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Back to Virtue: Traditional Moral Wisdom for Modern Moral Confusion
Kreeft issues a clear call to all Christians to get back to their active pursuit of real virtue in their daily lives. This in-depth analysis of the meaning of the virtues and their connection with the Beatitudes also summarizes a scriptural and theological wisdom on leading a holy life. Includes the accumulated wisdom of St. Paul, C.S. Lewis, and many others.
195 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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1431 people want to read
About the author
Peter Kreeft
191 books1,057 followersPeter Kreeft is an American philosopher and prolific author of over eighty books on Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics. A convert from Protestantism to Catholicism, his journey was shaped by his study of Church history, Gothic architecture, and Thomistic thought. He earned his BA from Calvin College, an MA and PhD from Fordham University, and pursued further studies at Yale. Since 1965, he has taught philosophy at Boston College and also at The King’s College. Kreeft is known for formulating “Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God” with Ronald K. Tacelli, featured in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics. A strong advocate for unity among Christians, he emphasizes shared belief in Christ over denominational differences.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 31, 2022
The cover is dated and the title is sort of boring, but this book is phenomenal. I have not read much of Kraft besides this, so I was floored by his writing. It is pointed, clear, beautiful, and even funny at points. He is unapologetic about biblical truth and this book is packed with wisdom.
December 8, 2021
I first read this when our family visited my brother and his family who were stationed in Germany. I vividly remember suffering jet lag and picking up this book in the deep hours of the night. I puzzled over the diagrams and very slowly took in all that Peter Kreeft was explaining about the virtues, the vices, philosophy, and where Christianity sits in relationship to the rest of the world.
That was in the summer of 2001 when I'd been Catholic for one year. The concepts were brand new in understanding how to live my faith and seeing that there were deeper layers to delve.
Here I am, twenty years later, rereading it for the first time and finding it is still very good. I now know more about the virtues, vices, and those layers. However, I find Kreeft brings up things that I can now focus on more fully precisely because I have the grounding of that foundation which he helped form. It is still one of his very best books.
Definitely recommended!
That was in the summer of 2001 when I'd been Catholic for one year. The concepts were brand new in understanding how to live my faith and seeing that there were deeper layers to delve.
Here I am, twenty years later, rereading it for the first time and finding it is still very good. I now know more about the virtues, vices, and those layers. However, I find Kreeft brings up things that I can now focus on more fully precisely because I have the grounding of that foundation which he helped form. It is still one of his very best books.
Definitely recommended!
November 19, 2010
I found the back quotation on this edition very provocative, "We have reduced all virtues to one: being nice. And, we measure Jesus by our standard instead of measuring our standard by Him. - Author Peter Kreeft (a professor of philosophy at Boston College and at the King's College in New York City; a regular contributor to several Christian publications, in wide demand as a speaker at conferences, and the author of over 59 books says his website).
The introduction also states, "A book about virtues and vices? How quaint and out-of-date! I reply that a civilization with such a notion of virtues and vices will soon itself be quaint and out of date. The book is reasonably short, 195 pages, but packed full of "things to think about." For example, the difference in Greek and Hebrew thinking: For the Greek, head judges heart (knowledge directs will) ... For the Jew, heart judges head (doing illuminates knowledge).
The author offers levels of virtues, as understood by the early church (the four cardinal virtues are justice, wisdom, moderation and courage; the three theological virtues are faith, love, and hope), which is all new to me, and disturbingly clear to him. Then the author plunges into examining how the beatitudes confront the seven deadly sins - all of which is a new framework for me.
Being a professor of philosophy, there is a lot of logic presented, if God is such, He is not other, in such a confident fashion that I was left hoping for a bit more gray now and then. In fact that was my emerging problem with the presentation, so often there would be a statement and the antithesis. In fact. Instead of analogies, I read antilogies, converses, etc. (Must come with being a philosophy teacher.)
I think this would make for a more interesting read within a small group, though it would take an unusual crowd of committed folks to stick through such a lot of material, densely packed and packaged in an unfamiliar terms.
