The Divine Lamp

(The following is excerpted from THE OFFICIAL PETER KREEFT WEBSITE.   The portion I have quoted is from the introduction to a series of articles which originally appeared in the NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER (see link below).   This introduction is prefixed to an article on Machiavelli.  It is hoped that the reader will, after reading this brief introduction, proceed to Mister Kreeft’s website and aquaint him/herself with the other “Pillars of Unbelief.”

The Pillars of Unbelief—Machiavelli by Peter Kreeft

The Pillars of Unbelief—Machiavelli
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Source: Jan-Feb 1988
National Catholic RegisterExternal link (opens new window)

Just as we have pillars of Christian faith, the saints, so are there individuals who have become pillars of unbelief. Peter Kreeft discusses six modern thinkers with an enormous impact on everyday life, and with great harm to the Christian mind:

* Machiavelli - inventor of “the new morality”
* Kant - subjectivizer of Truth
* Nietzsche - self-proclaimed “Anti-Christ”
* Freud - founder of the “sexual revolution”
* Marx - false Moses for the masses, and
* Sartre - apostle of absurdity.

We need to talk about “enemies” of the faith because the life of faith is a real war. So say all the prophets, Apostles, martyrs and our Lord Himself.

Yet, we try to avoid talking about enemies. Why?

Partly because of our fear of confusing spiritual with material enemies; of hating the sinner along with the sin; of forgetting that “our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph. 6:12).

But that fear is more unfounded today than ever in the past. No age has been more suspicious of militarism, more terrified of the horrors of physical war, than ours. And no age has been more prone to confuse the sin with the sinner, not by hating the sinner along with the sin but by loving the sin along with the sinner. We often use “compassion” as an equivalent for moral relativism.

We’re also soft. We don’t like to fight because fighting means suffering and sacrifice. War may not quite be hell, but it’s damned uncomfortable. And anyway, we’re not sure there’s anything worth fighting for. Perhaps we lack courage because we lack a reason for courage.

This is how we think as moderns, but not as Catholics. As Catholics we know life is spiritual warfare and that there are spiritual enemies. Once we admit that, the next step follows inevitably. It is essential in warfare to know your enemy. Otherwise, his spies pass by undetected. So this series is devoted to knowing our spiritual enemies in the struggle for the modern heart. We’ll discuss six modern thinkers who’ve had an enormous impact on our everyday life. They have also done great harm to the Christian mind.

Their names: Machiavelli, the inventor of “the new morality”; Kant, the subjectivizer of Truth; Nietzsche, the self-proclaimed “Anti-Christ”; Freud, the founder of the “sexual revolution”; Marx, the false Moses for the masses; and Sartre, the apostle of absurdity.

Read more, beginning with the words Niccolo Machiavelli (1496-1527), as the founder of modern political and social philosophy…”