The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

Book Highlights This book is an exposition of sorts centered around the Parable of the Prodigal Son as it is comonly known (or the Parable of the Two Sons as Keller likes to name it). The parable is only found in Luke 15:11-32. It is a familiar parable to many Christians, being found in works of literature, stage productions, art and popular music. The basic story is that of a father and his two sons; and the younger son decided to ask for his share of the inheritance and decided to go and make a life on his own. He ends up squandering everything and eventually comes back to his senses and returns to his father. The father forgives him, but the older brother who did not rebel, does not. The story illustrates both the futility of sin and the futility of unforgiveness. Tim Keller does an amazing job of explaining the meaning of this parable. He teases out the nuances of the story and helps the reader face the story on a personal level. One of his main points is that there are many "older brothers" in our churches today, just as there are many younger brothers who are estranged from the church. They stay away because they want to avoid the older brother and reject his judgmental attitude and lack of compassion. Keller helps the reader to see themselves in the story. He writes that many of us are close to the older brother in our attitudes. What keeps us separated from God is not so much our moral failures, but our self-righteousness. We think that by "being good" that we deserve God's blessings and a relatively trouble free life. What we need to realize is that we are just as bad off as the younger brother in the story. In the context of when Jesus originally told this parable, he was probably referring to the Pharisees. They were like the older brother in that they looked down on others and did not care for the lost sheep. The parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep show the priority of Jesus. Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus cares for the lost one. He seeks to save them from eternal death. Evaluation I thought that this was a wonderful book. Tim Keller is a talented writer. While the book is based on a sermon, it certainly does not read like one. It flows very well and tends to draw the reader into the story. This book made me think more deeply about a very familiar parable. In the end, Keller encourages us to appreciate the importance of the gospel every day. We are all sinners in need of the grace of God. We will not experience freedom from sin through our own efforts, but only as we are transformed in our thinking by the gospel. God's undeserved grace towards us and the high price that he paid is what motivates us to live in gratitude to God. I would agree with Keller's assertion that "Jesus is pleading not so much with immoral outsiders as with moral insiders. He wants to show them their blindness, narrowness, and self-righteousness, and how these things are destroying both their own souls and the lives of the people around them. It is a mistake, then, to think that Jesus tells this story primarily to assure younger brothers of his unconditional love...Jesus is saying that both the irreligious and the religious are spiritually lost, both life-paths are dead ends, and that every thought the human race has had about how to connect to God has been wrong." (page 11) In the end, I found this book very helpful. I was challenged and encouraged at the same. Any book that can do that is definitely worth a read.

Tim Keller (Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan, N.Y.) is a very gifted thinker and communicator. His book "The Prodigal God" is one I have read 3 times in the last year. The book is based on perhaps the most famous story that Jesus told in the New Testament (Luke 15) - often referred to as the the parable of the "prodigal son."I have been a Christian for 39 years now (24 of those years in the pastorate), and I have never read a better presentation of the gospel than he presents in this book. Dr. Keller helped me to fall in love with the God of the gospel again. He helped me to realize that the gospel isn't just about forgiveness for what I've done in the past, or for the promise of Christ's return and the hope of Heaven for the future, but that the gospel is essential for living today. God's grace through a relationship with Christ is what we need to be reminded of every day in order to basque in the pleasure, peace, and presence of a wonderful God - who loves us despite our tendencies to rebel, or revel in our own righteousness - either way - our sins of thinking we are too bad, or too good keep us at a distance from knowing God the Father through His perfect Son - Our Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Out of 5 stars - I would give it a 10. The principles in this book are invaluable and I sum up what I learned from this book here: 1) I am a bigger sinner then I thought I was - I have a tendency to be like the "older brother" in Luke 15 - who sees himself as more righteous than he really is. 2) God is more gracious than I thought He was - He provides forgiveness for both the rebel (the younger brother) and the older brother - who is lost because it is his supposed righteousness that keeps him from having a relationship with his father - he is an idolater becasue he loves his father's "things" more than the father himself. 3) It has helped me to understand the gospel and explain it better. Religions have a tendency to lead to idolatry - we think we are good - because we follow rules, or do "good works," but these good works are self serving and make us look down on others. 4) Ultimately, I owe my salvation solely and totally to the goodness, patience, mercy, grace, and provision of God through Christ. He sought me while yet a sinner. He gave me His righteousness in exchange for my sin. He forgave me despite my rebellion and pride, and revealed His love for me in that He sent His one and only sin to die for me on the cross - Romans 5:8. 5) The Prodigal God wants me to go after all people with the good news that He has made provision for their salvation - no matter what separates them from Him. What a mighty and wonderful God we serve!