The introduction also states, "A book about virtues and vices? How quaint and out-of-date! I reply that a civilization with such a notion of virtues and vices will soon itself be quaint and out of date. The book is reasonably short, 195 pages, but packed full of "things to think about." For example, the difference in Greek and Hebrew thinking: For the Greek, head judges heart (knowledge directs will) ... For the Jew, heart judges head (doing illuminates knowledge).
The author offers levels of virtues, as understood by the early church (the four cardinal virtues are justice, wisdom, moderation and courage; the three theological virtues are faith, love, and hope), which is all new to me, and disturbingly clear to him. Then the author plunges into examining how the beatitudes confront the seven deadly sins - all of which is a new framework for me.
Being a professor of philosophy, there is a lot of logic presented, if God is such, He is not other, in such a confident fashion that I was left hoping for a bit more gray now and then. In fact that was my emerging problem with the presentation, so often there would be a statement and the antithesis. In fact. Instead of analogies, I read antilogies, converses, etc. (Must come with being a philosophy teacher.)
I think this would make for a more interesting read within a small group, though it would take an unusual crowd of committed folks to stick through such a lot of material, densely packed and packaged in an unfamiliar terms.
May 17, 2010
Good book. I should reread this again now-but probably will move ahead with my list and revisit at a later time. Traditional Moral Wisdom for Modern Moral Confusion is the subtitle. This book talks about the Seven Deadly Sins and their antidote from the Beatitudes.
I particularly liked the quote from Peter Kreeft, "The world will be won when Yeats' lines become no longer true: The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity." A great call for Christians to stop being lukewarm - neither hot nor cold. He quotes well-known philosophers and great saints as well as the bible throughout the book. Many jewels in this book to be discovered or rediscovered.
I particularly liked the quote from Peter Kreeft, "The world will be won when Yeats' lines become no longer true: The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity." A great call for Christians to stop being lukewarm - neither hot nor cold. He quotes well-known philosophers and great saints as well as the bible throughout the book. Many jewels in this book to be discovered or rediscovered.
September 9, 2008
Book group book...reads like notes from a Philosophy 101 lecture series. Lots of sweeping generalizations, very little support for them. Some nice tables outlining key points in ethical history, though again little explanation for some of the categories. Nice exposition on some of the virtues/beatitudes, like mercy.
Written in the 1980s as if nuclear war is an imminent threat, so it feels outdated.
And the bits about women are hopelessly outdated, even offensive, as he writes about submissiveness. Here's what would have made me throw the book across the room, except I was in a public space:
"Women are not weaker. But they are more submissive. The physical fact that a woman is on the receiving end in intercourse, coupled with the fact that the physical is the image of the spiritual (unless we are ghosts in machines rather than psychosomatic unities), leads logically to the conclusion that a woman's spirit, like her body, is by nature more submissive than a man's....(and he goes on to say that submissiveness is not a sign of weakness, because Jesus was submissive...) (p. 141)
Written in the 1980s as if nuclear war is an imminent threat, so it feels outdated.
And the bits about women are hopelessly outdated, even offensive, as he writes about submissiveness. Here's what would have made me throw the book across the room, except I was in a public space:
"Women are not weaker. But they are more submissive. The physical fact that a woman is on the receiving end in intercourse, coupled with the fact that the physical is the image of the spiritual (unless we are ghosts in machines rather than psychosomatic unities), leads logically to the conclusion that a woman's spirit, like her body, is by nature more submissive than a man's....(and he goes on to say that submissiveness is not a sign of weakness, because Jesus was submissive...) (p. 141)
September 18, 2015
Peter Kreeft, as expected, gives us in this book a wonderful explanation of Virtue and Beatitude in relation to Vice and Misery within Our Lives, toward Our Neighbor, and toward God. The first part looks to explain concepts and give some history regarding this matter, from all the world's wisdom traditions up to our time. The second part looks to explain The Cardinal Virtues (and their opposing vices), The Theological Virtues (and debunk their opposition), and finally The 8 Beatitudes (and their opposing vices). This book is small and easy to read, if you read but a chapter a day and meditated on it significance it could change your life and inspire the reader to greater heights as it enlightens the mind.
