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Jonathan Seiver: The Palace, reviewed by Jon Ruthven

| April 11, 2016 | no comments

Jonathan Seiver, The Palace: A Prophetic Journey through the Cultures of This Age and the Kingdom of the Age to Come (Charleston, SC: SP, 2015), 146 pages, ISBN 9781517048259 .

The Palace narrates “a series of first-hand prophetic visions” involving the redemption of a street orphan whose curiosity about a fabled palace and its King drives him to set out on a journey of discovery. The boy encounters the king, who unexpectedly shows great interest in the boy over several visits until the king invites him into the palace and even into adoption as a son.

The boy trains for warfare for his king. In the process of training and actual mission, the allegory astutely explores a wide range of human motives of both those in service of the king and those who oppose it. The strength of the book mirrors the insights of the C.S. Lewis allegories as well as Pilgrim’s Progress, but offers a sense of intimacy, communication, and miraculous power with “the King” that, due to their traditional theological limitations, these famous classics lack. The Palace offers a sophisticated and nuanced appreciation for the spiritual obstacles, strengths and weaknesses of the young, commissioned warrior as he encounters the unique problems of an array of social groups. In this, the narrative becomes an effective “how to” manual for the normative New Testament disciple.

Jonathan Seiver

This allegory was a joy to read and apply its lessons. Reading this to each other would be a great intimacy builder for Christian families as well as an uplifting discipleship training exercise for any group.

Reviewed by Jon Ruthven

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Category: Living the Faith, Spring 2016

About the Author: Jon M. Ruthven, Ph.D., passed away April 11, 2022. He spent his entire adult life in ministry, starting with David Wilkerson in Boston and New York City in the mid-60s. After spending a dozen years pastoring, a couple a years as a missionary in Africa as President and Dean of Pan Africa Christian College in Nairobi, Kenya, he ended up teaching theology in seminary for 18 years. Always interested in training and discipleship, Jon sought to develop a radically biblical approach to ministry training that seeks to replicate the discipling mission of Jesus in both content and method. Jon wrote numerous scholarly papers and books including On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Postbiblical Miracles (1993 and 2009) and What’s Wrong with Protestant Theology? Tradition vs. Biblical Emphasis (2013). He emphasized the biblical grounding for a practical ministry of healing, signs and wonders in the power of the Spirit. Facebook.

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