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This book by Timothy Keller has been a light in my life during a very dark time. I have been so down and sad lately and I began searching for a book on the Savior that wasn’t tied to the church. I will include a review from someone who has finished the book, since I am still in the middle of reading it. I had to share it with you guys since I have felt so inspired already by this authors interpretation of the Savior and one of the Saviors most popular parables. How have I never heard this interpretation before??? Amazing! Quote:Like many people, I assumed the word prodigal meant “wayward or wasteful.” So when Timothy Keller’s book first hit the book shelves, I remember looking at the front cover, noticing the “NY Times Bestseller” sticker on the label and thinking to myself, “Bah, this must be another self-help ‘spiritual’ book about a god who wants to be in a relationship with man in order to bless him but needs some help finding his way.” But after noticing this book under the arms of men whose faith I admire and seeing it distributed with the Angel Tree gifts our church sent out last Christmas, giving the book further investigation seemed like a wise choice.
Keller’s book starts out by clarifying the definition of prodigal—1) recklessly extravagant, and 2) having spent everything—which gives understanding for the book’s title, The Prodigal God. He then puts the story in context with the rest of the chapter of Luke, noting that this parable is Jesus’ response to the grumbling Pharisees and scribes around him and that Christ starts the story by saying, “There was a man who had two sons.” By the end of the first chapter, I realized that Timothy Keller’s careful handling of Biblical exegesis would not allow this book to just be another dry re-hashing of a wayward son who wound up gnawing on pig feed because of his disobedience to God, and the reader can come away with more than just the knowledge that God is rich in mercy and grace no matter what we’ve done.
Keller goes on to lay a solid foundation to the story by drawing attention to the fact that the older brother does not enter into the feast at the end of the parable. So what we have is two lost sons; the moralistic older brother who follows all the rules, trying to merit his father’s good graces, as well as the wayward and reckless younger brother. These are two personalities everybody can identify with; and apart from walking in God’s grace, these two brothers represent the way in which man alienates himself from God.
Our society is divided into two cultures, as Keller points out. The culture of the “older brother” is the conventional moral conformist, commonly known for “stability” as well as striving to please authority figures. The “younger brother” culture lives by their own rules, walking a path of self-discovery. Every person gravitates to one of these two categories, and some combine the two. Both cultures proclaim, “If those people would follow our example, the world would be a better place.” Our problem is that, no matter what side of the cultural divide we land on, we still play the role of the two lost sons, alienating ourselves from the Father by a self-centered focus on either keeping all the rules or breaking them all.
Within every person’s heart is a hunger for home. The Prodigal God seeks to show us there is no satisfaction in our own efforts and pursuits to fill that longing with the things of this world since they are only here to serve as signs and reminders pointing to the feast—Christ’s saving work. If you want a deeper understanding of how we live next to the feast without entering or wander far from it, and if you want a better idea of what this feast looks like, then I recommend reading this book.
Thanks for the review. I look forward to your own take after you finish. 
I like the idea of going outside mormonism to see some good books and learnings to help stretch the mind and come at these issues from a new angle. I think it is refreshing. That is an intriguing interpretation. I like pretty much anything that makes me think about things in different ways, whether or not I end up agreeing with the conclusions. Quote:
Our society is divided into two cultures, as Keller points out. The culture of the “older brother” is the conventional moral conformist, commonly known for “stability” as well as striving to please authority figures. The “younger brother” culture lives by their own rules, walking a path of self-discovery. Every person gravitates to one of these two categories, and some combine the two. Both cultures proclaim, “If those people would follow our example, the world would be a better place.” Our problem is that, no matter what side of the cultural divide we land on, we still play the role of the two lost sons, alienating ourselves from the Father by a self-centered focus on either keeping all the rules or breaking them all.My heart melted at these words. If the faith transition road has opened my eyes to anything it is intense separation that is becoming the definer of religious and non-religious lives. It is that divide that is breaking my heart more than anything, when I read these words, I saw an answer to my pain. Can’t wait to hear your personal review.
So I finished this book a few days ago and I have to say it really has changed me. I haven’t read a book this fast in long time! With all that has been going on around us in the media about Caitlyn Jenner, with all and the vile words spoken by followers of Christ, I had really gotten down. I was so glad to have a new sort of perspective from this book. Let me make this clear, that the book does not talk about transgendered people or any of the hot button issues that pop up in the media today. It talks more generally about people and what motivates them, and how we all of us separate ourselves from God, religious and irreligious alike. It talks about how we either relate to the prodigal son, or the older brother, or are in the process of jumpingfrom one to the other. I’m sorry, I am going to butcher this review, but please don’t let that deter you from reading the book! I am just a horrible writer. So first off, I learned that the parable was never intended for us to focus solely on the lost son. It was intended for us to focus on the elder brother, the truly religious, the ones who felt like they had always done what was right. The author argues that the very religious tend to have a hard time with the acceptance of true forgiveness for someone like the lost son, because they don’t deserve it. But then he goes on to say that these elder brother types are also turning away from the Lord as effectively and surely as their prodigal counterparts by believing they are, like elder uchtdorf talked about, earning their way in to heaven. By taking responsibility for salvation on themselves they reject the salvation offered by the Lord. Here is a quote from the book I loved:
“The Savior does not divide the world into the moral good guys and the immoral bad guys. Everyone is dedicated to a project of self salvation. Using others and God to get power and control for themselves. We are just going about it in different ways. Even though both sons are wrong, the father invites them both into his care and feast. Jesus’s gospel is a different message of spirituality. It is not religion or irreligion…it is something else altogether. It is distinct from the other two approaches. In its view, everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change.”
He says the prodigal son part of the story ends with a happy ending and that prodigal sons frequently find their way through difficult decisions back to the Lord. Jesus taught that it is easier for a sinner to make it to heaven than the proud, after all. He says it’s interesting that the story of the elder brother ends only with an invitation–an invitation to join the party, or eternal life, as I like to think of it. The parable ends without us knowing what the elder brother chooses. The author states that Jesus was inviting the Pharisees to make a choice. “The publicans and sinners have come to the feast, won’t you?” Obviously the Pharisees hated this story because Jesus was teaching that they were just as sinful as younger brother, and also that they had less of a chance returning to God. Ultimately it left me wondering which son I am today, and how am I responding to His invitation to join the feast.
Please forgive the awful review, but I would love it if someone else read it and gave another review!
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