Best Book I've read all year | The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

Great Book! | The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith | Timothy Keller

books:


	• The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith Timothy Keller Dutton Adult, 2008 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 136 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

God's love for us is Recklessly Extravagant!

This 130 page book presents the gospel in a powerful way via an in depth commentary of the well know parable found in Luke 15: "The Prodigal Son".

This is a commentary but not one you typically read. Rather it tells the story of the parable from the eyes of each of the protagonists: the two brothers, the father, and the witnesses or listeners of Jesus parable, the Pharisees.

I learnt a lot about the parable that I hadn't previously focused on. My thoughts usually focused on the younger wayward son and the father's grace and mercy in accepting him back into the family with a glorious celebration. Little had I reflected on the older brother and his rejection of his father's love, rather being more interested in what he could get from his father. This is a brother who on the surface has been obedient all his life and stuck to the rules and family obligations. However, Keller highlights the fact that God wants us to love Him for who He is, not for what He can give us. Simple to understand but difficult to put into practice.

Keller writes very well and grabs hold of references from modern cinema and literature to further illustrate his perspectives. Further, the book is practical, it's not just theology, he writes to encourage all of us to walk-the-walk, not just talk-the-talk.

This is a powerful little book that should be used in all commentaries on this particular parable. I was particularly challenged by the notion of God's reckless extravagance in loving us and how I need to better love Him for who He is, not for what I might become or gain. But also I think He'd like us to adopt more of that reckless love, yes, we will have to swallow our pride, but what power there is in doing so.

I'd encourage everyone to read this as it will challenge you in your thoughts on this parable and you're thoughts of God.

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Best Book I've read all year

This is truly the best book I have read all year. Timothy Keller brings out ideas I would never have thought about. He is a gifted wrier and communicator of God's word. I look forward to reading anything he has written.

Great Book!

This is a fantastic book! I strongly recommend it to every Christian who is wishing to deepen their relationship with God.

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Book Review on The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller

Book Review
By
Jason Scott

Prodigal God
By
Timothy Keller

This is a well-written book by one of today's great thinkers. Keller takes an in depth look at one of Jesus' most well know parables, commonly referred to as the "Prodigal Son." However, Keller gives a few reasons why that title is a bit misleading. First, Keller gives the definition of the word "prodigal".

" The word `prodigal' does not mean `wayward'
but, according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary, `recklessly spendthrift'. It means
spend until you have nothing left. This term is
therefore as appropriate for describing the father
in the story as his younger son. The father's
welcome to the repentant son was literally reckless
because he refused to `reckon' or count his sin
against him or demand repayment. This response
offended the elder son and most likely the local
community Pg. (XIV-XV)

Keller sees this parable in two acts. The first act deals with the younger brother while the second act deals with the elder. The younger brother is a symbol of the sinners and tax collectors that Jesus was fellowshipping with, while the older brother represents the Pharisees. So instead of just the "Prodigal Son", Keller prefers "The Two Lost Sons." Pg. XIV

When studying this parable, it is easy to focus on the wicked lifestyle of the younger brother, and to cheer him on as he comes back to his father. However, the real target of this parable is often overlooked.

" Everybody knows that the
Christian gospel calls us
away from the licentiousness
of younger brotherness,
But few realize that it also
condemns moralistic elder
brotherness. Pg. 67

Jesus uses this parable to show the Pharisees that they need to not trust in their legalistic religion, but that they needed to trust in Him as the only path to God and everlasting life.

This book is helpful in understanding this parable deeper. Keller gives the reader a lot to think about concerning sin and salvation. In the last chapter he covers salvation as experiential, material, individual, and communal. In talking about material he makes this fascinating comment:

"Christianity, therefore, is perhaps
the most materialistic of the world's
faiths. Jesus' miracles were not
so much violations of natural
order, but a restoration of the natural
order. God did not create a world
with blindness, leprosy, hunger, and
death in it. Jesus' miracles were
signs that someday all the corruptions of
his creation would be abolished. Christians
therefore can talk of saving the soul
and of building social systems that
deliver safe streets and warm homes
in the same sentence. With integrity." Pg. 112

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Great Bible study book

We used this in our small group study - went thru 2 chapters each week - it was a great book, one that really draws out the Biblical meaning of the Prodigal Son in the way Jesus meant it to be understood. If you think you know the story - think again - this tells it the way it should be interpreted, which is a different angle than most sermons you may have heard on the passage.
It isn't just another Christian book - it takes you back to the bible and helps you understand what a Pharisee really is and if you are one!

Newsweek called renowned minister Timothy Keller ?a C. S. Lewis for the twenty-first century? in a feature on his first book, The Reason for God. In that book, he offered a rational explanation of why we should believe in God. Now, in The Prodigal God, he uses one of the best-known Christian parables to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation.

Taking his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity, Keller uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable. Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way.

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