"This short book is meant to lay out the essentials of the Christian message, the gospel." So begins Timothy Keller's new book The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. Keller targets both seekers who are unfamiliar with the gospel and longtime church members who may not feel the need for a primer on the gospel. Keller's book, as the provocative title suggests, is built on one of Jesus' most famous stories: the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15). Keller consents that "on the surface of it, the narrative is not all that gripping." But, he contends that "if the teaching of Jesus is likened to a lake, this famous Parable of the Prodigal Son would be one of the clearest spots where we can see all the way to the bottom." Keller has taught from this passage many times over the years, and says, "I have seen more people encouraged, enlightened, and helped by this passage, when I explained the true meaning of it, than by any other text." The book is laid out in seven brief chapters which aim to uncover the extravagant (prodigal) grace of God, as revealed in this parable. Keller shows how the parable describes two kinds of "lost" people, not just one. Most people can identify the lostness of the "prodigal son," the younger brother in Jesus' story, who takes his inheritance early and squanders it on riotous living. But Keller shows that the "elder brother" in the parable is no less lost. Together, the two brothers are illustrations of two kinds of people in the world. "Jesus uses the younger and elder brothers to portray the two basic ways people try to find happiness and fulfillment: the way of moral conformity and the way of self-discovery." Both brothers are in the wrong, and when we see this, we discover a radical redefinition of what is wrong with us. "Nearly everyone defines sin as breaking a list of rules. Jesus, though, shows us that a man who has violated nothing on the list of moral misbehaviors may be every bit as spiritually lost as the most profligate, immoral person. Why? Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life." As these quotes hint, Keller's exposition of the two sons lays the groundwork for a penetrating analysis and critique of both moral relativists on the liberal left and religious moralists on the conservative right, showing that the latter are just as lost as the former. What both need is Jesus, whom Keller presents as "the true elder brother," the one who comes to our rescue at his own expense. Through his grace, we are given hope and invited to the great feast of the Father. As with Keller's preaching, this book is intelligent and winsome, combining thoughtful reflection on both text and culture with searching heart application. Keller's book is effectively illustrated with a liberal use of stories and quotations from literature, movies, and the arts. Most imporantly, the book orients the reader's heart to the hope of the gospel of God's grace revealed in Christ. One more note: for readers who may have felt intimidated by Keller's recent book The Reason for God, don't shrink away from The Prodigal God. It is probably only 1/3 of the length and much easier to read. I highly recommend it to unbelievers, seekers and established Christians.

I wouldn't say that this book radically changes my view of the gospel, I have been on a journey of discovering the true gospel for a few years now, and I assume that this journey will continue my entire life. However, The Prodigal God, Tim Keller's latest, definitely sharpens my view of the gospel. Keller clearly gets at the heart of the Christian faith using Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son, or as Keller calls it, the Story of Two Lost Sons. Keller chooses to aim much of his attention towards the "elder brother," who is equally as lost and unworthy of the father's love as the openly rebellious younger brother. The younger brother and the older brother are archetypes that Jesus uses to point out the route to spiritual fulfillment taken by all people. They either follow the quest for fulfillment in personal discovery and the pursuit of passions or they follow the road of moralism and duty. Neither is the answer, according to Christ, and both are worthy of the wrath and disinheritance of the father, yet the gospel is that the father goes to each one and initiates restoration. Keller describes why each son, and why everyone who seeks happiness through either spiritual path, is lost. He writes, "Because sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life." The younger brother sought to find salvation for himself through seeking external pleasure and satisfaction through self-discovery. The older brother sought to find salvation through personal morality and effort. He was was angry because he felt he was owed the inheritance of the father. When the father invited the younger brother back into the family it came at great cost to the older brother, a cost he was not willing to pay since he felt he has earned his inheritance. The older brother attitude, to Keller, is more dangerous than that of the younger since the younger knows he is lost, while the older thinks he is saved by his own merits. One of the most important contributions of Keller's book is the idea of the "True Elder Brother." Keller notes that commentators and teachers of this parable often say that the forgiveness of the father was free and use it as an offer of free grace to all who would believe. While the grace was free to the younger brother, it was costly indeed to the older brother. All that remained of the fathers wealth rightfully remained to him, so it was at his expense that the younger brother was brought back into the family. Keller writes that although the older brother resented this, Jesus point in telling the parable was to point to the "True Elder Brother," himself. Jesus is the older brother who paid the price for the inheritance of sinners. That is a truly beautiful picture of the gospel. This is a short (133 pages) and easy to understand book. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the Christian faith, to new believers and to long-time Christians who think they have the gospel figured out. It would be equally beneficial at clarifying the heart of Christianity for all three parties.

