The Theology of Dallas Willard: Discovering Protoevangelical Faith by Gary Black Jr

Author:Gary Black Jr. [Black Jr., Gary]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781621898207
Publisher: Pickwick Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2013-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOUR

The Willardian Correction

WILLARD’S PROTOEVANGELICAL VISION AND essentia Dei schema often conflicts with or stand in contrast to significant tenets of mainstream theology and praxis within American evangelical religion today. Ironically, Willard’s most consolidated critique of evangelicalism is found in The Divine Conspiracy, which was also his most widely acknowledged and acclaimed work in mainstream evangelical circles.531 It epitomizes both Willard’s soteriology and his exegetical study of the kingdom of God as articulated in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Willard’s handling of these two key subjects provides a complete investigation of the many soteriological implications of applying the worldview of Jesus to the human condition—a project Willard began in The Spirit of the Disciplines. As such, The Divine Conspiracy also represents an inclusive exposé of Willard’s conceptualization of what Jesus communicates and embodies as the “God-bathed” existence available to all who chose to enter his kingdom.532 These two tenets, soteriology and theo-ontology, also represent the basis from which Willard stages his critiques of contemporary forms of evangelical theology and praxis. It is to these critiques we now turn our focus.

Willard’s critique of modern evangelical theology and practice is commensurate with earlier appraisals delivered by the likes of G. K Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Os Guinness. Willard often quotes their works to contravene the established norms found in evangelical theology and offer either a more traditional or less modern perspective. Yet, reviewers also note that The Divine Conspiracy presented much more than a critique of evangelical faith and likened Willard’s espousal of the Christ-centered spiritual life to the devotional classics of Thomas à Kempis, Luther, Calvin, and John Wesley.533 High praise, indeed.

As critical as Willard is of mainstream evangelical theology and practice, one wonders why The Divine Conspiracy was so widely received and acclaimed. Although perhaps new to evangelicals, Willard’s soteriology is not novel in light of the broader history of the church catholic. Yet, since Willard places such a high value on Scripture, a longstanding evangelical theological bulwark, he is seldom if ever perceived or critiqued as offering a “new” gospel or even an extremist shift in evangelical theology. To do so would require a thorough exegetical, hermeneutical battle, to which reviewers sense Willard’s exegetical prowess leaves no opening for substantial critique.534 Conversely, reviewers who recognize and advocate for his interpretation of the gospel and its corresponding theology realize that, if properly understood, Willard presents a significant and radical departure from the status quo within the preponderance of evangelical settings.535

Building on the earlier themes, Willard’s critique in The Divine Conspiracy posits the foundational premise that the essential nature of God and ethos of the kingdom of God are the central driving forces behind the message Jesus presents. As has already been discussed in the previous sections on activism, conversionism, and crucicentrism, Willard steadfastly argues the euangelion Jesus presented is uniquely different from that often presented in many evangelical settings. To reiterate, Jesus’ gospel is one not dependent on, tailored for, or giving doctrinal primacy to the concept of “forgiveness of sin.

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