There were moments when I was prepared to put Divine Conspiracy on the top shelf in my library. Up there with the best Christian books I've read. And truly, Willard's commentary on The Sermon on the Mount deserves that distinction. It was a little slow going at the beginning, but man. Once he gets to Jesus it is amazing. Divine Conspiracy tapers off again toward the end, but I'm so glad I read it. His insights into Jesus's teachings will stay with me for a long time.

The book was much much too long and slow. I would have enjoyed it a significant amount more and would have been more thoroughly engaged throughout if it were about the half the length.
Besides some places where his exegesis is simply wrong (some of the beatitudes, especially the pure in heart) he makes an interesting and compelling case on how to seriously apply the Sermon on the Mount to all of life.

An accessible theological book on The Kingdom of God, culture, an explanation on the meaning of life as a follower of Jesus, and practical ways of teaching and guiding the apprentice of Jesus. I particularly enjoyed Willard's commentary of many key passages of Scripture which were woven nicely into his well written portrayal of what the Way of life in Jesus is. I would say some of Willard's views on liberation theology may not be current, due to the age of the book, and the strength of the book leaned towards the first 2/3 in his thorough explanation of The Sermon on the Mount.

An incredible book. I can't think of any other book that has so inspired me to revere Jesus as intelligent and actually make me want to trust him with every aspect of my life. Never has a book stretched my mind and my heart so much at the same time. Not an easy read for that reason. I look forward to re-reading this book throughout my life (not something I say very often), as it truly is a classic.

Foster is 100% correct when (in the forward) he writes that the book is comprehensive, accessible, deep and warm. Willard basically composes a comprehensive Christian spirituality based upon the Jesus' sermon on the mount and the reality of the kingdom of the heavens among us. Refusing to join the theological left or right, Willard presents a Christian faith that is captivating and inspiring.

4.5 Stars

Dallas Willard continues to amaze me, and overturn every rock of complacency under which I previously hid. Other than some points that I felt were perhaps tread too many times, I loved this book so much.

Where Spirit of the Disciplines functions as a sort of ‘Owner’s Manual’ for your Christian faith, showing you what practical steps to take to be more like Jesus, The Divine Conspiracy functions more as a complete treatise on Christian life. This book’s scope is so wide that it’s kind of difficult to bring it all into my mind to review it, but nevertheless I will try.

Dallas Willard walks you through the Sermon on the Mount, bit by bit, for the majority of this book. He treats it, correctly, as Jesus’ vision for the ‘new kind of human’ that can live in the Kingdom of God, right now. Not later, but right now. The Kingdom is Jesus’ main vision, and so it is Willard’s as well. Willard is very interested in how we become the people that live in the Kingdom of God here on Earth, and what the Kingdom of God entails about our life right now.
Willard’s focus throughout this whole section is in the way Jesus’ teachings are not strict commandments, like the Law, but instead are depictions of how the ‘new kind of person’ lives, interacts, loves, etc. This is summed up in Willard’s quote: ‘The Pharisee takes as him aim the keeping of the law. Rather than becoming the kind of person who keeps the law’.
This claim itself is life-changing, but Willard just keeps throwing hay-makers.

Moving on from the Sermon on the Mount, Willard keeps following the ‘new kind of person’ into discipleship, tracking along with every difficulty and confusion we encounter.

How do we become this new type of person? Willard gives so much amazing wisdom that I simply cannot cover it all. Just go read it.

How do we lead others to become this type of person (Discipleship)? Same thing.

Eventually he even moves into a vision for what our new lives in the Kingdom look like, looking at what we can know and hope for about the Resurrection, life in the Kingdom, our new Bodies, our responsibilities, and maybe even what the hierarchy of heaven could look like, and theorizes that we might still need to become a lot more like Jesus, even after this life. Definitely so much here, and I love how far Willard is willing to go.

For me, this book has been nothing short of a personal and spiritual journey. It is curious and fantastic how exactly things we experience speak to, and touch, our souls. And experience is the right word. Because if you try to explain it too much you sense that you have extinguished the flame that you hold in your heart and mind.

Dallas Willard, through this book, has brought me closer to the heart of God manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. He examined in great detail perhaps the biggest struggle I have had in faith-the massive disconnect we see in American churches between faith in Jesus and discipleship to Jesus. His treatment of the Sermon on the Mount, which sits at the heart of this book, was one of the most refreshing and clarifying experiences as a student of God’s Word that I have ever had. Indeed, it has changed my life.

I feel like I have an actual framework to go out and build my life upon the rock, to hear and to do. In my life, there have been only a few times I have ever been so excited, and had so much clarity, in regard to being a disciple of Jesus.

I have yet to find anything in this world even remotely as compelling as the person of Jesus Christ, His gospel, and the Kingdom He proclaimed. The more I seek Yahweh, the more I come to understand He has sought, and is seeking me. And the more I forsake the American dream, the more I come to find myself living in and experiencing the Gospel dream, the eternal kind of life, the kingdom among us. For such is the power of the Divine Conspiracy.

Brilliant.

Just as impactful second time around! I think this is going to be an annual read for me.

Definitely the most challenging book I’ve read with almost every page holding some deep thought or wonderful insight. I pride myself on being able to read books fast while still processing everything and I must admit this one took me a long time to get through. If you are looking for a challenge pick up this one.

Someone recommended this book to me some years ago, but it was not the right time for me to read it. I had just finished reading and wrestling with another book from a different author, supposedly Christian, but that had "denied the very blood that bought us," that is, denied Jesus' sacrifice to save us. With that book, I had to look up all the Bible references to see that in context, they did not mean what the author said they meant, and some of the surrounding context even denied what he said about them. So, it was a slow, tortuous read to investigate everything said.

