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The Prince's Poison Cup

by R.C. Sproul, Justin Gerard (Illustrator)

4.21 · rating details · 28 ratings · 11 reviews

With The Prince's Poison Cup, Dr. R. C. Sproul continues his series of books designed to present deep biblical truths to children on their own level. In this work, he focuses on the atonement to show that Jesus had to endure the curse of sin in order to redeem His people from their spiritual death.

When Ella gets sick and has to take yucky medicine, she wonders why somethi...more

Hardcover, 35 pages

Published October 31st 2008 by Reformation Trust Publishing (first published 2008)

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Jul 07, 2011

Melanie rated it

Shelves: kids_books, parenting, religion, favorites

The Prince’s Poison Cup is an allegorical retelling of the Gospel in a non-threatening and child-friendly way. The illustrations are plentiful and beautiful. (I especially like how the book is tan colored, so when the King of Life is drawn he is brilliantly bright.) There are enough Biblical concepts and truth in this seemingly simple tale to keep a parent busy for many readings. I think that is the true brilliance of Dr. Sproul and this book! He is able to take a very complicated story and...moreThe Prince’s Poison Cup is an allegorical retelling of the Gospel in a non-threatening and child-friendly way. The illustrations are plentiful and beautiful. (I especially like how the book is tan colored, so when the King of Life is drawn he is brilliantly bright.) There are enough Biblical concepts and truth in this seemingly simple tale to keep a parent busy for many readings. I think that is the true brilliance of Dr. Sproul and this book! He is able to take a very complicated story and retell it in a way a child can understand without sacrificing truth.

The King of Life creates a park for his people to enjoy and gives them freedom to drink from the streams but not the fountain, as the fountain would harm them. The people drink and as a result their hearts turn to stone. The King asks his son the prince to take his golden cup and drink murky poison to heal the hearts of his people.

There are some especially deep, yet simple, concepts in the book that I really liked, like explaining the consequences of sin. “But a terrible thing happened when the people drank the water—[of which they were forbidden to drink] their hearts turned to stone. After that, they no longer felt any love for their King. They didn’t even want to be with Him anymore. (p. 14) Dr. Sproul doesn’t go into the Holiness of the king requiring punishment for sin, but he does cover depravity with the idea that the people’s hearts were turned into stone.

Another deep concept is the foreknowledge of God that people would sin: “The King was very wise and had known that the people would drink from the fountain, and He already had a plan to help them. (p. 16)” The book even helps to explain the righteousness of God by saying that “The poison was made up of the King’s anger over the people’s disobedience. (p. 16)” The Prince (or Jesus) has to drink the poison for us in order to heal our stony hearts.

The end of the book also has ideas and Bible verses to help answer questions that will come up. For example, in answering what happens after you trust in Jesus? The book gives you Ezekiel 36:26: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Referenced on p. 40)
This book is a wonderful addition to any collection and is far from a fluffy children’s Bible story. I certainly recommend it to anyone with children.

(I received this book for free from Reformation Trust Publishing in exchange for my honest review)
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Apr 07, 2011

Marie Ralston rated it

The Prince's Poison Cup is a beautiful rendition of the reason mankind needs a savior and the ultimate sacrifice that was made. The story starts with a beautiful town that the King of Light has created. The people in the town are happy in their daily fellowship with their ruler, until they disobey his orders and drink from the forbidden well. The rest of the story follows the Prince's journey as he must muster his courage and try to rescue the town's people from their own mistake of drinking fr...more

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Dec 21, 2010

Stephen Escalera rated it

It's not every day that you come across a story that not only helps your child understand something he doesn't like to do, but (and more importantly) one that uses the same principles to illustrate a great Biblical truth.

In R.C. Sproul's "The Prince's Poison Cup," a grandfather explains to his granddaughter that some things like medicine, while tasting horrible, help us to feel better. While he doesn't really give an answer as to why this is, he uses it as an illustration to ...moreIt's not every day that you come across a story that not only helps your child understand something he doesn't like to do, but (and more importantly) one that uses the same principles to illustrate a great Biblical truth.

In R.C. Sproul's "The Prince's Poison Cup," a grandfather explains to his granddaughter that some things like medicine, while tasting horrible, help us to feel better. While he doesn't really give an answer as to why this is, he uses it as an illustration to teach a greater truth. He tells the little girl the story of a people who disobeyed a King's command not to drink from a beautiful fountain. Even though the fountain was beautiful to look at, the water was bad for them and turned their hearts to stone. In order to heal them, the King's son takes his Father's cup to another fountain in the City of Man to drink the poisonous brew, even though he knows the drink will kill him. The Prince dies, but is raised again by his Father. As a result, many of the people's hearts are changed and love the King once more.

The Biblical parallels in this story are unmistakable. Sproul weaves the story in a way that makes it very easy to point out to children the similarities to Jesus' death and why it was that he died. There are two strong parallels made to the Scriptures. The first is that Jesus (the Prince) willingly does what His Father asks of him out of love for the Father and for the people. The second parallel is that because Jesus drank the cup of poison, the Father's anger is turned into the sweetest water.

It should be noted that the story isn't a straight point-for-point allegory of the atonement, but I don't think the story was meant to parallel exactly. In illustrating the people's disobedience, the Father's love, the Son's willingness and the new life found only in coming to Jesus, this book does an excellent job. The guide for parents at the end of the book is helpful in pointing out where in Scripture the concepts in the story can be found. My children enjoyed listening to the story and were able to see the links between it and the Bible.(less)

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Mar 28, 2010

Shanna Gonzalez rated it

Shelves: children-04-08

R.C. Sproul is a leading Reformed teacher and theologian. He is the founder of Ligonier Academy, editor of the Tabletalk devotional and host of the radio program Renewing Your Mind. He is also the author of several excellent Gospel-centered children's books which are distinguished from others of their genre both by their theological depth and artistic excellence.

The Prince's Poison Cup is a well-developed, transparent allegory for Jesus' ransom of humanity from their sin. When a ...moreR.C. Sproul is a leading Reformed teacher and theologian. He is the founder of Ligonier Academy, editor of the Tabletalk devotional and host of the radio program Renewing Your Mind. He is also the author of several excellent Gospel-centered children's books which are distinguished from others of their genre both by their theological depth and artistic excellence.

The Prince's Poison Cup is a well-developed, transparent allegory for Jesus' ransom of humanity from their sin. When a young child asks her grandfather why medicine tastes so bad, he takes the opportunity to tell a story about a king who built a garden for his people, with a fountain of pure water in the middle. Against his command, the people drank from the fountain and it turned to poison. This resulted in their hearts being turned against their King, while earning his wrath. Only by sending his Prince to drink the poison and die from it could the poison be turned back into water, the people's hearts be changed, and the King's anger be satisfied.

Many of the story elements are drawn from Jesus' statements about Himself. In John 4:10 and John 7:37 He invites people to come to Him and drink. In Matthew 26:39 He compares his suffering to a cup which has been assigned for him to drink. This in turn is drawn from a common biblical analogy (see for example Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15, and Revelation 16:19) comparing God's wrath to a full cup assigned for the wicked to drink.

This story dramatically enacts the story of Jesus' rescue of sinners through His voluntary death on our behalf. It is an excellent way to introduce and reenact His sacrifice for us in a way that will engage young children's imaginations. It comes with a study guide to help readers draw explicit connections between the story and the full Gospel. Unlike much Christian Bible literature, it is well written and the illustrations are artistically excellent. I highly recommend this book for children's devotionals or simply as a good read-aloud.(less)

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Oct 25, 2011

Travis rated it

As a parent, I often try to come up with ways to present the truths of the gospel in a way that my children can understand. Often, I find myself frustrated in the task. It is highly difficult to allegorize the gospel without completely missing major, important truths. Thankfully, R. C. Sproul has made this task much easier by bringing us The Prince’s Poison Cup.

The story we find in the pages of this well-illustrated children’s book is mainly the allegory of the gospel couched ...more As a parent, I often try to come up with ways to present the truths of the gospel in a way that my children can understand. Often, I find myself frustrated in the task. It is highly difficult to allegorize the gospel without completely missing major, important truths. Thankfully, R. C. Sproul has made this task much easier by bringing us The Prince’s Poison Cup.

The story we find in the pages of this well-illustrated children’s book is mainly the allegory of the gospel couched in the answer to a little girls’ question about why medicine which makes us better tastes so bad. This affectation helps young readers to understand that they are hearing a clearly fictional story with a bigger, real-world meaning. The allegory itself is a sweeping picture of the overall story of redemption history—creation, fall, and redemption.

In the allegory, a great king created all things. The king’s subjects rebelled against him by drinking the water in a fountain in the center of the king’s garden. That water caused the people’s hearts to turn to stone, and their stony hearts led the people to hate and fear the loving king. In order to rescue his people, the king sent his son to drink a cup of poison, a poison made up of all the king’s anger for the rebellion of his people. When the prince drinks the poison, the king arrives, raises him from the dead, and drives off the enemy who had deceived the people. Then the hearts of many of the people are changed from stone to flesh, and they come to receive fresh, healing water from the prince.

Sproul has done an excellent job of bringing the details of redemption history into a readable children’s storybook. My children grasp the flow of the story. They feel sorrow when they see the people rebel. They squirm when the prince drinks the poison. They rejoice when the people’s hearts are changed and when they are restored to fellowship with the king. And, thankfully, they understand that this story represents the bigger truth of what Jesus did to help them to be made right with God.

There is no doubt that this book was written to teach young ones the truth of redemption history, but it can help grown-ups too. We need, from time-to-time, to take a fresh look at the gospel for the encouragement of our own souls. We need to be reminded of how God, by his grace and for his glory, changed our stony hearts into soft hearts that could receive his free gift of mercy. We need to remember the horror that the Lord Jesus suffered in order to consume the wrath of God that we deserved. We need to remember that to embrace the sin of this world is to choose a slum over a garden. We need to remember that God is the great King who cannot and will not be defeated by the schemes of the enemy. We need to remember that it is good to take the message of the prince’s sacrifice to all those who need grace.

I offer a wholehearted recommendation of The Prince’s Poison Cup. Parents, grandparents, and Sunday School teachers all could find ways to use this book. Even youth workers and grown-up pastors can benefit by having on their shelves a resource that so simply and beautifully captures the big picture of God’s plan. R. C. Sproul has given us a great gift by taking the time to write for us such a sweet little book.

[Disclosure: Reformation Trust has offered a free hardcopy of this book to me in exchange for the publishing of this review. The publisher did not in any way influence how the review was written, not asking for a positive review, but simply asked that the review be honest and thoughtful.]
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Jul 04, 2009

Sydney rated it

This is a great book. My grandma got it for me and i loved it. it is a short book. but i love it because it teaches you so much about many things.

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May 30, 2010

Jana rated it

A pastor wrote this book parallel to Christ's life. Really cool pictures and an interesting story.

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Jul 28, 2011

Jessica added it

A thinly veiled, yet very clear, presentation of the gospel. Plus, excellent, moving artwork.

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Dec 11, 2008

Dave rated it

This is a very good book explaining the saving grace and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. It is a must have for all kids.

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Aug 13, 2011

Aaron rated it

Shelves: children, christian

My review here: http://lunchboxsw.wordpress.com/2011/08/...

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Dec 31, 2009

Jason rated it

Kids Love Poison Cup Stories

The Prince’s Poison Cup is a wonderful story that is attractively illustrated and told in such a way to make righteousness appear attractive. The Gospel message is for young and old alike and RC Sproul offers a solid scriptural salvation narrative.

The young girl Ella struggles to understand how her yucky medicine could make her well. This is a down to earth reality that my 6 year old readily grasps. Grandpa begins to explain to Ella that, “so...more

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About R.C. Sproul

Robert Charles (R.C.) Sproul is a Reformed writer, speaker and pastor. He founded Ligonier Ministries and can be heard daily on the Renewing Your Mind radio broadcast in the United States and internationally. He had served as a professor at several Reformed seminaries and is a council member of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

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