It is hard to estimate the significance and impact of Dallas Willard in the church today. It is also hard to describe his newest book: Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge
.This is a good book, and one that puts together many of Willard's ideas and proposals. The unifying theme of the book is that "knowledge" of Christ can be claimed as a genuine, intellectual, and responsible form of knowing in our world. That theme, however, takes on different forms in this book and different styles of presentation.
To begin with, Willard openly complains about how "knowledge" and the pursuit of truth and acquiring wisdom have dropped from the agenda in universities and therefore in society. He's right and I like this point very much. He makes the point that too many argue that, and Christians succumb to, the idea that Christianity is "faith" but not "knowledge."
Chps 4-5 are, in my estimation, the best parts of the book and are brilliantly written: it is an apologetic for belief in a personal God, a God with will and intellect, as the One who is behind the physical world. Something non-physical, vast, personal, etc, was behind the physical world and sustains that physical world. This alone can explain the reality of miracles and the resurrection of Christ.
The third part of the book, which shifts slightly in style to less philosophical argument and more to Christian exposition, concerns knowledge of Christ in the spiritual life -- and here he enters into what for many of us is the classical style of Willard's form of a more mystically-shaped Christian life. The seventh chp enters into a spirited but reasonable form of Christian inclusivism, which he calls Christian pluralism where final redemption is ultimately shaped by whether or not a person -- Christian religion or not -- has a heart that is properly oriented toward God.
Finally, he has a chp in which he expands the meaning of "pastor" and argues that it is pastors who have the responsibility of making this "knowledge of Christ" known today.
The third part of the book, which shifts slightly in style to less philosophical argument and more to Christian exposition, concerns knowledge of Christ in the spiritual life -- and here he enters into what for many of us is the classical style of Willard's form of a more mystically-shaped Christian life. The seventh chp enters into a spirited but reasonable form of Christian inclusivism, which he calls Christian pluralism where final redemption is ultimately shaped by whether or not a person -- Christian religion or not -- has a heart that is properly oriented toward God.
Finally, he has a chp in which he expands the meaning of "pastor" and argues that it is pastors who have the responsibility of making this "knowledge of Christ" known today.
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Argh! My stack is too big too, but this must be added. I'm rather surprised at the mention of an inclusivist paradigm here. Thought Willard was more conservative than that.
I'm curious to see the footnotes. I wonder who he engages.
Contemporary philosophers (John Howard Yoder? Stanley Hauerwas? Alasdair MacIntyre? Alvin Plantinga? James K. A. Smith?)
or earlier philosophers (Aristotle? Augustine? Thomas Aquinas? Luther? Erasmus? Kant?)
or contemporary biblical scholars (N.T. Wright, Richard Hays, Scot McKnight, Craig Keener, Craig Blomberg, Doug Moo, Howard Marshall, Richard Bauckham, Anthony Thisleton, Markus Bockmuehl)
or theologians (John Calvin? Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Karl Barth? Hans Urs von Balthasar? James W. McClendon? Rowan Williams? Alister McGrath? John Milbank? Kevin Vanhoozer? Nancey Murphy? LeRon Shults?)
or Christian classics (Teresa of Avila, Thomas a Kempis?)
or pop culture?
We love Dr. Willard. Guess what? He loves us, too! We love Dr. McKnight, too. Really. Does this post add anything to the discussion? Maybe, since the greatest of these is love.
This work of Willard's sounds very interesting. Scot if it is as you say that the "unifying theme of the book is that "knowledge" of Christ can be claimed as a genuine, intellectual, and responsible form of knowing in our world" then I am guessing and hoping really that his offering will include Michael Polanyi's philosophical perspective on "personal knowledge". Inherent to this discussion - in conjunction with the treatment that a dichotomy between faith and reason is epistemologically inaccurate (as it seems Willard will be hitting on) is the need to bring greater awareness to testimonial dependence in the knowing process.
"..in the current epistemological climate of postmodernity, justifying propositions is not enough. What needs to be validated is not only the propossitio but the entire speech act of testifying." (Vanhoozer, First Theology pg. 361)
"our reliance of testimony 'goes beyond anything that could be justified by personal observation.'...testimony is an irreducible form of knowledge." (Ibid pg. 361)
"Justification in a fiduciary scheme has to do not with "founding" the evidence given by a witness but with trusting it." (Ibid pg. 361)
"...we are only rational i trusting others who are reliable in showing us the way or in giving us the truth. Most to be trusted therefore are those who are demonstrably knowledgeable or wise" (Ibid pg. 360)
"The reliable and authoritative witness becomes a conduit of rationality." (Ibid pg. 363)
All these quotes to say I hope that Willard goes into this area when it comes down to "trusting in spiritual knowledge." It is a huge undertaking to have to deconstruct modern notions of knowing to a more holistic and intuitive sense that goes beyond the scientific method. (I am not against science by the way)
The conversation about Christ as a reliable and authoritative witness and/or conduit of rationality is the big idea here that needs to be asserted forward to wider culture. I believe and hope this is where Willard is going to some degree.
For an excellent book on Michael Polanyi's philosophy and its "tacit" accommodation to Biblical Theology check out Esther Light Meeks,
"Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Everyday People."
I wrote a post a while back Thoughts on Trust,Belief and Faith that go into this a bit further. I am totally armchair so forgive gross oversimplification of issues if you will, though I welcome dialogue. :)
http://miguelmesa.blogspot.com/2007/11/thoughts-on-trust-belief-and-faith.html
Scot will you being doing a series on this book or were you basically plugging it?
Charis & Shalom
Alison, your comment about his work being luminous - YES!
I say this not to glorify a person, but because what the world needs is luminous people. People need to SEE God in our lives, to see God's life at work. What has been so useful to me about Dallas Willard's books & talks is that he proves that the Christian life actually works, and he says "this is how to put it into practice". This has been a new thing for me, one that I wished I'd seen years ago!
For anyone who has been helped by his books or talks, realise that he will be in a spiritual battle, as I think what he teaches is the front line. Pray for him, that God would bless him & his family.
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