Yesterday I read The Prodigal God by Tim Keller (2011). Centering upon the parable of the prodigal son, Keller seeks to help his reader understand more deeply the meaning of the parable. Too often, he surmises, commentators have focused on the younger son--the prodigal, but that in reality, the story focuses not just on the younger son, but also on the older son and particularly upon the father. Keller rightly points out that this story shows that both the licentiousness of the younger son and the legalism of the older son are ineffective means to salvation. It is only the free grace of the father that can save both the younger son and the older one. This book was good for me. I struggle with being an elder brother, with being a Pharisee. I think a lot of people in the church do. For those of us who struggle with being Pharisees, Keller has important words for us. Our self-righteousness will never get us anywhere and in fact, may serve as a barrier. You see, when we think that if we are just good enough, we won't depend upon grace and will then refuse to go into the feast. Noteworthy quotes: If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishoners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did (18-19) The father is saying, "I'm not going to wait until you've paid off your debt; I'm not going to wait until you've duly groveled. You are not going to earn your way back into my family, I am going to simply take you back. I will cover your nakedness, poverty, and rags with the robes of my office and honor." (26) The prerequisite for receiving the grace of God is to know that you need it. (52). Perhaps the clearest symptom of this lack of assurance is a dry prayer life (72). Jesus came to bring festival joy (120). What makes you faithful or generous is not a redoubled effort to follow moral rules. Rather all change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out the changes that understanding creates in your heart (133). The Prodigal God is a really good book. Keller writes clearly about the message that I seek to understand and tell others about every day. We are saved by God's sheer grace, not by any goodness of our own. I would definitely recommend this book.

Different spin on the prodigal son than I've heard. Easy read and will give you a new perspective on the parable and life. Did as part of short 2 part mens group study and had great discussions.

The reason why this book is so effective is because its aim is so simple. Keller begins the book this way, "This short book is meant to lay out the essentials of the Christian message, the gospel" (p. xi). Christianity is certainly not lacking when it comes to the number of books written on a subject. So how can Keller be so successful while writing on something so, well, basic? The answer is in that key word in the subtitle, recovering. Yes, the "heart of the Christian faith" has been lost like a prodigal son over the centuries. Not that Keller is the only one to attempt to recover it in recent days. But he works within the realm of an orthodox, conservative reading of the Bible and shows how many--both inside and outside the church--have failed to grasp the essence of Jesus's message. The first thing one will want to know about this book is why it is entitled The Prodigal God when it is based on Jesus's parable traditionally known as "The Prodigal Son." The answer is twofold. First, the traditional name of the parable does not do justice to the focus of the story. It is not a story about one son, a so-called prodigal, but rather a story about two sons (Luke 15:11). Second, the word prodigal does not simply mean "wayward" but rather "recklessly spendthrift." And so, Keller argues, it is just as appropriate to use it to describe the father in the story (who obviously represents God) as the younger son (p. xv). In the first chapter the author discusses the setting for Jesus's parable. There were two kinds of people who gathered around to listen to Jesus on this occasion, and the two are represented by the two brothers in the story. The "tax collectors and sinners" were despised by the "Pharisees and the teachers of the law" who were the morally upright people in society. But it is to this second group of people that Jesus's teaching in the parable is directed. Their attitude toward the "wayward sinners" is what Jesus is attacking. This is not because Jesus approves of the behavior of sinners but because Jesus disapproves of the moralism of religious people. This parable will not allow either side to claim God's approval! Everyone seems to understand in general that God does not approve of immoral behavior. But when the younger son returns home, the fact that the father does not allow the son to earn his way back into the family demonstrates that "nothing, not even abject contrition, merits the favor of God" (p. 24). God does not demand that sinners become morally acceptable before he will accept them. Instead, we find Jesus here "redefining everything we thought we knew about connecting to God. He is redefining sin, what it means to be lost, and what it means to be saved" (p. 28). Keller argues that sin is not only rebellion against God's moral commands; it is also pride in one's moral record. At the end of the story, the elder brother loses the father's love not in spite of his goodness, but because of it (p. 35). In other words, all people are in rebellion against God, either through self-discovery or through moral conformity. Both sons in the story wanted the same thing--the father's possessions. They just took different paths to get there. In other words the elder son, who represents the religious elite, was just as "lost" as his younger brother. Keller contends, "Careful obedience to God's law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God" (p. 37) because "sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life" (p. 43). Thus we can see that the path of moral conformity may be even more dangerous than the path of self-discovery because the former is more blind to his soul's condition than the latter. And we can see why many people who have turned their backs on religion generally have no interest in Christianity: the Christian message has been confused with religion. Keller explains, "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" (p. 67). In Chapter Five, Keller makes what I found to be the most interesting observation in the story. By comparing and contrasting the parable of the lost son with the other two parables in Luke 15, we find amid the obvious similarities one striking difference. In this final parable, no one goes to seek out that which is lost. But someone should have and the answer is quite obvious. The younger son needed an elder brother who understood his responsibility to keep the family intact and so would have, at his own expense, done whatever was necessary to bring his wayward brother home. Instead, the younger son got a Pharisee for a brother who grumbled at the idea that God would receive such sinners. But in the Christian gospel we find that all humanity has a "True Elder Brother." Keller again: "Think of the kind of brother we need. We need one who does not just go to the next country to find us but who will come all the way from heaven to earth. We need one who is willing to pay not just a finite amount of money, but, at the infinite cost of his own life to bring us into God's family, for our debt is so much greater. Either as elder brothers or younger brothers we have rebelled against the father. We deserve alienation, isolation, and rejection. The point of the parable is that forgiveness always involves a price--someone has to pay. There was no way for the younger brother to return to the family unless the older brother bore the cost himself. Our true elder brother paid our debt, on the cross, in our place." (pp. 84-85) Keller concludes the book by showing how the parable of the lost son fits the larger context of the entire Bible. This is why it is his contention that in this one parable we have the rare opportunity of seeing clearly, all the way to the bottom, of what the Christian gospel is. All of us find ourselves longing for home--we instinctively know that the way the world is now is not the way it ought to be. Indeed the Bible teaches that we feel this way precisely because we have left "home." We were meant for life in the Garden of God but because of our rebellion against the father we find ourselves in a distant land far from home. But we have a "True Elder Brother" who has come to bring us home, to a real, material world absent of evil and disease and suffering where we can enjoy the feast the Father has prepared in celebration of his children who were lost but have been found. The Prodigal God will most assuredly challenge your fundamental beliefs about the Christian gospel, yet it would be hard to be anything but satisfied by what you begin to see more clearly.

