The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Week 11: Chapter 10 — A Touch of Folly
Read Chapter 10 of The Ragamuffin Gospel (and the Epilogue, 'The Scandal of Grace, Ten Years Later,' if included in your edition). Key passage: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
Want the full guide for The Ragamuffin Gospel?
Free Week 1 sample in 5 min · $24.99 for all 12 weeks · 7-day refund
Manning closes with a celebration of the beautiful, reckless, scandal-inducing foolishness of the gospel — a word that the world calls folly but that the ragamuffin knows to be the deepest wisdom.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. Paul calls the cross 'foolishness to those who are perishing.' What is it about the gospel of grace — specifically its unconditional, unearned character — that strikes the world (and many religious people) as foolish or offensive?
2.Manning embraces the 'folly' of grace as its most essential feature — a love that doesn't make sense by any human calculation. Have you ever done something that looked foolish by the world's standards because of your trust in grace? What happened?
3.In his epilogue, 'The Scandal of Grace, Ten Years Later,' Manning reflects on how his understanding of grace had deepened — and in some ways become more scandalous — over the decade since he first wrote the book. What does it tell us that even the author continued to be surprised by grace? What does it suggest about how we should approach our own growth in this area?
a.Has your own understanding of grace become more or less scandalous to you over time?
b.What would you need to believe — or stop believing — for grace to feel more genuinely shocking and wonderful to you?
You're on Week 11 of 12
Don't lose momentum — get the rest of The Ragamuffin Gospel
All 85 questions across 12 weeks, with closing prayers and a downloadable PDF for your group.
One-time purchase · 7-day refund · Covers your whole group