I first became acquainted with Dr. Willard's
writings through his book, “Spirit of the Disciplines.” But his books that
impacted me the most were “The Divine Conspiracy” and “Knowing Christ Today.”
Dr. Willard’s thinking and teaching on discipleship,
life in God’s kingdom, and the nature of spiritual knowledge have been very
helpful to me and have provided guidance and great insight as I have grown in
my relationship with Christ.
Dallas Willard was a professor of philosophy as well
as a Christian pastor and theologian. God
gave him an interesting and unique perspective which involved a rigorous,
penetrating intellect as well as a serious, committed spiritual life. I am richer because of his giftedness and his
obedience to God.
I would greet the release of every new Dallas
Willard book with enthusiasm and expectancy.
I’m sad that he will not be writing any more books. I know that I will see my friend again, someday,
but for now, I will surely miss him.
Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL
Dallas
Willard Quotes:
"If you could find a better way, Jesus would be
the first one to tell you to take it. And if you don't believe that about him,
you don't have faith in him, because what you're really saying is that he would
encourage you to believe something that is false."
“If my pride is untouched when I pray for
forgiveness, I have not prayed for forgiveness.
I don’t even understand it.” The
Divine Conspiracy
“…I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he
would live my life if he were I. I am
not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do
everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.” The Divine Conspiracy
“It is now understood to be a part of the ‘good news’
that one does not have to be a life student of Jesus in order to be a Christian
and receive forgiveness of sins. This
gives a precise meaning to the phrase ‘cheap grace,’ though it would be better
described as ‘costly faithlessness.’” The
Divine Conspiracy
“…To enable people to become disciples we must
change whatever it is in their actual belief system that bars confidence in Jesus
as Master of the Universe.” The Divine
Conspiracy
“We often speak of people not living up to their
faith. But the cases in which we say
this are not really cases of people behaving otherwise than they believe. They are cases in which genuine beliefs are
made obvious by what people do. We
always live up to our beliefs—or down to them, as the case may be. Nothing else is possible. It is the nature of belief.” The Divine Conspiracy
“An understanding of ordinary logic is no longer a
required part of university degree programs, as was almost universally the case
sixty years ago. Now, as a result, our
world if full of uneducated people with higher degrees. They have no independent logical judgment
and simply conform to what their circle takes to be the ‘best professional
opinion.’” Knowing Christ Today
“God has room for people with very little sense, but
He wants everyone to use what sense they have.”
Knowing Christ Today
“The central teachings of the Christian religion,
such as those of the Apostles’ Creed, were from the beginning presented and
accepted as knowledge—knowledge of what is real and what is right. That is why they had the transforming effect
they did on a world dead set against them.”
Knowing Christ Today
“We can never understand the life of faith seen in
scripture and in serious Christian living unless we drop the idea of faith as a
‘blind leap’ and understand that faith is commitment to action, often beyond
our natural abilities, based upon
knowledge of God and God’s ways.”
Knowing Christ Today
“To know Christ in the modern world is to know him
in your world now. To know him in your
world now is to live interactively with
him right where you are in your daily activities. This is the spiritual life in Christ.” Knowing
Christ Today
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