow pages. I started calling around and building quotes online at different sites. PC Waterloo http://pcwaterloo.com/ is convenient, close to campus and used to have the best service in town. Yet a few people warned me off of them because of bad recent service experiences, including a machine not being ready 10 days after the date they were told it would be ready. Also, sometimes it is hard to get service while in PC Waterloo. Second, I check Vision Computers, http://visioncomputersystems.com/ at Philip and Columbia. It is also close to campus and was close in the ballpark for price. Yet the winner in my shopping experience was the Computer Service Depot. http://csdepot.com/. They took the best quote I had, and beat it. Their service was impeccable. Their communication was clear, they compensated when the computer was a day late and were very apologetic. While I was waiting at CSDepot to pick up my new machine, an older couple came in with a tower. They inspected it in front of them, then installed a new power supply, booted the machine and showed them it worked, and only charged for the power supply - not a service charge for 2 minutes to put it in. My respect for them went up immediately. They did not try to up-sell me just for the sake of a bigger sale. The only drawback is that they are on Lodge across from Benny's which is a little further from UW. But I have already sent 2 friends there who were just as happy as I was. I also compared spec for spec machines from a few of the independent resellers in Toronto and CSDepot always came in as the best bang for the buck.

That however does not answer all of our questions. Now that I had a new PC, I had to decide how to run it. At CSDepot they said the cost for various editions of XP or of Vista was the same. I decided to give Vista a try and see what it was about. (I could always install my old version of XP if needed.) I also upgraded to Office 2007 from the old 2000 version I had been running for a while now.

Whenever you upgrade programs or operating systems, there will be changes you like and changes you don't. It is taking me a while to get used to the new version of Office. Having no drop-down menus is pretty sweet; finding where stuff is, is taking some time. Some of the changes in Vista are just 'Eye Candy'. My wife loves the sidebar - I don't use it. Yet overall I am very happy with the upgrade. So far only two small applications will not run on my Vista Machine. One of the things that made this transition easiest is a tool downloaded from the Microsoft site, the Easy Transfer Companion. It is a tool that transfers installed programs from an XP machine to a Vista Machine. It saved hours in transferring about 90% of my installed applications, and only three of them did not work and needed to be reinstalled or upgraded to the newer version.

So I survived my computer dying in the middle of a term, and so can you. So don't panic! Yes - thanks to some friends I now have a new machine and it is very sweet, but that is another story. (You can check it out on my blog here.)

(This is a photo of my laptop and new PC running the Windows Vista Easy Transfer Companion that transfers installed programs from an XP machine to a Vista Machine.)

(This article was written as an op-ed piece that got bumped twice now.)

Socrates Meets Jesus: by Peter Kreeft

Socrates Meets Jesus:
History's Greatest Questioner Confronts the Claims of Christ
Peter Kreeft
InterVaristy Press
ISBN 0830823387

This is another in a series by Kreeft that has Socrates reappearing in a modern day setting to challenge people with what they believe or why the live the way they do. So, much like his other books The Best Things In Life and The Unaborted Socrates, the names of people and places in this book are a series of puns and jokes. In this book, Socrates wakes up from what he assumed was his suicide in the 'Broadener Library at Have It University', which is supposed to be a renowned hub of learning in 'Camp Rich, Massachusetts'. Sound familiar?
It appears that he has been registered at the Have It Divinity School. The characters he interacts with are varied and interesting. The first student he meets is Bertha Broadmind, then Thomas Keptic, Professor Flatland who teaches 'Science and Religion'. Then Socrates encounters Professor Shift who teaches 'Comparative Religions'. Next Socrates encounters the claims of Christ in Professor Fesser's 'Christology' seminar. This is the purpose of the book - to have Socrates encounter the claims of Christ. The rest of the book takes place around these seminar classes.

Kreeft has a very interesting book here, in that he tries to answer the question of what would happen if Socrates of Athens were to reappear today and interact with a modern university crowd. Socrates has not changed much from dying and reappearing somewhere and some time else. He is still the ultimate questioner and his questions will challenge what people believe and why they believe.
The first time I read Kreeft's Socratic style, a book written directly as dialogue, I was not all that enthusiastic about it. But now that I have read a few books in this style, I really enjoy it. It makes the reading of philosophy very quick and painless. That, combined with Socrates method of asking questions, lets you read more serious philosophy in an easier-to-approach method.

