The 3 Most Influential People in Human History w/ Dr. Peter Kreeft 

Kreeft, a glass of wine, and a baby on my lap. Happy birthday to me 🍷

My path to Catholicism began with Buddhism.

As a Buddhist, I find this conversation absolutely fascinating. Thank you for posting it!

I could just listen to Dr Kreeft talk about anything for hours! Such a humble, wise man =)

Christ had a vanguard of evidence with him, from his birth through to his death and then the Resurrection. Socrates and Sidartha Gautama were men, born lived and died, scratching at the truth. Jesus is the Truth.

"God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can, inspite of my littleness, aspire to holiness" -St Therese

As I aged I lamented the loss of my youthful physical prowess and in prayer received the same message that Matt shared at the end--if you had it, what then? What true good would come of it? I was stumped. All I could think was, well, I could dunk a basketball again, which I immediately saw as frivolous. One good question and my whole attitude changed.

Thank you to the channel for introducing me to Dr Kreeft. As someone new to the faith, this is exactly the kind of person I need to know about and learn from 🙏

Dr. Kreeft's understanding & simple enough for me to understand way of explaining simple truths is wonderful & a real gift to anybody who has the opportunity to listen to him. Some folk just think deep, talk simple & speak wisdom 😊

This helps me to understand why Kreeft at times offers clear explanations and at times seems to shoot from the hip, leaving you to guess the aim and the path there: he’s offering his own Koans. Also, don’t know if it was intentional (since Aristotle was discussed), but he listed Jesus, Buddha, and Socrates as the three most influential figures in history, but you have a bust of Aristotle in your triptych where it would seem Socrates should go.

I am a Thomist. I studied Philosophy and Theology at a Pontifical Catholic university very faithful to the Church and the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas. From that perspective, this video, as a Catholic and Thomist, seems very strange to me. Because Buddhism is the annulment of the person into nothingness. And this is not humility, this is depersonalization. The Holy Trinity is fullness. And is ("I am the one who IS", the Being itself) three Persons with one nature: Divine. God has thought of each one of us from eternity and has counted each of our hairs. God loves us Person to person, not as a nothingness in which we dissolve our personal being and our self. Jesus is Person. And Jesus has given his life for each one of us, with first and last name, to free each one of us from sin, and to give each one eternal life. Jesus calls each of us by our name and, if one of us is left behind, He comes back to look for us, one by one. Christ is the center of Christianity and he does not ask us to dissolve into nothingness but to be other Christs. The fullness of our being, created and participated from the God's Being. To be a Christian is to be profoundly unique, because each one is a unique and ineffable creation, a warm reflection of God's infinite love. Not a nothing.

I live in a Buddhist country. My dearest friends are Buddhists of the Vajrayana tradition. I often try to approach my evangelism towards them from the angle of Jesus embodying all that is good in Buddhist teaching. Love, compassion humility and service, for example. May God convert all pagan nations.

Amazing. Now I understand perfectly. Thank you ❤️🙏

This was an interesting clip. Thanks, Matt.

I was raised as a Buddhist but now I am a Catholic. I might say, for me, Buddhism answers 50% of the question. It's like for Buddhism you need to make your glass empty, but in Christianity it's you need to make your cup empty and fill the Grace of the Lord inside. Buddhism says that everyone can be holy, Christian faith is only God is holy and we need His grace. Even if it is 50% right, it's still the wrong answer if the Christian faith is the truth. And if that is the case, Buddhism leads people into hell; the nothingness without God. It's just the garden of Eden all over again. The book of Ecclesiastes is basically the summary of these nothingness teaching. But we can't blame the people who teach it in that time, it is the world before the Lord came into this world anyway. But since now we have Him in this world, we should do better than that. People needs God, human needs God. That's the truth.

Thanks for posting this video. Dr Kreeft is a profound (& greatly under appreciated) modern day thinker. Pax

This is wonderful. Always insightful. Thank you and God bless!

Love these bites with Dr Kreeft. 🙏

Great job summarizing Dr. Kreeft!

Thank you 🙏

Dr. Kreeft is a great speaker and storyteller.

In 2019, I was at my lowest spiritually. Buddhism proved to me the existence of the spirit, as strange as that may sound to some. I would recommend it to any materialist.