January 15, 2020
This is one that will need a second reading to really be fully appreciated. The richness of each page reminds me much of C S Lewis--and indeed Lewis is quoted on every third page. Kreeft is prescribing the needed medicine for a culture broken and ill, and in doing so he encourages us look past mere lists of rules and recover the ancient Christian understanding of Virtue. In turn he deals with what virtue is, the three theological virtues (faith, hope, and charity), and four cardinal virtues (justice, wisdom, courage, and moderation), and shows how the beatitudes are the antidote to the seven deadly sins. Aquinas features almost as much as Lewis.
In all Kreeft is witty and winsome, and he admirably succeeds in showing the beauty of virtue and the blandness of vice.
Loved it.
In all Kreeft is witty and winsome, and he admirably succeeds in showing the beauty of virtue and the blandness of vice.
Loved it.
February 7, 2014
My excitement to read this book faded pretty quickly. I have appreciated many other books by Kreeft, but this one demonstrated neither his clever wit or insightful questions. Most of the book was spent connecting the Seven Deadly Sins with seven corresponding Beatitudes. He presented the Beatitudes as prescriptions for conquering the deadly sins and, in consequence, establishing virtues within us. His very Catholic sense (he is Roman Catholic and a philosophy professor at Boston College) of sin--venial and mortal--pushed me into disagreement. Lest my Evangelical friends despair, Kreeft over and over commended a devotion to Jesus as the ultimate measure to conquer sin and live free.
November 9, 2008
This is one of the best books I've read to understand the value of virtue. To the average American, virtue has little value and is a "sweet" but old concept. The truth is much more complex and worthy than a first glance would suggest and this book spells out those ideas.
April 18, 2013
One of the best books I've read in years.
August 5, 2020
A hefty read, but worth it. If you really chew on this work and not just skim it, it will change you... for the better.
April 27, 2025
Very interesting read! I really enjoyed the history in the beginning of how the world has fallen from Christ. Overall nothing too earthshattering for someone who has been somewhat formed in the virtues, but Kreeft has some funny lines and its easy to understand. I think this is a really good introduction to virtues. (read it in Catholic Morality class with Fr. Andrew)
August 27, 2011
After reading this book (being the first Kreeft book I have read), I know I would like to read more.
Kreeft is obviously well read in Socratic narrative and though, as well as Aquinas, Pascal, Plato, and C.S. Lewis (whose forces he seeks to ally himself with often in this book. The opening chapters of this book drew me in immediately. This book is desperately needed in today's society. Kreeft comes off very clear, and somewhat straightforward.
Two complaints I have with it are: 1) Once Kreeft begins his listing of the Seven Deadly Sins, he begins to lose momentum. It wasn't until Anger that he pulled me in again. (Anger, Sloth, and Lust were amazingly thought out and written.). 2) His biblical exegesis. More than a few times Kreeft gives biblical verses and follows with an exegesis of the verse that is pretty inaccurate. I will say even though his exegesis is wrong at times, he does draw logical moral conclusions from scripture which gives good food for thought.
Kreeft is obviously well read in Socratic narrative and though, as well as Aquinas, Pascal, Plato, and C.S. Lewis (whose forces he seeks to ally himself with often in this book. The opening chapters of this book drew me in immediately. This book is desperately needed in today's society. Kreeft comes off very clear, and somewhat straightforward.
Two complaints I have with it are: 1) Once Kreeft begins his listing of the Seven Deadly Sins, he begins to lose momentum. It wasn't until Anger that he pulled me in again. (Anger, Sloth, and Lust were amazingly thought out and written.). 2) His biblical exegesis. More than a few times Kreeft gives biblical verses and follows with an exegesis of the verse that is pretty inaccurate. I will say even though his exegesis is wrong at times, he does draw logical moral conclusions from scripture which gives good food for thought.