Kreeft is known as a great scholar who specializes in apologetics (the defense of the faith), also C.S. Lewis and Socrates. This book brings together two of those passions of his academic life and highlights them in a fun, uncomplicated way. Kreeft has a knack for taking very difficult topics and making them far more approachable.

This is a great book to encounter the claims of Christ and the modern academic setting. Though a little kitschy with all the puns, that just makes it more fun and memorable.

So pick up this book and join history's greatest questioner as he confronts and challenges the claims of Christ and the modern academic environment - especially in religious schools, colleges or seminaries. My recommendation would be to give it a try even if you just want to broaden your knowledge of Christianity or to learn how to ask the right questions to get the answers you are looking for. A great scholar, Dr. Peter Frick, once said, 'Life is not about knowing all the answers but about learning to ask the right questions.' This book will help you learn how to do that. Therefore, I can only say this book is definitely a 'Love It'.

(First Published in Imprint as 'Love It' in the 'Love It / Hate It' book review column 2007-05-04.)

Book by Peter Kreeft:

C. S. Lewis: A Critical Essay (1969)

Love Is Stronger Than Death. 1979.

Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing (1980)

Between Heaven Hell (1982) 

The Unaborted Socrates (1983)

The Best Things In Life (1984)

Yes or No? — Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity (1984)

Making Sense Out of Suffering (1986)

Fundamentals of the Faith, Essays in Christian Apologetics (1988)

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Heaven... But Never Dreamed of Asking (1990)

Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions (1990)

You can understand the Old Testament : a book-by-book guide for Catholics (1990)

Summa of the Summa (1990) 

Three Philosophies of Life (1990) 

Prayer: The Great Conversation (1991)

Back to Virtue (1992) 

Shorter Summa (1993) 

Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal's Pensees (1993)

Your Questions, God's Answers (1994) 

Handbook of Christian Apologetics (with Ronald K. Tacelli) (1994)

C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium (1994) 

Shadow-Lands of C.S. Lewis: The Man Behind the Movie (1994)

Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics (1994)

The Angel and the Ants: Bringing Heaven Closer to Your Daily Life (1994)

Talking to Your Children About Being Catholic (1995) — A treasure trove of ideas

Angels (and Demons): What Do We Really Know About Them? (1995)

Ecumenical Jihad: Ecumenism and the Culture Wars (1996)

The Journey A Spiritual Roadmap For Modern Pilgrims (1996)

The Snakebite Letters Devious Secrets for Subverting Society (1998)

Refutation of Moral Relativism (1999)

Prayer for Beginners (2000)

Catholic Christianity (2001)

Socrates Meets Jesus (1987/2002) 

How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis (2002)

Celebrating Middle Earth: Lord of the Rings (2002) 

Three Approaches to Abortion: a thoughtful and compassionate guide to today's most controversial issue (2002)

Philosophy 101 by Socrates (2002) 

Socrates Meets Machiavelli (2003) 

Socrates Meets Marx (2003) 

The God Who Loves You (2004)

Socratic Logic (2005) 

You Can Understand the Bible (2005) 

Socrates Meets Sartre: Father Of Philosophy Meets The Founder of Existentialism (2005) 

The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (2005)

The Sea Within (2006)

Socrates Meets Descartes (2007) 

The Philosophy of Jesus (2007) 

Pocket Guide to the Meaning of Life (2007)

Before I Go (2007) 

I Surf Therefore I Am (2008)

Because God Is Real: Sixteen Questions, One Answer (2008)

Jesus-Shock (2008)

Socrates Meets Kant (2009) 

If Einstein Had Been a Surfer (2009) 

Between Allah & Jesus: what Christians Can Learn from Muslims (2010)

Socrates Meets Hume (2010) 

An Ocean Full of Angels (2011)

Summa Philosophica (2012) 

Jacob's Ladder (2013) 

Charisms: Visions, Tongues, Healing, etc. (feat. Dave Nevins) (2013) 

