Study Guides by
Dallas Willard
3 discussion guides available
The Spirit of the Disciplines
Dallas Willard's The Spirit of the Disciplines makes a bold and clarifying argument: the Christian life is not a matter of trying harder to be good, but of training to become the kind of person who naturally lives as Jesus lived. Willard insists that salvation is not merely the forgiveness of sins but the total renovation of the human self — body, mind, soul, and will — and that the ancient spiritual disciplines are the God-given means by which that renovation takes place. Drawing on theology, philosophy, church history, and the example of Jesus himself, Willard shows why grace and disciplined effort are not opposites, and why a church that has abandoned the disciplines has, in effect, abandoned the path of transformation.
View Discussion GuideRenovation of the Heart
Dallas Willard's Renovation of the Heart is one of the most important books on Christian spiritual formation written in the last century. Its central thesis is both simple and radical: following Jesus is not merely a matter of trying harder to behave better. True discipleship requires the intentional, grace-driven transformation of every dimension of the human person — will, mind, body, emotions, social relationships, and soul — so that, over time, we increasingly think, feel, desire, and act as Jesus would in our place. Willard calls this process "spiritual formation" and insists it is not optional for the serious Christian. To remain unchanged at the core while hoping surface behavior will improve is, in his memorable phrase, like a "vampire Christian" — one who wants the benefits of Jesus's blood but not the life of Jesus himself.
View Discussion GuideThe Divine Conspiracy
Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy is one of the most important and challenging books on Christian discipleship written in the twentieth century. Its central thesis is both simple and revolutionary: the gospel is not merely a message about how to get into heaven after death, but an invitation to live now, in the present, as an apprentice of Jesus Christ — participating in the life and rule of God that Jesus called "the kingdom of the heavens." Willard argues that the church has largely exchanged genuine discipleship for what he calls "bar code Christianity" — the idea that salvation is a transaction that gains us entry to eternal life while leaving our actual lives essentially unchanged. Against this thin version of the faith, Willard calls readers back to Jesus's own vision: a life so thoroughly transformed by love, character, and the presence of God that it overflows into every corner of our existence.
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