Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 06:2 (Spring 1997)
Article: Review Number Two
Author: Bassam M. Madany

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RAR 6:2 (Spring 1997) p. 184

Review Number Two

Bassam M. Madany

Reading Ecumenical Jihad is a unique experience. Many of us share with Peter Kreeft his intensity of feeling regarding the by-products of secularization in America. I find it very difficult, however, to accept his plan for the actual battle plan which includes a so-called ecumenical jihad. Furthermore, I am baffled by the absolute assurance of Kreeft that the Roman Catholic Church is the church our Lord Jesus Christ established 2000 years ago! Kreeft is a twentieth-century convert to Rome, much like Cardinal Newman in the last century, who appears to think of himself as herald to summon Protestants home to Rome. (In this book he goes even further, to summon the followers of other

RAR 6:2 (Spring 1997) p. 185

major world religions as well!) His thesis is quite simple at this point—the leading world institution in the great war against secularism will be the Roman Catholic Church.

In this review article, I will set forth the several theses of Kreeft’s book before I provide my own analysis of its contents.

While there have been many articles written in religious magazines describing and deploring the present moral chaos in American society, Peter Kreeft is singularly gifted in the way he enumerates the glaring and shocking sins which pervade our public life. He writes simply and convincingly, endeavoring to follow in the footsteps of C. S. Lewis, a man he greatly admires and often quotes. In his first chapter he describes the problem as follows:

So: without religion, no morality, and without morality, no salvation of society or of individuals. But: there are two structural obstacles to this solution, this only possible solution. One is the separation between our society and religion, and the other is the separation and split both within the Christian religion and among the religions of the world. This does not help in our war against secularism (p. 21).

These words help us get into the mind of Professor Kreeft. He acknowledges an inherent problem within the American experience: that of attempting to define the foundations of private and public morality apart from their source in religious faith. This is due, as many contemporaries argue, to the constitutionally mandated separation between church and state. Furthermore, recognizing that we live in a global milieu, Kreeft is tremendously exercised by divisions among the religions of the world. He maintains that this does not help in our war against secularism.

How are Christians (as well as followers of other world religions) to face the common foe and eventually defeat

RAR 6:2 (Spring 1997) p. 186

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