What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
Week 2: Chapter 1 — The Last Best Word
Read Chapter 1 of What's So Amazing About Grace? Key passage: Luke 15 (the parable of the prodigal son).
Yancey begins his exploration by asking what makes grace so hard to believe — and so hard to give — and he reaches back to the words and stories of Jesus to find his answer.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Yancey says that the word "grace" carries a meaning in Christianity that it carries nowhere else — a meaning so rich that many languages simply borrow the word rather than translate it. What is it about the Christian concept of grace that is so foreign to normal human experience that no ordinary word can contain it?
2.He points to the parable of the prodigal son as perhaps the definitive portrait of grace in action. In that story, the father runs toward the son before the son can finish his rehearsed speech of repentance.
a.What does the father's running say about the nature of grace — does it wait for repentance, or does it precede it?
b.Which character in the parable do you most identify with — the prodigal, the elder brother, or neither? Why?
3.Yancey argues that the elder brother's response — bitterness and refusal to celebrate — is as much a departure from grace as the prodigal's sin. How does self-righteousness block us from receiving and extending grace? Where do you see the elder brother's spirit in yourself or in the church?
Closing Prayer
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