I’ve given dozens of this book to others. Great read

Must read for every christian. It helps you break the shackles of legalism and embrace love and liberty.

Muito bom. Recomendo. Atual. Baseado na Biblia que retrata o interior do ser humano. A leitura desde livro ajuda na caminhada de fé em Deus, no Deus da Biblia Cristã.

I was recommended this book by my Pastor, as a resource for a talk on Grace that I will soon be giving. I am so glad I made the time to read this book - and you don't need a whole lot of time! This is probably one of the easiest books about Grace you will ever read. I found the Discipline of Grace The Discipline of Grace: God's Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness a fantastic read. I have also read Terry Virgo's book God's Lavish Grace . Both are excellent and I highly recommend them as well. However, this book is almost less theoretical and gets to the HEART of Grace. You will be challenged to look at your thought process, whether it is about the Parable of the Lost Son, or as Tim Keller calls it 'the Parable of the Two Lost Sons', or your thought process about how God deals with us, how we deal with other people and how we deal with ourselves with regards to grace. I would recommend buying it because it is a short book and I know that I will get things out of it from a second and third reading, or just dipping into it that I didn't pick up on the first time round. I agree with one of the other reviewers - regardless of your interaction with Christianity, this is a book you should read. If you want to get a good understanding of what Christianity is about then this is a great book to start with (other than the Bible!). If you have been a Christian since you were a young child (like myself) then this is a fantastic book to read to be reminded about Gods amazing love for us and how we need to protect ourselves from the elder-brother mentality. If you have recently become a Christian then this is a must-read as it will help to prevent you from falling into the trap of becoming an 'elder brother'. One of the things I really like about this book is its SIMPLICITY. It takes a very famous passage of Scripture and then walks us through it. We get historical insight into the story which helps us with modern application. I also like that it is EXEGETICAL. It is clear throughout the book that Keller is not using the passage as an excuse for some form of self-help. Rather this book is very firmly grounded in Scripture. So please, please read it. In fact, spend the few quid and buy it because it will be like a refreshing pool that you constantly find yourself dipping into when the busyness of life starts making things go out of perspective.

Some great insights into a common parable. I will have to re read to understand deeper the pitfalls of the religious elder brother.

Das Buch macht deutlich, dass Gott uns Menschen nicht auf einer Skala von gut und böse einordnet, sondern, dass in Seinen Augen diejenigen, welche sich demütigen lassen, welche sich zeigen lassen, wie sie in Wirklichkeit sind, werden durch die Versöhnung, welche Jesus erwirkt hat, als Seine Kinder angenommen. Wer aus seiner Überlegenheit über arme Sünder und benachteiligte Menschen eine Tugend macht, wird in seinem Hochmut von Gott verworfen. Jeder der bekennt ein Christ zu sein muss sich heute selber fragen, in wieweit er als moderner Pharisäer seine Mitmenschen verurteilt. Das Gift der eigenen religösen Überlegenheit steckt in uns allen. Nur durch das Betrachten der Demut Jesus, das heisst von Gott selber, kann unser religiöser Wahnsinn aufgedeckt werden.