The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
- ISBN13: 9780525950790
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
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 essenti… More >>
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
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Rev. H. Jansen said :
March 4, 2010 at 10:39 am
tis is an excellent book. however, after ordering and distributin tewlve copies to men scattereded around the geograbphy i serve, i discovered that they were produced with a serious defect…pages 47 to 78 were inverted and out of order….amazon told me to gather them together and return them or i would be charged for the twelve good they sent quickly to me. i am not at all sure that i can recover them all, and so at this point i have a good feeling for the book, but a baad feeling for the manner in which a defective article got through to my people.
eh jansen
Rating: 1 / 5
TV McGuirk said :
March 4, 2010 at 11:16 am
I read in his first book where Neal Donald W. said Hitler went to heaven……I thought to myself what kind of nonsense is this author trying to create…….I threw the book down and every time I see this man’s name I get ticked off……
In this newest book by Mr. Keller, or Rev. Keller, he states that those who – opress others, and even murder people, are allowed to be forgiven just like the prodigal sons………..he lost me, and even made me angry when he made such an outrageous statement ! What is it with these preacher authors that they have to use illogical fiction to “enhance” Christianity ? That means Herod had a chance to be forgiven, Bundy may have been forgiven, Stalin, and murdering pedofiles are worthy of redemption…….be real…….see reality… understand faith in God is something special – no wonder the Christian faith is losing so many people……. why did this statement have to be thrown in ?
The rest of the book is a good explanation of a parable, but forgiveness for the perpetrators of genocide in Somalia ?????????
Rating: 3 / 5
Kevin Puffer said :
March 4, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Mr. Keller has sounded a bell in the dormitory of the sleepy church with the title of his latest pros, The Prodigal God. Readers will enjoy reading his insight into the broader significance of this well read parable. Considering the audience of the original telling, Mr. Keller brings to light and elaborates on the normally overlooked sting of this parable; a warning to those who like the older self-righteous brother may feel God’s extravagant grace to be unfair. This part of the book is worth the cost of admission. Unfortunately, Mr Keller only hints at the reason for the name of the book and fails to under-gird the outlandish title with truth. Reasoning that God is “prodigal” because the definition of the word contains the idea of being lavish is like saying God is likewise foolish because the definition of “foolish” carries with it the idea of being easily taken advantage of. In the English language, being prodigal means being reckless, wasteful, careless, and having disregard for consequences. None of these qualities describe The One Holy God Almighty. While using a shocking title may sell books in the short term, I would not want to be Mr. Keller when he finally comes home and sees our Father holding this book in his hand. I gave this book 4 stars for his insight into the older brother and then took three away for his prodigal use of poetic license in the title.
Rating: 1 / 5
Laura K. Spilde said :
March 4, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Watch out westernized Christians ye are becoming the runaway bride!!!
First, This book is very very very lukewarm. Use much caution if you are going to read this book as it is NOT for those who desire to understand and appreciate the fullness of Christ from his holy word and desire to stick to the original doctrines of Christian faith. In the first chapter, Keller points blame on all of the world’s problems on the FIRST BORN children of this world because they are by very nature driven to success…….And as a result he uses worldly psychological and temperamental theories to back up his claims rather than truely biblical examples of the behavior’s of the Oldest child in a family. However, in the parable of the lost son we MUST notice before reading Keller’s book that the father had 2 sons it doesn’t say he ONLY had 2 sons……thus this father could have had many many sons…..maybe 5 maybe 20 we really do not know. All that we know is that there were two sons who came to the age of receiving inheritance. Using the “oldest child” psychological theory drives unbiblical thinking and is very dangerous. God called the Israelites to be OBEDIENT and put lambs blood on the door of the house to save the oldest child from death during the passover……
Second, Keller made a very very very incorrect statement about what the Gospel is. He stated in the following words, “”This means that Jesus’s message which is “the gospel,” is a completely different spirituality.”" In other words, in Keller’s words he is stating that “the gospel” is Jesus’s teachings and parables rather than the TRUTH that the gospel is Christ’s death and resurrection……… Stating that we can EASILY meet up to even “the sermon on the mount” and “the parables” is completely foolish! Keller’s liberal teaching seems to state throughout his book that it is a piece of cake to live a “sermon on the mount” lifestyle…. Give me a break.
Third, Keller’s interpretation of the book of Revelation is not biblically sound. He misses the fact that God will judge those who were not fully centered on Christ AFTER the marriage supper. This can be very confusing for those who have not read and studied the bible as a whole.
Overall, I really do not believe Keller KNOWS scripture as a whole and thus KNOWS Jesus as savior as Christ is named the “Word of God.” Revelation 19:13 In order to know Christ and to come to him for salvation we need scripture and we need to learn it, digest it, absorb it on a daily basis…..period. Keller simply does not state the importance of knowing Christ through God’s word and this is utterly dangerous. An “emotional” conversion is not repentance and following Christ. Hard heartedness comes from not knowing Christ from the beginning THROUGH his word!!! We need to TREASURE the Word of God!
A much more recommended reading on reaching out and helping the prostitute, the lost, the tax collector etc etc is anything by David Wilkerson such as the book “Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth” and other works. Wilkerson practices what he preaches, while Keller “hides” behind the pulpit AND his “worldly” fame.
Please remember as you are reading this that SATAN literally hates the oldest child in any family……He knows that if he can claim the oldest child for rebellion and hard heartedness, he can effectively use the domino effect to get the remaining children in any family (shambles or orderly) for the glory of SATAN…….
I would give this a two star rating rather than a one star rating because he states that doing “works” are a burden, which it truely is.
Rating: 2 / 5
Robert G. Siefker said :
March 4, 2010 at 5:13 pm
A nice book, easy reading. Ultimately challenges us to see how much of the younger son is in us and how much older brother.
His bottom line is a restatement of what St. Francis of Assisi said nearly 800 years ago – “Preach the Gospel continuously. When necessary, use words.”
Rating: 3 / 5