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The Mystery of Joy

$18.95

Paperback

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Product Details

Product Code:
MJOYP
Format:
Paperback
ISBN/UPC:
9781621647454
Length:
0.63 (in)
Size (HxW):
8 x 5.25 (in)
Pages:
245
Publication date:
January 16, 2025
Weight:
9.36 oz
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Product Overview

Joy: we look for it, long for it, and spend our lives chasing it. Yet do we really know what it is? Is it a feeling, a state of mind, or a reward for success? Do we know where to find it? The more we seek it, the more it eludes us. 

Yet joy is real. “Joy”, writes philosopher Peter Kreeft, “is a mystery. It is bigger than we are.” Joy’s secret, however, is that it cannot be reached or found but only given. True joy is God Himself, who, giving Himself, takes us outside ourselves, across valleys of loss and mountains of triumph. 

This lucid, witty reflection on the true nature of joy convinces us, page after page, that while sorrow is inevitable, joy is very, very near at hand. “It’s scandalously simple,” Kreeft reveals. “There’s no method; you just do it.” To “do” joy, we must let go of all fake happiness, all false gods. We must return, over and over, to the one true Joy, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

Drawing from the wisdom of C. S. Lewis and Saint Thomas Aquinas, this instant classic by self-proclaimed curmudgeon Peter Kreeft walks us through the long, beautiful task of surrendering to deep joy, the chief work of any life worth living.

Editorial Reviews

“Peter Kreeft writes so well! He is a master of profundity and succinctness, an author with an uncanny ability to plumb the philosophical depths without ever losing the clarity required to illumine those depths for the average reader.”
—Joseph Pearce, Author, Classic Literature Made Simple: Fifty Great Books in a Nutshell

“Many writers have the gift of irony or humor or logic or common sense. Very few combine all these gifts in one talent and put it at the service of truth. Peter Kreeft is simply the best, the most engaging, Christian apologist at work today.”
—Francis X. Maier, Author, True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church

Reviews

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  • 5
    Go ahead, God. Make my day!

    Posted by Charlie Schmidt on Feb 7th 2025

    Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft has written The Mystery of Joy in order to solve that mystery and bring some much-needed joy into his readers’ lives. He has succeeded admirably. Joy is the highest level of happiness, and Joy comes from the Christian God. And God is Truth Itself, Goodness Itself, and Beauty Itself, which is why God is also Joy Itself. The 95 chapters in this book point out several aspects about joy. Here are a few of those insights about joy: Kreeft points out on page 14 that “Everything good begins with God, and the lack of everything good begins with the lack of God. If that is not true, then either there is no God or God is only a god, like Zeus.” On pages 116 and 117 he clarifies the question “What is the meaning of life?” as follows: The final cause of a being is its end, good, purpose, point, perfection, fulfillment, flourishing, fruit, value, consummation, goal, aim, telos or direction. When we ask “What is the meaning of life?” we are usually asking for its final cause, its value and purpose, its end, its good. (One of the most humanly destructive ideas in the history of philosophy is the typically modern idea that final causes are only subjective, only a projection of our desires, not objectively real.) On page 119 Kreeft points out the ultimate nature of reality: God did not create man because He was lonely. God is not lonely. He is a Trinity, a society, a family. He is absolute perfection, and absolute perfection is not just oneness but love. Love is not just the fundamental value; love is the nature of ultimate reality. It is not only the ethical ultimate; it is also the metaphysical ultimate. Those who seek wisdom really should read this delightful and insightful book. Not only will it make you wiser, but it will also make your day.

  • 5
    Go ahead, God. Make my day!

    Posted by Charlie Schmidt on Feb 2nd 2025

    Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft has written The Mystery of Joy in order to solve that mystery and bring some much-needed joy into his readers’ lives. He has succeeded admirably. Joy is the highest level of happiness, and Joy comes from the Christian God. And God is Truth Itself, Goodness Itself, and Beauty Itself, which is why God is also Joy Itself. The 95 chapters in this book point out several aspects about joy. Here are a few of those insights about joy: Kreeft points out on page 14 that “Everything good begins with God, and the lack of everything good begins with the lack of God. If that is not true, then either there is no God or God is only a god, like Zeus.” On pages 116 and 117 he clarifies the question “What is the meaning of life?” as follows: The final cause of a being is its end, good, purpose, point, perfection, fulfillment, flourishing, fruit, value, consummation, goal, aim, telos or direction. When we ask “What is the meaning of life?” we are usually asking for its final cause, its value and purpose, its end, its good. (One of the most humanly destructive ideas in the history of philosophy is the typically modern idea that final causes are only subjective, only a projection of our desires, not objectively real.) On page 119 Kreeft points out the ultimate nature of reality: God did not create man because He was lonely. God is not lonely. He is a Trinity, a society, a family. He is absolute perfection, and absolute perfection is not just oneness but love. Love is not just the fundamental value; love is the nature of ultimate reality. It is not only the ethical ultimate; it is also the metaphysical ultimate. Those who seek wisdom really should read this delightful and insightful book. Not only will it make you wiser, but it will also make your day.