JOHN MACDONALD
STAFF WRITER
Renowned philosopher Peter Kreeft received a standing ovation from a nearly packed Gentile Gallery on Friday following his presentation on the 10 most certain principles of modern philosophy.
Kreeft, a professor of philosophy at Boston College and author of over 80 books, spoke on many aspects of God, the Church and philosophy’s contribution to each. Through it all, Kreeft kept everything grounded with a healthy dose of humor.
“There are dozens of reasons for not being an atheist,” Kreeft said. “In order to be an atheist, you have to be a snob. An atheist is somebody who thinks that the vast majority of all human beings, both educated and uneducated, … (have) been not only wrong, but insane!”
Kreeft explained that people should not be deterred from Christianity by suffering. “If you’re close to God … and if you want to remain faithful (to him), I guarantee you the devil’s going to hate you,” Kreeft said. “If there’s no trouble in your life, you’re not that close to Christ.”
Kreeft also called students to remember that Jesus is the true reason for salvation. “What would you say if you died tonight and you met God, and he asked you why he should let you into heaven?” Kreef said. “Less than five percent (of students) even mention Jesus. Most of them begin with the word ‘I’.”
Before the talk even began, Kreeft’s jovial personality was displayed through his expert table tennis skills. He announced during his presentation that he had “won all four” of his games against various students from the Veritas Society.
As if this wasn’t impressive enough, Kreeft dabbled in other games during his visit. “He won (a) game of chess pretty promptly,” said junior Clement Harrold, president of the Veritas Society.
Many students, like freshman John Wuller, were enthusiastic about the talk. “It was incredible to have Peter Kreeft here,” Wuller said.
Senior Joseph Cherney appreciated Kreeft’s sense of humor. “Oftentimes … philosophers can be boring,” Cherney said. “Dr. Kreeft is not. If you’ve read (his) books, (this was) essentially like getting a living book.”
The presentation was arranged by Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Veritas Society as a part of the university’s Friday Academic Lecture Series.