This. Is. Fascinating!

this is a master at work

Such a great conversation and explanation from Peter Kreeft. I thought Buddhism claims that suffering is an illusion. I've always thought, "Try telling that to a torture victim." Transformation through suffering is the only thing that's ever made sense to me, as exemplified in Christ, and the many who truly follow Him who have suffered profoundly, yet maintained their devotion to God. And wow to that quote, "You don't bash your head up against the wall; you bash your will up against the wall."

Your thumbnail shows Aristotle but Dr. Kreeft said Socrates 😁

This was wonderful and I know that I will listen to it more times. This time it helped me to understand my uncle who is Buddhist and who is planning to end his suffering with his condition by stopping to eat. He lives in a right to die state. His belief system has more to do with this decision than I realized.

Pure Land buddhism is not a "modern or westernized form of Buddhism". It was introduced to Japan from China, through Korea. Earliest patriarch was Tan Luan (who lived from 476-542) and was followed by a string of Pure Land masters such as the famous Shandao. It was introduced into Japan by Honen, a tendai monk. Pure Land buddhism is based on the Buddhas Pure Land sutras.

Fascinating conversation!

It is maybe the 10th time I am seeing this... Amazing

I have to push back on the notion that Buddhism is a kind of atheism. There is absolutely a belief in the supernatural, higher and lower realms, spirits/dieties of those realms that are benevolent and evil. What Christians call angels and demons. I have no idea how that's atheism, and if you ask most Buddhists IRL if they believe in a higher power they would say yes.

A Joke told to my wife well over 40 yrs ago by the Cardinal Primate Of Hungary: What are the 3 things that God doesn’t know? 1) How many orders of Nuns there are? 2) What do Bishops pray for? 3) and...What the heck do the Jesuits want? He was a Jesuit. One could also add a 4th. How many books has Peter Kreeft written?

He didn’t give the most famous (in the West) example of a koan: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

Does anyone know where Matt’s St. Thomas Aquinas Reliquary went?

Eating the wisdom provided by the 'rock lobster'. M lovin' it

I got a question.. at 14:50, since we cant do it all perfectly and we put all our hope in him and He does it...dont we still have to cooperate? Does that mean we do it too or no?

The way he summed up buhdism strikes me as exactly the correct way yo consider God. Utterly unknowable until one is transformed. Which happens to be the explicit teaching of Christ. How to develop so we may know God and become like him.

I think an important part of Christianity is accepting that you aren't perfect and never will be and need grace through faith in Jesus. Trying to become holy or obtain spiritual perfection means that you aren't accepting that compared to God you will never be perfect.

A lot of people recognized Christ as Lord without witnessing a miracle, just by encountering Him. Because when you meet Him, it’s obvious. Imo 😂

The first few times I read Kreeft, I did not get him. I thought he was too aloof for his own good and not worth reading. After some effort, I now see that he may be one of the greatest Christian thinkers of our day. He has an incredible mind. Now, all he needs to do is become a Baptist, and he will be perfect. 🙂

I'm pretty sure the thumbnail is Aristotle, not Socrates

14:50 👍

Are there any openly available courses with Dr. Kreeft much like Dr. Jordan Peterson has?

You look like you just got schooled. I did to, great video.

I click play on Kreeft videos and then say to myself "10 seconds until mind blown... 10, 9, 8, 7..."

Rassulallah peace be upon him ❤

Matt, you scared me when you said "I love Buddha".

As a practicing Roman Catholic I majored in Islamic Studies. I came across Sufism which reminded me of St. Francis of Assisi! Apparently the Sultan of Jerusalem thought St. Francis a Sufie as well! Brother Sun Sister Moon, fellow Rock!

In the interest of encouraging more of this Buddhism and Christianity dialogue, esp. being centered in Christ while doing this, and all the while honoring greatly the spiritual fruit of Buddhist practice, may I mention that if one were to consult DT Suzuki, he would maintain that Zen Buddhism, which considers itself a return to authentic Buddhist roots, would not consider atheism as a position but merely has pledged to neither affirm nor deny he existence of God. The reason being that such a discussion about God only leads to confusion and disagreements and all that discord. So… Buddhists, I bet, look at it that way.

Wow, the connection between koans and what God asks of us is stunning!

