The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

Analyze how Keller’s use of literary and dramatic works, such as Amadeus and “Babette’s Feast,” translates complex theological concepts like grace into more familiar cultural and psychological terms.

Keller analyzes the parable as a “two-act drama,” where “Act One” demonstrates free grace and “Act Two” reveals its cost. Analyze how this narrative structure shapes Keller’s argument and guides the reader toward the necessity of a “true” elder brother.

Using the traits Keller associates with “elder-brother lostness,” analyze the psychological and spiritual profile of the elder brother. What signs of this condition does he demonstrate, besides anger?

Discuss how Keller utilizes the scholarship of Kenneth Bailey on first-century honor-shame culture to restore the “disruptive power” of Jesus’s parable. How does this historical contextualization support Keller’s central claim that the father’s grace is “extravagant” and costly?

Analyze how Keller’s theological framework, particularly his presentation of Jesus as the “True Elder Brother” (82), attempts to resolve the tension between free grace and moral license.

Keller employs two dominant metaphors to frame the human condition and its resolution: the journey of “exile” and “homecoming” and the celebration of the “feast.” Compare and contrast the function of these two metaphors in developing the book’s overarching narrative of redemption.

Analyze the effectiveness and limitations of Keller’s “younger brother/elder brother” binary, evaluating whether this archetypal framework captures the complexities of modern spiritual life or oversimplifies them for rhetorical effect.

How does the introduction of the true elder brother, a figure deliberately absent from the original parable, function as the key to Keller’s entire interpretation?