Making Sense Out of Suffering

Rating:
Summary: Suffering makes sense-A postmodern classic
Review: I would like to strongly recommend this book to all. It handles the hard question in a very sober and inspiring way and even humorously :-). Kreeft has not the role of an excathedral theologian or philosopher. No, he is a philosopher in the true sense. Majeneutics, the Socratic method of philosophical dialogue, is mixed with reflexions. The author points out and by hints lets the reader find the answer. He is a seeker, voyager and a challenger like we all. Like any good voyager he has his common sense and lot of experience as compass and ofcourse lot of professional knowledge and wisdom. Thouse of us who luck it or can not structure our life-experiences should read this humble and beautifull creation of a genius. Suffering makes sense. AMDG

Rating:
Summary: old hat
Review: If you have read C. S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain--which, in spite of its glaring weaknesses, is far superior to this feeble effort, you need not bother with Kreeft. He has nothing new to say, as is evidenced by the publishers to whom he has to resort.

Rating:
Summary: Comfort for the broken-hearted contemplative
Review: Peter Kreeft has done a masterful job of creating a readable work that can both address the confounding issue of God and suffering, and at the same time bring comfort to a wounded believing heart. Though rightfully indebted to C. S. Lewis, Kreeft brings a philosopher's precision to this topic, which differs from Lewis's more popular, though no less effective, approach. Moreover, there are times when Kreeft's prose is crafted so well, it can make the reader want to stand up and cheer - which can be awkward in public places. I have purchased multiple copies of this book to replace ones I've given to others. This is the book for the broken-hearted contemplative who seeks to make meaning out of his or her sorrow and better understand God's role in their pain. I am grateful to Dr. Kreeft for the comfort he has delivered through this compassionate and intellectually honest book. I recommend it unreservedly.

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking and Insightful Treatment of Suffering
Review: Peter Kreeft has written an intellectually stimulating book on something we all have to face: suffering. He does so by giving us clues from philosophy, the arts, and the Bible to the meaning of suffering. As a Catholic Christian, Kreeft finds the ultimate meaning of suffering in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It is a book worth reading and re-reading. In my view, his most striking insight is how in literature, including the biblical story of Job, the protagonist must undergo suffering before the final triumph of good over evil. He urges us to view ourselves as protagonists in the midst of our own life stories. If good finally triumphs, as Christians believe, then the story is worthwhile, even with its inevitable suffering. Like a true philosopher, he also includes a thought-provoking chapter on why modernity can't understand suffering. This is a book that will appeal to all Christians, Catholic or non-Catholic, and to all persons searching to understand the meaning of suffering.

Rating:
Summary: Only a brave person could tackle this subject.
Review: Peter Kreeft is indeed a very brave man to have tackled such a broad and seemingly unanswerable question: Why do we suffer? And where is God in all of our pain? Peter Kreeft attempts to sort through the dilemma that is involved in being human, insert God, and then explain some of our misguidedness and confusion. It's a warm book with some very nice Psalms and thoughts to reflect upon even when we aren't suffering. This book is particularly relevant after 9-11. We all need to take a moment and look through this, it's very comforting.

Rating:
Summary: Good But Not Quite
Review: This book by Peter Kreeft is a thought provoking work on the topic of suffering. It is typical of evangelical apologists that they carefully structure questions so they may deliver just the right answer. There is no further probing or cross
examination because apologetic work is usually done through the media, print or electronic. So we have Norman Geisler answering questions carefully orchestrated and delivered by straightman Robert Ankerberg. The questions tend to be not the most difficult. The result is that these apologist answer every question except the one you want to ask.

Kreeft incorporates a dialog between Reader and Author in his book that results in many of the more difficult questions being asked. As a work, it reaches further than most works on the question of suffering. But, alas, for me it did not reach far
enough. Most of his arguments may be refuted or disputed easily. The culminating chapter makes a claim that cannot be substantiated in scripture, that Christ suffers when we suffer. I gave it three stars because it asked good questions. I
excluded the remaining two stars because it did not provide good answers.

Rating:
Summary: Nowhere in 184 pages
Review: This book is only 184 pages and could have been much shorter. If you believe that human suffering is acceptable because you deserve it and because, eventually, you will see it as the "birth pains" to a suffering-free heavenly afterlife; and if you think that Jesus's sacrifice makes your passage from this world to the afterlife possible, then you're already a Christian, and this book is unlikely to add anything to your existing beliefs.

I've always found this extremely inadequate and rather glib to boot: "Oh, yes, it's a pity your child was paralyzed. But soon enough, if you follow god [cross-talk about whether faith or works is more important], you'll die and go to a magical place where your child's paralysis will no longer bother you or your child." In other words, the resolution to the problem of suffering is that suffering doesn't matter, when regarded from the "proper" perspective. At its worst, suffering is like a double-fault you commit on the way to winning Wimbledon, or the blister you get from walking the aisle to a wonderful marriage. Whatever you've suffered doesn't count for anything, because this world doesn't count for anything.

If you're not already a Christian, I am even more sure this book will add nothing to your understanding to the origin and justification of suffering. If you're a naturalist, you'll realize the problem is a phony one springing from incompatible supernatural assumptions: that god exists at all; that he is all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful; that part of his creation (the world) has suffering in it, and part of it doesn't (heaven). If you're a supernaturalist from a school other than Kreeft's, maybe you'll get a kick out of watching your assumptions and their implications duel with his. I found this book failed to take me anywhere I hadn't already been.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful at just the right time.
Review: This is one of those books that lives up to its title. Every so often something derails our lives and we seek to make sense of the scattered pieces. This book helps do that. I would suggest reading C.S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed" for an amazingly honest look at the topic from the inside. Some of the Psalms are very relevant as well.