Dallas Willard - Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks

The original kernel of an idea for publishing a Dallas Willard anthology surfaced in 2009. It came during the first of what would become several visits I made from the United Kingdom to Southern California to conduct research interviews with Dallas. We discussed his theological and philosophical work for my Ph.D. dissertation, which describes Dallass influence on evangelical faith. During a break in our conversations, Dallas took the opportunity to search for a reference in an article hed written years prior. We walked from the living room to his office, and he opened a large drawer in a gray metal file cabinet full of manila file folders. The cabinet was a treasure chest of ideas. What you now hold in your hands are many of the articles that filled that fateful cabinet. Later that day we took a break for coffee, and he led me on a short walk around his property. He introduced me to the flora, including several fruit trees; fauna; and wildlife that nestled nearby. Eventually we came to the little white house adjacent to his property that held his extensive library. There he and I rummaged through several boxes of other writingsas well as audiocassette tapes of sermons, lectures, and speaking engagementsthat spanned an enormously wide variety of subjects. At the time the vast array of topics I found was dizzying. Im still overwhelmed by the scope of Dallass thoughtfulness, how prolific his writing is, and the depth of his expertise on subjects ranging from epistemology to theology.

That afternoon, two very sobering realizations immediately consumed my thoughts. First, I realized that unless I was able to quickly narrow the research topics for my dissertation, I might never finish. Second, I became certain that the material he was showing me must be brought to light for the common good. We need and will benefit from continuing to hear Dallass incisive voice of wisdom and grace engaging the essential realities of human existence and the eternal quality of life offered within the realm of Christ and his kingdom.

Many readers may be coming to Dallass works for the first time. Its a privilege for me to provide them with at least some brief biographical details about this fascinating, humble, and erudite man.

Dallas Albert Willard was born in the impoverished, rural setting of Buffalo, Missouri, on September 4, 1935, during the height of the Great Depression. He began his studies at William Jewel College in Liberty, Missouri, and went on to earn his B.A. in psychology from Tennessee Temple College in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1956. It was at Tennessee Temple, at nineteen years of age, that he met and married his wife, Jane Lakes Willard, in 1955. Dallas earned another bachelors degree in philosophy and religion from Baylor University in 1957 before moving to Madison, Wisconsin, and earning his Ph.D. in philosophy with a minor in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin.

Dallas accepted a teaching position at the University of Southern California in 1965, where he remained for forty-seven years. He was a decorated scholar and received Outstanding Faculty, Outstanding Contributions to Student Life, and Excellence in Teaching awards in recognition of his work. His dedication to his teaching, students, colleagues, and staff was legendary. USC colleague Donald Miller remembers Dallas as possessing an encyclopedic mind that left students awed by his wide range of knowledge.

But it wasnt just his teaching and intellect that drew people to Dallas. John Ortberg, a longtime friend and world-renowned pastor and writer, reflected that Dallas was not only the smartest man hed ever met, but also a man from another time zone. Dallas lived a quality of life that was so strongly enmeshed in the realities and blessings that flow from the kingdom of God that being in relationship with Dallas helped shape and form the character of those who knew him best. In fact, there is a common phrase bantered about in groups of Dallass close friends. When a subject, idea, or action is on the table for discussion, someone will often ask, WWDD? (or, What Would Dallas Do?). John expressed what so many, including me, have experienced in relationship with Dallas. Dallass presence and character represented the unhurried, humble, selfless attention of a human being who lived deeply in the genuine awareness of the reality of the kingdom of God. In short, Dallas was one of the godliest people many had ever met. And he inspired others to be the same.

In a September 2006 article in Christianity Today, Dallas noted that his academic career began in the 1960s after he heard God tell him, If you stay in the churches, the university will be closed to you, but if you stay in the university, the churches will be open to you. Willards initial academic interest was focused on the influential twentieth-century German philosopher Edmund Husserl, who is understood by many as the principal founder of the field of phenomenology and a stalwart thinker who fought for epistemic realism. Husserls work captivated Dallas because of his recognition of the necessity to understand that human beings must seek, and can attain, increasing levels of the knowledge of things as they are in and of themselves. And no search for knowledge was more intriguing to Dallas than that for the true knowledge of God, which is closely followed by the knowledge of the existential nature, formation, and transformation of the human soul. God, truth, and humanity, for Dallas, were the doorways that eventually led to every subject under the sun.

It was this quest that initially led Dallas to study psychology, then theology and religion, finally settling on the field of philosophy. In his opinion, the discipline of philosophy provided the best, albeit not a perfect, means through which propositions surrounding the nature of God, reality, and the root essence of human existence could be investigated. Dallas never saw theology and philosophy as competitors but rather as complements of a single search for wisdom and the knowledge of God regarding all of creation. As such, his philosophical interests took him into areas as diverse as metaphysics; contemporary European philosophy; ethics, with an emphasis on moral knowledge; politics; law; professionalism; the ontology of concepts; reasoning and logic; aesthetics; the history of philosophy; language and thought; phenomenology; and the history of the philosophy of religion. Yet Dallas understood each of these subdisciplines as a means through which he could engage philosophys, humanitys, and scriptures four basic questions: What is real? What is the good life? Who is a good person? And, How does one become a good person?

Dallas taught that each of these questions has been thoroughly engagedin some form or anotherby the biblical writers, the gospel of Jesus, and church forebearers throughout the ages. Yet he gave his life to the belief that this search for increased understanding and awareness of God on the critical issues of our day must continue. In that way he could be understood as a progressive, because he believed that as followers of Christ we should always seek wisdom and virtue as we conform our hearts and minds to the likeness of Christ. Thus, we must never stop seeking, asking for, progressing toward, and finding the truth about the nature of our creation and Creator.

But he was also a stalwart conservative. Dallas held that historic Christian knowledge represents the knowledge of God made available to us through tradition, scriptures, reason, and experience. As such, we must be willing to suffer the consequences of conserving the truth, speaking truth in love, and trusting God to care for us when the public tide turns away from what God has revealed as good and best. Dallas found purpose and meaning for himself and others in this search for knowledge and truth, and he spent his considerable talents spreading the Word of life, and the hope that comes from the fruit of repentance. Repentance for Dallas was captured in the Greek term