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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.4
EAN: 9780060693336
ISBN: 0060693339
Label: HarperOne
Manufacturer: HarperOne
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: April 15, 1998
Publisher: HarperOne
Release Date: March 24, 1998
Sales Rank: 9790
Studio: HarperOne
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
A renowned teacher and writer of the acclaimed The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard, one of today's most brilliant Christian thinkers now offers a timely and challenging call back to the true meaning of Christian discipleship. In The Divine Conspiracy, Willard gracefully weaves biblical teaching, popular culture, science, scholarship, and spiritual practice into a tour de force that shows the necessity of profound changes in how we view our lives and faith. In an era when many Christians consider Jesus a beloved but remote savior, Willard argues compellingly for the relevance of God to every aspect of our existence. Masterfully capturing the central insights of Christ's teachings in a fresh way for today's seekers, he helps us to explore a revolutionary way to experience God--by knowing Him as an essential part of the here and now, rather than only as a part of the hereafter.
'The most telling thing about the contemporary Christian,' Willard writes, 'is that he or she has no compelling sense that understanding of and conformity with the clear teachings of Christ is of any vital importance to [their] life, and certainly not that it is in any way essential . . . Such obedience is regarded as just out of the question or impossible.' Christians, he says, for the most part consider the primary function of Christianity to be admittance to heaven. But, as Willard clearly shows, a faith that guarantees a satisfactory afterlife, yet has absolutely no impact on life in the here and now, is nothing more than 'consumer Christianity' and 'bumper-sticker faith.'
Willard refutes this 'fire escape' mentality by exploring the true nature of the teachings of Jesus, who intended that His followers become His disciples, and taught that we have access now to the life we are only too eager to relegate to the hereafter. The author calls us into a more authentic faith and offers a practical plan by which we can become Christ-like. He challenges us to step aside from the politics and pieties of contemporary Christian practice and inspires us to reject the all too common lukewarm faith of our times by embracing the true meaning of Christian discipleship.
A Powerful, Thought-Provoking
Guide to Living the Life
Jesus Intends for Us
'My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him. Very few people today find Jesus interesting as a person or of vital relevance to the course of their actual lives. He is not generally regarded as a real life personality who deals with real-life issues, but is thought to be concerned with some feathery realm other than the one we must deal with, and must deal with now.'
'[A]ctual discipleship or apprenticeship to Jesus is, in our day, no longer thought of as in any way essential to faith in him. It is regarded as a costly option, a spiritual luxury, or possibly even as an evasion. Why bother with discipleship, it is widely thought, or, for that matter, with a conversational relationship with God? Let us get on with what we have to do.'
'This book, then, presents discipleship to Jesus as the very heart of the gospel. The eternal life that begins with confidence in Jesus is a life in His present kingdom, now on earth and available to all. So the message of and about him is specifically a gospel for our life now, not just for dying. It is about living now as his apprentice in kingdom living, not just as a consumer of his merits. Our future, however far we look, is a natural extension of the faith by which we live now and the life in which we now participate.'
-- from The Divine Conspiracy
Amazon.com Review:
Dallas Willard, an acclaimed theologian and professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California, fulfills the longing of many Christians who want to live as true disciples of Christ rather than distant dabblers. Likewise, he scoffs at consumer Christians who are simply banking on admittance to heaven as their payoff for attending church. Or worse still, those who use Christianity to advance their political agendas rather than their spiritual ones. But this is not a scolding book. Rather, Willard devotes his efforts to discussing specific and inspiring ways to develop a discipleship to Jesus--not as an act of sacrifice or even one of spiritual luxury--instead, as everyday people committed to the teachings of Christ. 'The really good news for Christians is that Jesus is now taking students in the master class of life,' writes Willard. 'So the message of and about him is specifically a gospel for our life now, not just for dying. It is about living now as his apprentices in kingdom living, not just as consumers of his merits.' --Gail Hudson
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
I read this and "A Spirit of the Disciplines" right after I soaked-in and practically did back-flips over Richard Foster's now more than 25-years-old inspired masterpiece, "A Celebration of Discipline". Both take the best elements of the grand Quaker tradition and modernize it in an incendiary, soul-moving way. All of Willard's works are brilliant and touching, but my favorite read....I would go as far as to label it "required".....is "The Divine Conspiracy".
Rating: -
"Is Jesus part of your daily life--here and now? Or, by failing to take him seriously, have you relegated him to the realm of the `hereafter'?"
In this book, Dallas Willard handles a topic many of talk about, but few have up and running in their lives. The biggest problem we have with discipleship is that we really don't know - have knowledge about, that is - what it looks like.
But Willard is confident that with some knowledge our faith can be strengthened and feelings ... Read More
Rating:  -
When I received the book I started reading immediately and it went so well that today when I read to page 132 and wanted to go to page 133 there was no page 133 the following page was 277 and then later on page 277 repeated I do not know why there are pages missing but I want my money back.
Rating: -
I am not sure how to write a review for a book that I will reference for the rest of my life. I had great expectations for this book before beginning it and they were all met. This book is about the Sermon on the Mount and so much more - discipleship to Christ.
Willard opens with the idea that Jesus (and therefore God) was/is brilliant. Not in the abstract "of course he is, duh, he's God" but in a wow, Jesus really knows humanity, the world, good and evil, etc. He speaks of the kingdom ... Read More
Rating: -
I bought this book to read and review with a group of Christians. It was a little difficult for me to get through the first couple of chapters, but the effort was well worth it. This is one of the best books on Christianity I have read.
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