Ha!: A Christian Philosophy of Humor

by Peter Kreeft

"This book almost didn't exist. I was about to write a serious, heavy book entitled How To Save Western Civilization, as a sequel to my book How To Destroy Western Civilization and Other Ideas from the Cultural Abyss. But writing it was not making me happy, and reading it was not going to make anybody else happy either. And then I stopped just long enough for my guardian angel to squeeze through that tiny window of opportunity that I had opened up by my silence and to whisper this commonsense question into my "Why not make them happy instead?" (Angels specialize in common sense.) 

I started Western civilization is neither healthy, happy, nor holy. Humor is all three. Humor is not only holy, it's Heavenly. And if you are surprised to be told that humor is Heavenly, you need to read this book because you reveal your misunderstanding of both humor and Heaven. If you ask, 'Is there laughter in Heaven?' my answer 'You can't be serious!'" 

Genres: Philosophy, Humor, Faith, Christian, Theology, Nonfiction

100 pages, Paperback

Published November 18, 2022

About the author

Peter 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.

Reviews

[Justine Olawsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Kreeft is such a treasure. He is so jolly and funny and thoughtful and wise. Of course, he would choose to write a book on a Christian philosophy of humor at a time when much of the Western world (formerly known as Christendom) has lost not only its sense of humor but much of its ever-loving mind. And, of course, he would write it in the most charming, least jargon-filled way possible and make half of the book a compendium of his favorite jokes. Because our good Doctor of Philosophy knows that this unwise generation can only be healed by the judicious application of rightly-ordered laughter. Dr. Kreeft's own giggles and guffaws bubble up on just about every page.

While writing a follow-up to his previous work How to Destroy Western Civilization and Other Ideas from the Cultural Abyss, Kreeft realized that not only was his plan to save Western Civilization not making him happy in the writing of it, it would not make anyone else happy to read it. A nudge from his guardian angel led to this musing: "Western civilization is neither healthy, happy, nor holy. Humor is all three." And so, a detour was born into a happier train of thought - and one that still serves a salvific purpose, infusing a dying culture with levity - fitting it to "fly up and float about in the heavens" ... for "it is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity," as G.K. Chesterton pointed out to us in Orthodoxy.

Speaking of GKC, no learned man writing on Christian humor could help but infuse the happy spirit of Chesterton thoroughly into his work, and Kreeft is certainly a learned man. Any partnership with Kreeft and Chesterton is sure to delight, and Ha! did just that. My only fault with the book is that I wished it had been twice as long. But, the best jokes are often short zingers that make you catch your breath a little before letting it out again with chiming notes of laughter, so Kreeft knew what he was up to. Enjoy!

[Trevor Atwood]

I love Peter Kreeft. Probably my favorite Catholic.

This was definitely worth the read if only to here a man in his 80s who is a distinguished philosopher, intelligent well beyond my cognitive abilities…his not take himself seriously.

Some good thoughts on what humor is and should be that I will return to in the future.

Also- must be understood- these are full of old man jokes. Like jokes that only old men think are funny. But, knowing that- it’s charming. Kreeft is unafraid to embarrass himself- and that childlike ability reminds me of the Kingdom of God.

I hope to be an old man that doesn’t take himself too seriously because of my thoughts about God.

[Noah Senthil · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Humor will save the world.”

I love Peter Kreeft. Very few philosophers would be bold enough to write a book like this, half of which is just his favorite jokes.

[Chris Finke · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s like this book was written specifically for me

[Paul Dubuc · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was OK. I expected more insightfulness about humor and better jokes. Take the author's advice and read Chesterton instead.

[Ronald J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes a book comes along that is so profound it simply bends your mind. That’s this book. The philosophy of humor doesn’t sound very exciting. After all, most of us would rather eat the meal than read the cookbook, and nowhere is that more true than in reading about humor and laughing at a great joke or comedian. But this book is an excellent balance of doing both. Humor is not only holy, it’s Heavenly says the author, a professor of philosophy. We sink into quicksand when we don’t take ourselves lightly. According to the author: “seven of the greatest and most mysterious things in life are also the seven that make us the happiest:

1. beauty 2. mystical experience 3. romantic love 4. music 5. humor 6. sanctity, i.e. genuinely self-forgetful altruistic love 7. wonder and worship in adoration of God”

There’s a chapter for each of the seven that provide tremendous insight on how important humor is to the human experience. “What verges on sacrilege is to deny God’s sense of humor, not to affirm it. There’s so much profundity in this little book I can’t do it justice without copying the whole thing, so I’ll just let you discover it on your own. The second half of the book contains some jokes, broken out by category, many of which will give you a good belly laugh. I enthusiastically recommend reading this book.

[Paul Sand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book via a laudatory National Review review by Sarah Schutte. And even though I am a very-fallen-away Lutheran, I braved the word "Christian" in the subtitle. The author, Peter Kreeft, is a philosophy professor at Boston College. (Probably not coincidentally, I obtained the book via Interlibrary Loan from BC.)

It's short, a mere 93 pages. And very readable. Kreeft is unafraid to be funny in a book about humor. In an early chapter about the relation between humor and health:

[Humor] is a cause of physical health. It sends good chemicals into the brain. It makes you happy, and that makes you healthy. (Soul moves body as well as vice versa.) All other things being equal, the longer you laugh, the longer you live. If we never stopped laughing, we'd never die. OK, that's not quite true, but at least we'd die laughing.

Kreeft's thesis is that humor (like other properties that set us apart from other creatures) is a gift from God. Who, he argues, is kind of a jokester Himself. He supports his argument with numerous biblical references. But perhaps even more jokes. Here's a well-known one (which I've snipped from elsewhere):

A Jewish grandmother takes her baby grandson to the ocean for the first time. For the occasion, she has dressed him in a smart little sailor outfit. Without warning, a large wave folds over the young boy and swoops him out into the ocean. The grandmother looks up at the sky, “Please God, save my grandson. I will do anything if you return him to me. I will pray daily, I will volunteer weekly. Please God, I will do anything.” In a flash, another wave hits the beach, and the grandson washes up on the sand. The grandmother looks the boy over, then looks up at the sky and says, “He had a hat.”

Jokes (only a few clunkers) are scattered throughout, and a concluding 34-page appendix is mostly jokes with only a smattering of connecting narrative.

I'm afraid I still lean toward a more naturalistic explanation of humor: it's part of the package of emergent properties of our sufficiently complex nervous system formed over a few billion years of dumb old evolution. Like free will, consciousness, language skills, love, etc.

But this book would make an excellent gift for your local theologian. There's plenty of inspiration here for numerous sermons.

One flaw I noticed: Kreeft misidentifies the "Indy shoots the guy with the whip" scene as being in the Temple of Doom movie. It was in (of course) Raiders.

[Pastor Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kreeft's Sunnom Bonnum

not sure it was written as a lark, or perhaps as a final parable, but I've read and bought people tons of his books over the years.
this by far is his best, which is saying a lot for the Tom Brady of philosophers, who is also the most pastoral, if the only pastoral apologist since Chesterton, Tolkein,Lewis and Douglas Adams....

if for some bizarre reason a friend of his can show him this, tell him this book makes him the Orr, Russell, Yaz and Brady of writers

[Bryan Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very light-hearted fare from this giant of reason and faith. Feels like a notebook where he has been jotting down occasional random reflections on humor over a number of decades. I got a few good chuckles and insights.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite Kreeft book. Most of the jokes in the appendix weren't at all funny.

[VBV · Rating 5 out of 5]

That book confirms a secret suspicion that the best jokes are made in Heaven.

[Paytron Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. If a book was like a fun chat with a friend over some brews, this would be that book. A really sweet and thoughtful look at the importance of humor and play in the Christian Life.