The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims [Paperback]

Peter Kreeft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 1997

Open this book and begin an epic human journey--the journey toward truth. Enjoy a delightful and imaginative allegory of timeless wisdom as you travel along the road of true knowledge. Socrates, the thoroughly reasonable and wise philosopher of Athens, will accompany you much of the way. With sharp questions and canny wit he will coach you past the winsome, the wily and the half-wise spin-doctors of error posted along the ancient byways. Every tempting path will be exposed as a road best not taken. The Journey is an animated and topographical roadmap for modern pilgrims walking the ancient paths in search of reality. Crucial questions present decisive turns in the road: Is there truth? Does meaning exist? Is there right and wrong? Does God exist, and if so, what is he like? These and other essential questions provide guidance that delightfully entertains while directing your mind and spirit on the journey toward the freedom of truth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This lively and entertaining allegory attempts to introduce readers to the moral dilemmas and philosophical impasses that arise along life's path. In Kreeft's tale, readers are guided largely by Socrates (Moses and C.S. Lewis appear late in the book) in a trek from Plato's cave to the cross of Christ. Socrates introduces the tools of the journeyDsharp questions and sound reasoningDand assists readers as they encounter famous thinkers who present philosophical positions that demand decisions crucial to the direction of their journey: Is there truth? Does meaning exist? Does God exist? The problem, however, with this otherwise delightful book (intended for introductory philosophy courses in Christian colleges) is that it oversimplifies and ridicules the great minds of Western thought, apparently to underscore the futility of anything less than faith in Jesus. For example, here Epicurus appears as Hugh Hefner, and Diogenes, who "looked like a sad spastic frogDrather like Jean-Paul Sartre," chooses to sulk rather than counter a simple argument. Gorgias is an "elitist pessimist" snob; Protagoras and Kant are but two sides of the same slick skeptic; and Nietzsche is merely a raving lunatic who croons Sinatra's "I Did It My Way." Some might find this good fun, others good allegory, but it certainly isn't good philosophy.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (January 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830816828
• ISBN-13: 978-0830816828
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,166 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

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, September 24, 2006

By 

Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims (Paperback)

This is a great little book. It is enjoyable, imaginative and delightful. It is an allegory in the style of Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan or Pilgrim's Regress by C.S. Lewis. It follows Peter Kreeft and Socrates on a journey out of the Cave and into conscious decision-making. They are in search of true knowledge and knowledge of truth - if we can know truth. Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston College, a popular lecturer and author, and this is one of his best books.

This book is written around 10 dialogues with 12 historical figures: Epicurus, Protagoras, Diogenes, Gorgia, Democritus, Thrasymachus, Xenophanes, Pharmenides, Aristotle, Moses, Joshua and C.S. Lewis. Each of these men represent a school of thought, or a philosophy that has resurfaced again and again throughout history.

Through those 10 dialogues each answer a different question and each question leads to others. They are:
1. Shall I question? Shall I go on this quest for truth at all?
2. If I question, is there hope of answers, or should I be a skeptic? Is there objective truth?
3. If there is any objective truth, is there objective truth about the meaning of life?
4. If there is an objective truth about the meaning of life, is it that life is meaningless, "vanity of vanities"?
5. If life has real meaning, is it spiritual and not merely material?
6. If it is spiritual, is it moral? Is there a real right and wrong?
7. If there is a real right and wrong, a real moral meaning, is it a religious meaning? Is there God?
8. If there is a God, is God immanent (pantheism) or transcendent (deism), everywhere or nowhere?
9. If God is both immanent and transcendent (theism, creationism), are the Jews (who first taught this idea of creation) his prophets, his mouthpiece to the world?
10. If the Jews are God's prophets, is Jesus the Messiah?

Each one of these choices is momentous and life changing. They will either lead you into relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or the rejection thereof. This book puts forward all the popular theories for why not to believe at each step along the way.

This is a great little book either to help you know why you believe what you believe or to lead you into a faith based relationship with God.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Little Book for Seekers to Begin the Journey, May 27, 2002

By 

Daniel R. Martin (Grand Haven, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims (Paperback)

This is a wonderful little book giving a brief overview of a number of worldviews - skepticism, cynicism, nihilism, materialism, relativism, atheism, pantheism, judaism, and Christianity - seeking to show Christianity as the True worldview. The literary technique the author uses to achieve his goal is the allegory, much like John Bunyan or C.S. Lewis before him. It is a fairly quick, easy and enjoyable read. However, it is not a deep, wordy philospohical text - in fact, that is what makes the book so enjoyable and useful. Sure, there are books out there that deal with comparing and contrasting worldviews in much more detail, but those are not widely accessible to indivuduals who are just begining their journey seeking the truth. This book is a great roadmap to begin such a journey. I recomend it to one about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. It makes a great gift, especially to recent graduates.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Easy" Philosophy, Great Apologetics, January 25, 1999

By 

Chu H. Choi (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Journey: A Spiritual Roadmap for Modern Pilgrims (Paperback)

I read this book while taking a Socratic Dialogue class with Dr. Kreeft at Boston College. He is a superb lecturer, a clear thinker, and he sets forth his ideas very well in many of his books.

"The Journey" is a summary of various proposed philosophies of life (connected to their mostly Greek progenitors) and their percieved problems. Although not recommended for detailed study of these ideas, it is meant as a "casual" summary and spurs one into much thinking about life. It is extremely fluid reading, and can be finished in one sitting. Worth reading for all but scholars of Greek philosophy.