Three Philosophies

I am reading a book by Peter Kreeft entitled “Three Philosophies of Life.” Kreeft is certainly well qualified to address his subject. He teaches philosophy at Boston College and has done so since 1965. He has scores of books in print. Having read a dozen of them, myself, I have yet to find a bad one. While I do not always fully agree with his theology, his reasoning is engaging and his insights are enriching.

Peter Kreeft is an authority on CS Lewis. In preparing for our Wednesday night study of The Problem of Pain I revisited Kreeft to pick his brain on Lewis. It was in that pursuit I became distracted by his book on the three philosophies found in the Bible. He explores the two books attributed to King Solomon and another attributed to an unknown writer: The discusses the books of Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs or Song of Solomon.

Kreeft notices how each of these writings deal brilliantly with three cardinal philosophical questions. Ecclesiastes explores the question of whether it is better to have lived than not to have lived – that is, the question of meaning. Job, naturally, examines the problem of suffering and Song of Solomon has the pleasant task of talking about the nature of love.

According to Peter Kreeft, Ecclesiastes corresponds to Hell, Job to Purgatory, and Song of Solomon to Heaven. At first I thought Kreeft’s Catholicism is showing through in using the notion of purgatory. But his treatment is not simply for the practice of indulgences nor does it give instructions on how to raid of some “Treasury of Merit.” He says that suffering does what I Peter says it does; it tests our purity and refine the gold (glory) God places in our souls. 

I'll post more on this book tomorrow and the rest of this week.