April 29, 2008
Not my favorite Kreeft book, I think he is most at home in philosophy. That said, I still really enjoyed this one. It's good timing that the Catholic Church just came out with 7 Modern Deadly Sins, though I think all sins are deadly(some are just more obvious to us as such) Virtue is a wonderful and romantic concept, which gets laughed at and or seen as impossible too often today. It's a serious defense of the word and how it needs to be attempted, especially in the modern day, in which vices can cause more devastation than ever before. Of course I love that he defends its practice and does so through Scripture, holding up Love, Grace, Life and God. Not bad at all.
August 25, 2012
I really like the overarching idea of the book, how it drives through the cardinal virtues to the beatitudes, all the while contrasting them to the cardinal sins and woes, respectively. Each one is described in enough detail that it made me realize I do not even know how to recognize my sinfulness or danger appropriately. At times I got bogged down, and I really wanted to takes notes through the entire thing. Bringing it all together and knowing this in detail I think would be a very worthwhile endeavor. I really must get it again (a third time) and read it as my primary material.
August 13, 2015
Peter Kreeft does show that the reformist where misguided in rejecting the cardinal virtues of Plato and Aristotle, just as we would be misguided by rejecting Newtonian Physics after learning Einstein's theories of relativity. You need to understand Newton in order to understand Einstein and you need to have a basic knowledge of logic and virtues in order to understand the Bible. However, he does not show exactly how the Cardinal virtues are derived from logic alone. Why only 4? Why isn't love a more important virtue than wisdom, fortitude, justice or temperance?
August 6, 2010
Kreeft goes through the Seven Deadly Sins and matches them up with Beatitudes from the Sermon the Mount. Some of these fits feel rather forced and he seems bizarrely fixated on nuclear annihilation. Besides that however I found some good thoughts in the book such as Sloth doesn't mean 'laziness' per se, some laziness is actually good; people can be frenetically busy and still slothful- toward God.
August 23, 2013
Confronted by a sense of apathy after asking "Now that we have the bomb and can blow our world up, what do we do now?" Kreeft embarks on one of the best meditations on the Beatitudes that I have ever read. Any Christian seeking to re-establish their moral compass will be pleasantly surprised to read this faith-based analysis by a hard-line Catholic professor.
January 28, 2013
"Most of us aren't good enough to be persecuted much by the paganism of one of the most Christian nations in the world. Since most of us are lukewarm, we are therefore safe, for the world persecutes mainly great saints and great sinners. Both threaten its comfortable compromises."
January 29, 2013
Peter Kreeft is brilliant. I love the way he thinks and writes. His writing is so insightful and yet he writes in a way that a guy like me can understand him. Only the 2nd Philosophy Professor in my life I have understood. (The first was Dallas Willard.) Definitely worth a read.
October 28, 2012
I like the way Peter Kreeft explained the virtues and vices in great detail. I think we have a tendency to look at both with simplicity and not understand their true meaning. This book helped me examine myself thoroughly for reconciliation.
January 5, 2014
Great stuff. As Scott Hahn said, this book is "Vintage Kreeft". Yet, as relevant today as ever.
Great treatment of the Virtues and Beatitudes. Good preaching material or material for a class or study of the virtuous life.
Great treatment of the Virtues and Beatitudes. Good preaching material or material for a class or study of the virtuous life.
January 24, 2011
An amazing book. A good present for all, but especially the young.
August 18, 2012
I didn't read the whole thing. The first 2 chapters, though philosophical and somewhat hard to read, were interesting. After that, I lost interest.
October 19, 2022
Dr Kreeft gives a surgically precise analysis of what happens to a man and civilisation that has done away with virtue. And provides much consolation through his prescription of the cure for the sickness that befalls us when we invite vice into our lives.
October 16, 2025
One of the best books I’ve ever read on common sense moral behavior. Written over 30 years ago, but instead of being outdated, it may be more relevant today than ever before. It’s the second time I’ve read this book and it certainly won’t be the last.
July 15, 2020
Excellent, thought-provoking book on the deadly sins and how the Beatitudes address each.
Want to read
March 19, 2021I read a sample and it was great. I really want to read this.
August 5, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. It helped me understand more of Virtues and understanding why we Christians need to practice it in our everyday lives.
November 24, 2025
A great call to practice the traditional virtues, grounded in the beatitudes, to fight against the old vices that still crop up in the world today.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews