Jesus-Shock [Hardcover]

Peter Kreeft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2008

Jesus Shock is the second in a series of short works on seminal concerns of the impact that Jesus Christ made in the world. The first work, The Philosophy of Jesus (St. Augustine’s Press, 2007), explored philosophy in light of Jesus, rather than the other way around. The present work investigates the reception Jesus received both in His lifetime and continuously to the present time, not only from His enemies, but from His friends, a reception of shock, astonishment, even disgust. Perhaps a few remarks from the book best explains it: The point of the title: Imagine a storm has downed a telephone wire so that everyone who touches it is shocked in every cell of his body. Well, the storm of God’s crazy love has “downed” (incarnated) Jesus, and everyone who touches this “live wire” is shocked in every cell of his soul. The question of the book: Why is “Jesus” the most non-neutral, the most controversial, the most embarrassing name in the world? Why is talking about Jesus like talking about sex? This whole book is really about a single movie line, the greatest line in the greatest movie in history. Bet you know what it is. . . . What was the bitterest controversy of the Protestant Reformation, both between Protestants and Catholics and between different Protestant denominations, the one that had both sides calling the other not just heretics but devils? Answer: It was not Justification by Faith, the hallmark of the Reformation, even though that question is about nothing less momentous than how to be saved, how to get to Heaven. It was not the relation between religion and politics, even though that was a matter of life or death (literally, on battlefields and at guillotines and hangings) and not just a matter of truth or falsity, or of good or evil. It was not about the sufficiency of the Bible, or the corruption in the Church, or the r

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: St. Augustines Press; 1 edition (September 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587313944
• ISBN-13: 978-1587313943
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter J. Kreeft (Ph.D., Fordham University) is professor of philosophy at Boston College where he has taught since 1965. A popular lecturer, he has also taught at many other colleges, seminaries and educational institutions in the eastern United States. Kreeft has written more than sixty-seven books, including The Best Things in Life, Christianity for Modern Pagans, Fundamentals of the Faith and The Handbook of Christian Apologetics.

Dr. Kreeft's MP3 audio lectures can be purchased on Amazon, such as
"Christianity in Lord of the Rings".

Free articles, audio lectures, the speaking schedule and more info from Dr. Peter Kreeft can be found at his popular web site:
http://www.peterkreeft.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great shock -- maybe a lifesaving one, June 25, 2009

By 

Barbara of Carmel (Everett, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jesus-Shock (Hardcover)

It is so easy, in our time and culture, to fall into the lukewarmness that Jesus warns us in Revelation will cause Him to "spit (us) out of (His) mouth." This small book is quite enough to shock the lukewarm out of their cozy tepidity, and Kreeft's convincing reasoning is enough to push us to being very hot, on fire if you will, for Our Lord. He even provides the next step -- what to do with that fire, and it's very simple, lifegiving, and not attention-grabbing (well, Our Lord would notice, but our fellow humans would not, which is as it should be).

This is a book that causes you to make mental lists of who you are going to suggest it to while you are still reading it. Even a few priests made my list. While it's true there is nothing brand new here (and how could there be, after 2000 years), I would liken reading it to having a defibrilator applied to the soul.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another home run, August 12, 2009

By 

C. Rosa (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jesus-Shock (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this book (160 short pages)and ordered a dozen copies to give out to family and friends. Peter Kreeft cuts to the chase and reminds us once again how blessed we are to be able celebrate the Eucharist, a forgotten fact by most of us Catholics. I found myself stopping and saying "thank you, thank you, thank you". Thank you to the Holy Spirit for filling the heart, mind and soul of Mr Kreeft and thank you to our Heavenly Father for His magnificent gifts.

92 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kreeft comes full circle, November 26, 2008

By 

Dare to love (Alingsås, Sweden) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jesus-Shock (Hardcover)

As a huge fan of Kreeft that started with his response to the problem of evil in Lee Stroebel's "Case for Faith" I must say that this little book is a fantastic cattle prod. In a positive sense.

I own over 20 books of Kreeft's and one thing that I've noticed is that he doesn't try to be original. That is somewhat frustrating for me the reader (and buyer of new books with old ideas...) but I suspect that this is highly intentional on Kreeft's part. He himself says so in many books in many places, quoting C.S. Lewis, that only by not trying to be original will you be original.

"Jesus shock" is annoyingly original in the sense that it is extremely unoriginal yet it caught me almost completely off guard. And I am a pastor with a Master of Divinity from a superb seminary (Wesley Biblical Seminary, MS)!

This book is to me Kreeft full circle. He never leaves Jesus in earlier books because he never ceases to love Jesus. But this book has the intensity and eagerness of Jesus in a unusual fashion. It screams "Urgent!" yet is written with compassion and an almost pastoral sense. It speaks to us Christians who live highly mediocre lives and whose minds are wrapped in so many layers of individualism and inert ideas that Jesus "straight" is indeed a shock.

The Holy Spirit will let you get this shock of who Jesus actually is, for you, today, in a thousand different ways and it is the height of folly to try to produce it through manmade means. However, my guess is that He will use this book to wake many of us since it offers very little resistance or "middle-man" stuff that often make Jesus dull, in every sense of the word. This book will probably shock you, but it will be the electric shock of an AED that will bring you back to life.