The Scandal of the Kingdom offers a roadmap for spiritual growth and renewal in an increasingly complex and challenging world.
Available in hardcover (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook.com), eBook (Kindle, Nook, CBDReader), audio (Christian Audio, Audible, Google Play, Apple).
Zondervan Publishing Company (October 15, 2024) 208 pp, Hardback. ISBN: 0310367948. ISBN-13: 978-0310367949.
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The parables are some of Jesus' best-known teachings, but they are also some of the least understood. Even the disciples weren't always sure what they meant. Drawing from his extensive teachings on spiritual formation, Dallas illuminates the timeless wisdom contained within each parable, revealing their profound relevance to contemporary life. With clarity and depth, he guides readers through the subversive messages embedded within these seemingly simple stories, urging us to break free from the grip of worldly values and embrace the radical teachings of Jesus.
The Scandal of the Kingdom is not just a book—it's a call to action. Readers will be challenged to move beyond passive acceptance of comfortable dogmas and instead to actively engage with the values of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is not some distant future destination but a present reality, beckoning us, as the parables of Jesus did, to live with a new purpose and intentionality in the here and now.
The foundation of the book is Dallas's 1983 teaching series entitled The Parabolic Teaching About Christ’s Kingdom by Christ Himself. The series has been supplemented with additional teaching Dallas offered on other occasions, providing a comprehensive look at what Dallas had to say about the parables of Jesus.
Through insightful analysis and practical wisdom, Willard empowers readers to transform their lives and communities by embodying the radical love, compassion, and justice exemplified in Jesus' parables. This book is a beacon of hope for Christians seeking to deepen their faith and live more authentically in accordance with the teachings of Christ.
"The scandal of the kingdom" is God's irrational outpouring of love and mercy on sinful humanity (Ephesians 2:4-7). These teachings will help us unlock the deep meaning and surprise of the wonderful and "scandalous" parables of Jesus.
For many of us, the parables of Jesus are delightful but mysterious, and at times even scandalous. Dallas Willard opens up for us the beauty of these parables with such uncanny skill and grace that, in the end, we become captivated by the greatness and goodness of God.
Over the years of reading and listening to Dallas Willard, I was always longing for a more refined and robust understanding of what he thought Jesus meant by “kingdom of God.” I am thrilled to see that longing satisfied in his probing of the kingdom of God by examining the deposits of the kingdom as taught in Jesus’ parables. In his incomparable manner of attuning all that Jesus taught to a life transformed, The Scandal of the Kingdom develops into fruition Willard’s fresh and valuable understanding of the kingdom.
I stand in a long line of readers whose prophetic imagination has been profoundly shaped by Dallas Willard. The Scandal of the Kingdom worked on me in the way his writing always seems to—pointing to meaning hidden in plain sight in familiar biblical passages, using grounded (and occasionally provocative) language to offer a pathway for converting intellectual insight into embodied practice. Another great work from a great mind and even greater life.
Foreword by John Mark Comer
Introduction: Give ‘em Heaven
