The Cross & the Prodigal

Preaching Magazine Year's Best Book for Preachers Where is the cross in the parable of the prodigal son? For centuries, Muslims have called attention to the father's forgiveness in this parable in order to question the need for a Mediator between humanity and God. In The Cross and the Prodigal, Kenneth E. Bailey--New Testament scholar and long-time missionary to the Middle East--undertakes to answer this question. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of both the New Testament and Middle Eastern culture, Bailey presents an interpretation of this parable from a Middle Eastern perspective and, in doing so, powerfully demonstrates its essentially Christian message. Here Bailey highlights the underlying tensions between law and love, servanthood and sonship, honor and forgiveness that grant this story such timeless spiritual and theological power.

Kenneth E. Bailey is an author and lecturer in Middle Eastern New Testament studies. He spent forty years living and teaching New Testament in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem and Cyprus. Bailey has written many books in English and Arabic, including The Cross and the Prodigal, Jacob and the Prodigal and Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes.