Book Review: "The Prince's Poison Cup" By: RC Sproul

RC Sproul's "The Prince's Poison Cup" is a beautiful children's allegory of the Bible's overall redemptive story of Jesus Christ taking the "cup of God's wrath" (Isaiah 51:17; Mk 14:36) to save us. It stars ol' Great Grandpa Sproul telling Ella (a sick little girl) that just as drinking the bitter medicine will make her better, so there once was a Prince who took a "bitter cup" to make people well. 


The story is well-done and leads kids (and surely adults too) in a simple, yet beautiful way of understanding the reason for Jesus' death on the cross for us through a Grimm-style fairy tale. The drawings are artistically tasteful and portray beautiful scenes with imagery that enlivens Sproul's text.

And the biblical themes are clearly there, not just in the images but most definitely in the text. Sproul takes great care to make the theology of his story match succinctly with the Bible's (so much so, that it may have limited the simple scope of the story). Therefore, anyone who's read Genesis 1-3 and the passion of Jesus Christ in the gospels will see where Sproul is going from the beginning. 

Parents will be encouraged to know that "The Prince's Poison Cup" comes with a parent's guide at the end, to help lead a child's understanding of the children's story to the real story of Jesus. 

Overall, its a beautiful story that will lead children into an understanding of Jesus at an early age. Who doesn't want that for their kids?

5/5 stars

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the book is available for purchase here:






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