- Donate
- Subscribe
My Account
Books
Reviewed by Greg Taylor
A prison minister who led the mass-murderer to Jesus tells the story.
- View Issue
- Subscribe
- Give a Gift
- Archives
This book tells the disturbing yet redemptive story of how, by God’s grace, an atheist, pedophile, and mass murderer repented and believed in Jesus Christ. Roy Ratcliff—the erstwhile preacher-turned-prison-minister who baptized Jeffrey Dahmer—discovered through him this deep sense of grace that flies in the face of our compunction to condemn, voiced by one college professor who said, “If Dahmer’s in heaven, I don’t want to be there.”
DARK JOURNEY,DEEP GRACE:Jeffrey Dahmer’sStory of Faithby Roy RatcliffwithLindy AdamsLeafwood Publishers208 pp.; $13.99
Ratcliff says he became convinced of Dahmer’s sincerity during seven months of prison visits. “I feel very, very bad about the crimes I’ve committed,” Dahmer told Ratcliff. “In fact, I think I should have been put to death by the state for what I did.” A fellow inmate killed Dahmer in 1994.
Ratcliff called Dahmer by his first name, Jeff. “He became a real person to me, so I referred to him the same way I would anyone I knew personally,” Ratcliff said. “He was ready to die. I was the one who was unprepared.”
Thanks for signing up.
Please click here to see all our newsletters.
Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.
Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere:
Dark Journey, Deep Grace is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.
More information is available from Leafwood Publishers.
For book lovers, our 2006 CT book awards are available online, along with our book awards for 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1997, as well as our Books of the Twentieth Century. For other coverage or reviews, see our Books archive and the weekly .
- More fromReviewed by Greg Taylor
- Crime
- Prisons
- Testimonies
Also in this issue
The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.
Christianity TodaySeptember, 2006
View issue
Cover Story
Young, Restless, Reformed
Collin Hansen
'Divine Conspirator' Dallas Willard Dies at 77
Christine A. Scheller
It's All About God
Inside C.S. Lewis's Toolbox
Reviewed by Louis A. Markos
Embrace Your Inner Pentecostal
Chris Armstrong
China's New Legal Eagles
Tony Carnes
Spiritual Classics
Compiled by Richard A. Kauffman
Class Warfare
J. Edward Mendez, RNS, with reporting by Jason Bailey
What Happened to Religion in Canada?
Reviewed by Mark Noll
Despair Not
Stephen L. Carter
The Call of Samuel
Tim Stafford
Logic Left Behind
Reviewed by Collin Hansen
The Whole Word for the Whole World
Jeremy Weber
For Shame?
Amy Laura Hall
Christ's Story
Reviewed by Gary M. Burge
Postcard from Africa
Philip Yancey
Editorial
God's Will in the Public Square
A Christianity Today Editorial
The Truth Is Somewhere
Deann Alford
Wrongful Love
Brad A. Greenberg
Theology for an Age of Terror
Timothy George
News
Quotation Marks
Compiled by Ted Olsen
The New Missions Generation
Jonathan Rice
News
Go Figure
Compiled by Ted Olsen
News
<em>Christianity Today</em> News Briefs
CT staff
News
Passages
Compiled by CT staff
Excerpt
A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future
Together in the Jesus Story
Interview by David Neff
Nicholas Kristof on Evangelicals, China, and Human Rights
Interview by Collin Hansen
'Volcanic' Response
Sarah Pulliam
We're Not Spectators
Ted Olsen
Bygone Protests
John W. Kennedy
Two Degrees of Separation
Rob Moll
News
Scrubbing CleanFlicks
A Christianity Today Editorial
Thinking Straight
Madison Trammel
Echoes and Voices from Beyond
Reviewed by James W. Sire
How to Create Cynics
David P. Gushee
Sermons of Frederick Buechner
Reviewed by Wendy Murray
Estranged Bedfellows
Chris Hall reviews Jaroslav Pelikan's 'Whose Bible Is It?'
The Problem with Prophets
Paul Marshall
Sit Down, Sit Down for Jesus?
Stan Guthrie
Pluralist Impotence
Douglas LeBlanc reviews 'American Mythos'
Dr. Willard's Diagnosis
Cornelius Plantinga Jr.
View issue
Our Latest
View All
Being Human
Art, Anxiety, and America with Mandy Smithpodcast_grayscale
Steve Cuss
The author and pastor on creativity in all vocations.
Christian Formation for the ‘Toolbelt Generation’
Jen Hemphill
I always assumed my sons would go to college. When they chose the trades, it reframed my view of higher ed—and church community.
The Bulletin
Take a Look at Me Nowpodcast_grayscale
Presidential campaign updates, the Taliban’s new Code of Laws, and caring for our souls.
News
German Pastor to Pay for Anti-LGBTQ Statements
Ken Chitwood in Germany
Years of court cases come to an end with settlement agreement.
News
Should Christians Across Denominations Be Singing the Same Songs?
Kelsey Kramer McGinnis
Some traditions work to refocus on theological distinctives in their music as worship megahits take over.
News
Rwanda Explains Why It Closed Thousands of Churches. Again.
Morgan Lee
The East African nation has shuttered 9,800 “prayer houses” because it wants safe buildings and well-trained pastors. Is that too much to ask?
News
Activist Lila Rose Under Fire for Suggesting Trump Hasn’t Earned the Pro-Life Vote
Harvest Prude
As conservatives see bigger shifts and divides over abortion, Live Action founder says she’ll keep speaking up for stronger policies.
More Christian Colleges Will Close. Can They Finish Well?
Nadya Williams
The “demographic cliff” will force schools to cut jobs or shut down—but how they do it matters.