Buddha and confuses both seem to me like great philosophers who, over time, became a religion. While I do not follow that religion, I do believe they greatly improved the mortality of our species, and their works should be taught and respected like Aristale, Socrates or any other great philosopher or species.

Matt: He walked on water, he raised people from the dead. Dr. Kreeft: Well that helps. 😂😂😂

Buddhism: The art of "Giving up"

Christ alone brings true peace. It is verifiable for anyone who has had a deep conversion. Buddhism is man without grace clutching at some kind of straw to find release from the vanity of life.

The desire of Buddhists for an end to desire drives them to change their whole lives. They closer they get to achieving this desire, the further away they are. #UltimateKoan

Representation is crucial. So the picture presented, is it according influence or something else?? Shouldn't Christ be in he middle as One who actualize the Middle Way between two extremes.

If you are here, then likely you prefer the entertainment of analytical discussion over the calm, aware, and faithful mind, a preference Buddhism suggests is faulty.

As a person raised in a Buddhist country, it is the opposite of Christianity in many ways. Don’t be deceived by some of the wise words of Buddha-it’s completely different from the Gospel, and ironically it puts the individual (which they claim doesn’t exist) at the center of its own salvation. Buddhism is difficult to pin down because of the protean forms it takes, many of which are contradictory … The forms of Buddhism being preached in the west as “rational” just isn’t. It philosophically depends on the cycle of rebirth, which isn’t rational. If you’re a rationalist, just stick to stoicism. But it is a religion that will lure many in the modern world who *desire* to be free from suffering (which is supposed to be the goal of Buddhism). Also, there are many similar Indic religions with equally insightful and good ethical teachings-and the Buddha is just one of many. See Jainism, or the many Hindu branches, for example.

1. Your Mom. 2. Your Dad. 3. whomever made all your nappy diapers ! :-)

WOW

For me Muhammad is the most influential figure in human history. For he is the only person in history to establish a nation ,religion and empire.

Socrates more than Alexander, Genghis Khan or Mohammed?

16:09 …so first of all we as humans are set apart from animals. And also this conclusion seems like a fallacy. Just because animals don’t excel beyond us in happiness nor misery doesn’t mean those states aren’t bodily goods for humans.

Kreeft doesn't tell the whole deal on buddhism. Yes, there is no talk about God(s) in buddhism. The focus in Buddhism is on your development towards (possible) enlightenment. That's something practical and possible. God or Gods (hinduism) is not really something you can work on, and worshipping them or he, can possibly bring suffering (the hate between different religions for example). That's why buddha left all that aside, and focused on self development towards enlightenment. Not bad, but not good enough for someone who wants to physically worship God(s).

I worry about the tootsie that good men like Dr. Kreeft play with these eastern false religions

This is hogwash - he went to Japan for 2 months and now he's an expert on all Buddhism? That would be like a Japanese Buddhist going to Rome for 2 months and then claiming to be an expert on all of Christianity.

Sorry, we do not have high regards for Soofies, but for the Prophet (PBUH) and for his right followers. There is No soofisim in Islam. It is obvious that most of you know very little of Islam, hence I suggest you go and learn. No offence..

I hate when Christ is listed along with anyone else, especially by a Catholic. Neither Bhudda nor Socrates are comparable to Christ.

No Prophet Muhammad?

I'm sorry I studied world faiths and Buddhism was the least favorite most depressing. The cause of suffering is life....the dead do not suffer. Suffering is part of existence. How is Buddha who preaches the middle way ( not the fat or the skinny cow preach such an extreme....the cause of suffering is desire) Sorry Buddhist I do not understand.

There are so many flaws with the Buddhist paradigm, lmao.

☦️What?? Really, have you know shame putting our Lord, the Son of God on the same putting with 2 pagans, one an idol one an idol worshipper?? Shame!!

Jesus wasnt just trustable,he rose from the dead and theres proof,eye witnesses and written accounts..

Scandalous thumbnail.

Buddhism sounds silly

Literal nonsense

I love listening to Peter Kreeft. He makes so much more sense than most people I've ever listened to. Thanks for sharing him with us!

I’d put Muhammad in that gang, credit where it’s due and whether you like him or not.

Atheist here but this was very profound and interesting

Great video

Or pure consciousness before reactionary thought. Freedom of speech.

concerns me Kreeft seems so interested in Buddhism..... offshoot of Hindi....