Derek Prince: A Biography

by Stephen Mansfield

Book Overview

Derek Prince was regarded as one of the leading teachers in the Charismatic Renewal, but his life was for many years about a brutally honest, religion-weary man searching for God. Stephen Mansfield,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591857945
• ISBN13: 9781591857945
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Charisma House
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Derek Prince

I have followed Derek Prince's ministry for years and Mansfield's candid approach made me smile with fond memories, as well as give me new appreciation of the genius of this man. I feel honored to have been given the privelege of sitting under this man's teachings.

God is faithful.

The writer relates how, towards the end of Derek Prince's life, he asked Derek what was the most important truth that he had learned about life. Derek Prince replied immediately, "God is faithful. He keeps His word. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. I cannot emphasize this enough......" This experience, although expressed towards the end of this most excellent study, permeates the text from the very beginning. Reading this book, which was a distinct privilege, often moved me to tears and it is difficult in adequately express in mere words alone how highly I would like to commend this study of the life of Derek Prince to others. As illustrated in the book's epilogue, although Derek Prince is dead, the Biblical truths that he pioneered through his life and ministry are not. Although the writer deals in commendable detail with all aspects of Derek Prince's life from his early days in India to his final years living in Jerusalem, for me personally the most significant aspects of Derek's life as described in this book, relate to Derek's own feelings and devotion to Israel and the place that it's people and land play in the Hebrew Christian Scriptures. Named at his birth in Bangalore, India during 1915, as Peter Derek Vaughan Prince, the book follows how Derek entered into a family steeped in the British military and covers his earliest memories and experiences. The writer describes how Derek cited one of his earliest hobbies as being "human nature". His academic brilliance was rarely if ever matched by any of his peers as he steadily progressed through Eton and onwards to become a Cambridge Don where he is described as being both an atheist and a philospher. His ability to debate and teach, together with his proven excellence in dissecting the written word became well known as he studied the classics, philosophy and other such literature at every conceivable level. During World War 2, Derek Prince went on to serve in the Royal Army Medical Corps in what was then Palestine. During his military service the reader discovers how Derek's analysis of literature became rather confined due to the uneasy demands of military service. Not having room in his kit for volumes of books, Derek - "soley as an intellectual exercise" - began a methodical study of the Holy Bible (King James Version). Starting, as with all books - at the beginning - Derek, who was far from being a Christian at this time, was seen by his colleagues diligently spending hours studying the Bible while drinking whisky and swearing with a command that impressed them all. The reader is left to imagine how others perceived him at this time. The book describes how - "...he drinks, he reads his Bible and he walks alone..." It was some time after this, again during his Army Service, that Derek Prince is cited as having his first personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. A life changing experience, described in some detail, and which resounds throughout the

Biography

This book is very well written and brings the reader into a closer look of an extraordinary life of an extraordinary person. Derek prince was a great teacher of Christ and gaining a glimpse of his triumphs, failures, and how the Lord led him through his life inspires all who read it.

What an amazing life

Who knew? Derek Prince's life story is an incredible journey through some of the most important places and events of the last 90 years. From British-ruled India in 1915 through post-WWI Cambridge to years in the desert with the British Army during WWII to the birth of Israel in 1948, arriving in America just months before Kennedy was shot, the tumultuous 60's, the Jesus movement of the 70's and onward. God used this man in so many spectacular and influencial ways. He was a father of much of what we know as common in the church in the west today. What an inspiration.

Incredible Story!

I am almost finished with this biography, and I must say, I've never been more captivated by the story of a man's life. Stephen Mansfield does an incredible job with the flow of the story and you never find yourself bored. I've had a lot of trouble putting the book down. While reading the book I have been inspired to go to a new level of faith in the leading of the Holy Spirit. I'm confident it would do the same for anyone who picks this book up. Highly recommended!!!