Interview with Keller on the Prodigal God and the Prodigal Sons
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Alex Chediak interviews Tim Keller about his new book, The Prodigal God: Christianity Redefined through the Parable of the Prodigal Sons.
posted by JT at Sunday, June 29, 2008
1 Comments:
By the way--the subtitle on the Amazon book-likeness ('Christianity Redefined') was a working subtitle that I didn't choose and that we are not going to use. It's triumphalistic. I hope no one is put off by it. The new subtitle will be something like 'recovering the heart of the Christian faith'.
I appreciate that clarification. I'm glad I read the interview.
I do share the same concerns, though, as Steve Camp about the use of the word prodigal to refer to God. I like why Keller used it (as evidenced by his explanation), but I think it's just inaccurate. Steve says in his comment:
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While the word prodigal does mean "to spend extravagantly", it also carries the modifier of "spending recklessly or wastefully." And not only wasteful extravagance but a wanton immorality. Exegetically, the Greek word for prodigal means: dissolute and conveys the idea of an utterly debauched lifestyle.
[...]
Sometimes in our desire to be clever or unique, we unwittingly depict God in a manner that He has not chosen to depict Himself throughout the Scriptures. He is Redeemer; Savior; Lord; Rock; Refuge; Shepherd; etc. - but one thing He is not... He is not prodigal.
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Finally, I wonder if Keller has read MacArthur's A Tale of Two Sons, or heard the messages leading up to it. It seems strange that he either (1) wouldn't have heard of it, or (2) put a book out saying very similar things about the same topic by another evangelical leader.
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