How to Be Holy: First Steps in Becoming a Saint
"Life, in the end, has only one tragedy: not to have been a saint."
– Léon Bloy

The ever-popular and prolific Peter Kreeft says that the most important question he has written about is how one becomes holy; or to put it another way, how one becomes a saint. This question is central to all the great religions, Kreeft demonstrates, for striving toward holiness, moving toward perfect love, is the whole purpose of life.

Kreeft admits that he is only a beginner on the climb to holiness, and it is to novices like him that he has written this engaging and encouraging book. Using the insights and experiences of saints and great spiritual writers throughout history, Kreeft shows what holiness is and how it can be achieved. He especially draws upon the spiritual classic Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J. The core of Caussade's timeless gem is that God reveals himself to all of us through the daily events of our lives. The surest way toward spiritual growth, therefore, is by perceiving and accepting the merciful will of God in every situation.

Kreeft stresses the simplicity of his approach to holiness, which focuses mainly on the virtue of love. Sanctity is love, he asserts, and only that can give us what we all long for—deep and lasting joy.

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How to Be Holy: First Steps in Becoming a Saint
"Life, in the end, has only one tragedy: not to have been a saint."
– Léon Bloy

The ever-popular and prolific Peter Kreeft says that the most important question he has written about is how one becomes holy; or to put it another way, how one becomes a saint. This question is central to all the great religions, Kreeft demonstrates, for striving toward holiness, moving toward perfect love, is the whole purpose of life.

Kreeft admits that he is only a beginner on the climb to holiness, and it is to novices like him that he has written this engaging and encouraging book. Using the insights and experiences of saints and great spiritual writers throughout history, Kreeft shows what holiness is and how it can be achieved. He especially draws upon the spiritual classic Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J. The core of Caussade's timeless gem is that God reveals himself to all of us through the daily events of our lives. The surest way toward spiritual growth, therefore, is by perceiving and accepting the merciful will of God in every situation.

Kreeft stresses the simplicity of his approach to holiness, which focuses mainly on the virtue of love. Sanctity is love, he asserts, and only that can give us what we all long for—deep and lasting joy.

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How to Be Holy: First Steps in Becoming a Saint

How to Be Holy: First Steps in Becoming a Saint

by Peter Kreeft
How to Be Holy: First Steps in Becoming a Saint

How to Be Holy: First Steps in Becoming a Saint

by Peter Kreeft

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$16.95 
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Overview

"Life, in the end, has only one tragedy: not to have been a saint."
– Léon Bloy

The ever-popular and prolific Peter Kreeft says that the most important question he has written about is how one becomes holy; or to put it another way, how one becomes a saint. This question is central to all the great religions, Kreeft demonstrates, for striving toward holiness, moving toward perfect love, is the whole purpose of life.

Kreeft admits that he is only a beginner on the climb to holiness, and it is to novices like him that he has written this engaging and encouraging book. Using the insights and experiences of saints and great spiritual writers throughout history, Kreeft shows what holiness is and how it can be achieved. He especially draws upon the spiritual classic Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J. The core of Caussade's timeless gem is that God reveals himself to all of us through the daily events of our lives. The surest way toward spiritual growth, therefore, is by perceiving and accepting the merciful will of God in every situation.

Kreeft stresses the simplicity of his approach to holiness, which focuses mainly on the virtue of love. Sanctity is love, he asserts, and only that can give us what we all long for—deep and lasting joy.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781621641025
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Publication date: 01/26/2016
Pages: 176
Product dimensions: 5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, is one of the most respected and prolific Christian authors of our time. His many bestselling books cover a vast array of topics in spirituality, theology, and philosophy. They include Wisdom from the Psalms, Practical Theology, Doors in the Walls of the World, How to Be Holy, Because God Is Real, You Can Understand the Bible, Angels and Demons, Heaven: The Heart's Deepest Longing, and Summa of the Summa.

Table of Contents

1 Ten Reasons to Read This Book 9

2 A Radically Life-Changing Idea 19

3 Why This Idea Is Not As Ridiculous As It Seems 24

4 An Irrefutable Logical Proof of Its Truth 28

5 How This Truth Changes Your Life 33

6 God as Your Guru 36

7 How Divine Providence Does What Seems Impossible 43

8 Faith and Reason: Can We Believe It if We Don't Understand It? 46

9 Why Surrender Does Not Squash Individuality 50

10 Where to Find God: The Practice of the Presence of God 55

11 Overcoming Deism and the Absentee God 61

12 The Epistemology of Holiness 67

13 Little Things 74

14 Holiness Is Easy 79

15 Methods 83

16 Faith, Hope, and Love Are Only One Thing 86

17 Unselfconsciousness 90

18 "Love Is All You Need" 93

19 Love and Sex 96

20 When to Find God: "The Sacrament of the Present Moment" 98

21 The Future 104

22 Peace 108

23 Failures 110

24 Suffering 115

25 Objection: I Can't Be a Saint 120

26 Duties 123

27 Activity and Receptivity 125

28 Spiritual Warfare 128

29 Grace 131

30 Detachment 134

31 Creation 140

32 God and You Only? 142

33 Praying while Working 144

34 Gratitude 146

35 "Progressive" or "Conservative"? 150

Appendix 1 A Meditation on the Relationship between Being and God's Will 153

Appendix 2 A Dialogue between Stupid and Sensible (the Two Parts of My Soul) 159

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