What to read next
by Timothy Keller
The Prodigal God takes Jesus' well-known parable of the lost sons and turns it into a short, pointed study on how both rule-breaking and rule-keeping can be ways of running from God. In eight sessions and 63 questions, Timothy Keller reframes the gospel as good news for both the wayward and the dutiful, which makes it a natural entry point into other studies that dig deeper into grace, the character of God, or the person of Jesus himself. A group that has just finished it is usually ready for something that either widens the lens to a fuller portrait of Jesus and Scripture, or narrows back in on a related theme like idolatry, suffering, or doubt, often from the same author's voice and approach.
Our The Prodigal God guide runs 8 sessions with 63 discussion questions.
These are guides from our own catalog, ordered by how much each book shares with The Prodigal God: subject and themes first, then the kind of group it suits, then the same author. It is an editorial comparison of what the books are about — not a ranking of which is better, and not a claim about what other groups chose.
by Timothy Keller
Keller again works through a Gospel text to overturn easy assumptions about Jesus, this time tracing Mark's account of a king who leads by serving rather than ruling. It runs considerably longer, 14 sessions and 92 questions, so it suits a group ready to move from one parable to a sustained walk through an entire Gospel.
by John Mark Comer
Where Keller unpacks a parable to correct a misreading of the gospel, Comer works verse by verse through Exodus 34 to correct a misreading of God's character. Both books share that same move of exposing a distorted picture believers carry around and replacing it with something better, though Comer's 12-session study stays anchored in one Old Testament passage rather than the New Testament.
by Philip Yancey
Yancey shares Keller's instinct to strip away familiar assumptions and show a Jesus who is stranger and more compelling than the version we grew up with. This is a longer, more wide-ranging study at 14 sessions and 102 questions, moving across Jesus' whole life and teaching rather than staying inside a single parable, and its tone leans more personal and reflective than argumentative.
by N.T. Wright
Wright, like Keller, challenges a common but mistaken assumption inside the church, in this case about heaven and what Christians are actually hoping for. It is a longer and more academically grounded study, 17 sessions and 120 questions, suited to a group willing to sit with denser theological argument than Keller's shorter parable study requires.
by Phylicia Masonheimer
Masonheimer shares Keller's conviction that what we believe about God quietly shapes how we live, and both books push readers to examine assumptions they have never questioned. This 11-session study is broader in scope, covering core doctrines rather than a single parable, and its tone is more instructional, aimed at building a working theology from the ground up.
by Timothy Keller
Written by the same author, this study trades the parable format for a sustained, pastoral treatment of suffering, though it shares Keller's underlying conviction that the Christian story addresses something the alternatives cannot. At 14 sessions and 99 questions it is longer and heavier in subject matter, better suited to a group ready to sit with grief and hard providence rather than a shorter, more hopeful study.
by Timothy Keller
This is Keller in the same register as The Prodigal God, using biblical narrative to expose a heart problem readers may not know they have, here the problem of idolatry rather than self-righteousness or rebellion. At 9 sessions and 64 questions it is nearly the same length and pace, making it an easy next study for a group that liked the size and rhythm of the original.
by Timothy Keller
Also by Keller, this study shifts from a single parable to a broader defense of the Christian faith against common doubts and objections. It is longer, 16 sessions and 112 questions, and more argumentative in tone, fitting a group that wants to move from questions of the heart to questions of belief itself.
Session and question counts checked .