Socrates Meets Kierkegaard (2014) 

52 Big Ideas (2020) 

Practical Theology (2014) 

Letters to an Atheist (2014) 

Philosophy 101 by Socrates: An Introduction to Philosophy Via Plato's Apology : (Forty Things Philosophy is According to History's First and Wisest Philosopher (2014)

I Burned for Your Peace: Augustine's Confessions Unpacked (2016)  

How to Be Holy (2016) 

Catholics and Protestants (2017) 

Between One Faith and Another (2017) 

Forty Reasons I am a Catholic (2018)

Doors in the Walls of the World (2018) 

The Platonic Tradition (2018) 

Socrates' Children, 4 vols. (2019) 

How To Destroy Western Civilization And Other Ideas From The Cultural Abyss (2021)

The Greatest Philosopher Who Ever Lived (2021)

Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings 3 vols. (2023)

What Would Socrates Say? (2024) 

…

Contributed to:

Beautiful Eucharist

...

Articles That Mention Kreeft:
Opus Dei
Opus Dei Part II
Catholic Catechism Dialogue blog
4 Resources

...

 

Articles That Mention Kreeft:

Opus Dei
Opus Dei Part II
Catholic Catechism Dialogue blog
4 Resources

The Sea Within by: Peter Kreeft

The Sea Within:
Waves and the Meaning of All Things
Peter Kreeft
St. Augustine's Press
ISBN 1587317575

I am usually a big fan of Dr. Peter Kreeft, yet this book not only left me flat, it left me baffled at why Kreeft would even write it. Dr. Kreeft is a professor of Philosophy at Boston College and is the author of nearly 60 books. Being a fan, I have read many of them, and this is the first to leave a sour taste in my mouth, or should I say a sour thought in my mind.

It is well known that Kreeft, even at his age, is an avid surfer. In fact it has been said he takes some speaking engagements just for the opportunity to surf. It was strange reading a 70-year-old man talking about the sea having orgasms and the sea as mother and child. For a man who has built a career as a Christian apologist, as a convert to Catholicism who defends the faith, this book reads as if he spent too many days in the sun at the beach and has embraced a naturalistic religion or 'spirituality' of nature not fitting with his body of previous work.

The advance promotions I encountered about this book made it sound like a mystical journey with Peter Kreeft, and to be honest that sounded really cool. However it ended up being a series of ramblings that tried to appeal to everyone. Kreeft uses terms like 'Orenda', an Iroquois term, or 'Toa', then the 'Sea as Koan', The 'Third Eye' and others. What do these terms have to do with the sea or Christianity?

It should be noted that Kreeft, for all his writing production, has published only one article in a peer-reviewed journal. "Zen In Heidegger's 'Gelassenheit'" was published in 1971 in the International Philosophical Quarterly, the philosophy journal published by Fordham University. So maybe all the hype and popularity of him as an author is not all that warranted.

My only personal encounter with Kreeft was via e-mail last year when I was trying to verify a fact in one of his other books. His response was short, brisk and arrogant. Maybe the great man was too busy writing this tripe to respond to a writer from a University Newspaper. Of course when you charge $1500 USD a day for speaking engagements, plus travel and board, maybe you think you can get away with almost anything. I once heard of a Led Zeppelin quote, about Zepellen 4 AKA 'Coda', that the reason the band's name was not on the album's original release was because with their popularity they believed they could crap on a recording and it would sell because it was Zeppelin. That is how I feel about this book. This book reads like a personal indulgence into ramblings of an old man, and though many will criticize me for my critique of Kreeft, I cannot recommend this book to you in good conscience.

(First Published in Imprint 2007-05-04 as 'Hate It' in the 'Love it / Hate It' Book review column.)

Book by Peter Kreeft:

C. S. Lewis: A Critical Essay (1969)

Love Is Stronger Than Death. 1979.

Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing (1980)

Between Heaven Hell (1982) 

The Unaborted Socrates (1983)

The Best Things In Life (1984)

Yes or No? — Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity (1984)

Making Sense Out of Suffering (1986)

Fundamentals of the Faith, Essays in Christian Apologetics (1988)

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Heaven... But Never Dreamed of Asking (1990)

Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions (1990)

You can understand the Old Testament : a book-by-book guide for Catholics (1990)

Summa of the Summa (1990) 

Three Philosophies of Life (1990) 

Prayer: The Great Conversation (1991)

Back to Virtue (1992) 

Shorter Summa (1993) 

Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal's Pensees (1993)

Your Questions, God's Answers (1994) 

Handbook of Christian Apologetics (with Ronald K. Tacelli) (1994)

C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium (1994) 

Shadow-Lands of C.S. Lewis: The Man Behind the Movie (1994)

Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics (1994)

The Angel and the Ants: Bringing Heaven Closer to Your Daily Life (1994)

Talking to Your Children About Being Catholic (1995) — A treasure trove of ideas

Angels (and Demons): What Do We Really Know About Them? (1995)

Ecumenical Jihad: Ecumenism and the Culture Wars (1996)

The Journey A Spiritual Roadmap For Modern Pilgrims (1996)

The Snakebite Letters Devious Secrets for Subverting Society (1998)

Refutation of Moral Relativism (1999)

Prayer for Beginners (2000)

Catholic Christianity (2001)

Socrates Meets Jesus (1987/2002) 

How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis (2002)

Celebrating Middle Earth: Lord of the Rings (2002) 

Three Approaches to Abortion: a thoughtful and compassionate guide to today's most controversial issue (2002)

Philosophy 101 by Socrates (2002) 

Socrates Meets Machiavelli (2003) 

Socrates Meets Marx (2003) 

The God Who Loves You (2004)

Socratic Logic (2005) 

You Can Understand the Bible (2005) 

Socrates Meets Sartre: Father Of Philosophy Meets The Founder of Existentialism (2005) 

The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (2005)

The Sea Within (2006)

Socrates Meets Descartes (2007) 

The Philosophy of Jesus (2007) 

Pocket Guide to the Meaning of Life (2007)

Before I Go (2007) 

I Surf Therefore I Am (2008)

Because God Is Real: Sixteen Questions, One Answer (2008)

Jesus-Shock (2008)

Socrates Meets Kant (2009) 

If Einstein Had Been a Surfer (2009) 

Between Allah & Jesus: what Christians Can Learn from Muslims (2010)

Socrates Meets Hume (2010) 

An Ocean Full of Angels (2011)

Summa Philosophica (2012) 

Jacob's Ladder (2013) 

Charisms: Visions, Tongues, Healing, etc. (feat. Dave Nevins) (2013) 

Socrates Meets Kierkegaard (2014) 

52 Big Ideas (2020) 

Practical Theology (2014) 

Letters to an Atheist (2014) 

Philosophy 101 by Socrates: An Introduction to Philosophy Via Plato's Apology : (Forty Things Philosophy is According to History's First and Wisest Philosopher (2014)

I Burned for Your Peace: Augustine's Confessions Unpacked (2016)  

How to Be Holy (2016) 

Catholics and Protestants (2017) 

Between One Faith and Another (2017) 

Forty Reasons I am a Catholic (2018)

Doors in the Walls of the World (2018) 

The Platonic Tradition (2018) 

Socrates' Children, 4 vols. (2019) 

How To Destroy Western Civilization And Other Ideas From The Cultural Abyss (2021)

The Greatest Philosopher Who Ever Lived (2021)

Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings 3 vols. (2023)

What Would Socrates Say? (2024) 

…

Contributed to:

Beautiful Eucharist

...

Articles That Mention Kreeft:
Opus Dei
Opus Dei Part II
Catholic Catechism Dialogue blog
4 Resources

...

 

Articles That Mention Kreeft:
Opus Dei
Opus Dei Part II
Catholic Catechism Dialogue blog
4 Resources

Catholic Carnival 117

The Carnival is up at 50 Days After the theme this week is 'St. Joseph the Worker'! Check it out.

Check out the Catholic Carnival submission form complete with screenshots in this post: BlogCarnival.com Submission form.

Or join the Google group to be made aware of call for submissions and when new Carnivals are up and where they are up.

The Catholic Carnival FAQ.