When I opened this book, I saw an unexpected translation of John 3:16 and I felt that I just could not go through such a slow, torturous process again so soon, and worse, I just could not allow myself to feel as disillusioned with the one recommending it as I had before. So, I just closed the book, for the time being. I think if I had read it then, I would have been overly critical of it.

Then, recently, in reading Brother Lawrence's "The Pursuit of the Presence of God," and reading reviews on it, I saw this book listed as being in a similar vein, which drew my attention to it again. I think, actually, their focuses were quite different.

In general, I found this book neither to be amazing nor disheartening. In fact, twice I fell asleep reading it. As far as my interest-level goes, I'd place it on par with A. W. Tozer's writings in that they might have some good things to say, but they just don't grab my attention, and there are some things with which I disagree. I began writing notes in the margin just to keep myself awake.

The first part of the book reminded me of the much more succinct C. S. Lewis' quote, "Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."

I love the idea to "Practice routinely purposeful kindnesses, and intelligent acts of beauty" as an answer to "Practice random acts of kindness."

I also liked the first part of "And no act of beauty is senseless, for the beautiful is never absurd." But then he took it too far with "Nothing is more meaningful than beauty." Jesus' sacrifice for me is more meaningful than mere beauty, and although it is beautiful in its depth of love, the actual act itself was gruesome, not beautiful.

"The popular sayings attract only because people are haunted by the idea ... that life is , in reality absurd. Thus the only acceptable relief is to be cute or clever." That reminded me of all the cute & clever things on the internet, the vast majority of what's posted.

"C. S. Lewis wrote, our faith is not a matter of our hearing what Christ said long ago and 'trying to carry it out.' Rather, 'The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same king of this as Himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to 'inject' His kind of life and thought, His Zoe [life] into you, beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. The part of you that does not like it is the part that is still tin."

In speaking of the fall, and mankind being forced to work from 'the sweat of their brow', Willard wrote, "The sweat comes from our own energies, which is all we have left after losing our roots in God's own life."

John MacArthur "has defended the view that you cannot have a 'saving' faith in Jesus Christ without also intending to obey His teachings," Lordship Salvation.

Willard wrote at length, the primary message of this book, about people trying to take Jesus up on His offer of salvation without also taking Him as Lord (boss.) He thought that it's rare for people to understand and do both, that most people don't think Jesus understood our world or that His principles are too unrealistic. I don't know it's all that unusual.

I had someone in my childhood church, later, as an adult, say that it had taught that once we were saved, our behavior was irrelevant. I don't know how he got that impression of it at all. I didn't, because they preached the whole Bible through. It made me wonder if that's the sort of conclusion someone gets if they've only heard Christmas & Easter sermons, and not been there the whole rest of the time.

I thought of the Bible, particularly Proverbs, but also Jesus' sayings, as "useful" for daily life, because I considered Jesus - and the Holy Spirit, Who'd inspired Proverbs, to be wise. In fact, in my young 20s, every time I was faced with a dilemma and I didn't know what to do, I would read through the book of Proverbs to see what fit the situation. Invariably, acting out what I read had huge, positive benefits in my personal life and in my interactions with others, probably in every area of life.

Plus, when Jesus said, "The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here." - Matthew 12:42 I believe Him, that He is even greater than Solomon in wisdom.

As an engineer, I thought about my own designs, and in thinking of God's designs as Creator, I realized that no one else would fully understand more than He did about the optimal design points for His creation, physically, emotionally, socially, and societally. I also believe that "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." -1 Corinthians 1:25.

So, whenever I do what He says, I expect it to turn out well for me, even if I don't understand how or why or when - and almost always, it does. The harder part to this, which takes longer to learn, is that sometimes it turns out well for others instead of myself - or, I suspect, that it turns out well for society as a whole, even if I can't immediately observe it in my sphere. That last one, I would imagine, goes along the lines of right behavior bringing on persecution against the one doing the good deed - but it is still better for society to have people living and speaking truth.

So, I have learned to take Jesus seriously when He's said specific things. Willard talked about people treating his words like laws, instead of realizing that they need a heart-change to be able to fulfill them. That is an excellent thought, but it leaves out other possibilities for cause and effect, such as, in obeying them, our hearts are changed to be more like His when we see the good coming from the actions, rather than focusing on any discomfort.

I am more likely, personally, to act in faith that God knows what He's talking about, and for the feelings to follow my actions rather than the other way around. I do an act of compassion because Jesus said so, and in doing it, I start to feel compassion for the person. I suppose that other people might feel resentment towards God for whatever resources were spent in compassion. I don't. I marvel at what He does with it. If I waited until I felt compassion before I did anything, I would probably be waiting forever. It doesn't come until I do. I don't feel unusual in this.

(I should also note that I don't always behave right. I'm apt sometimes not to, out of fear or fatigue or plain simple rebellion.)

Willard's statement that "Desire becomes sacred" is an apt description for our society.

Having Jesus "'in my heart' easily becomes 'in my imagination.'" A good warning.

Yeah, yeah, Willard is not a scientist. Ignore his definition of "substance."

"In His world, astonishingly, there is nothing evil we must do in order to thrive. He lived, and invites us to live, in an undying world where it's safe to do and to be good." I think of martyrs, who were good to their own peril. Willard's statement is only true if one considers it not for this life, but for the next and he did not make that clear here.

I have no idea if Willard's understanding of the beatitudes is right. He thinks that the blessed traits - poor in spirit, mournful, merciful, peacemakers, pure in heart etc are not desirable traits but just what those around him already were and Jesus blessed them. He painted them each in a negative light. The pure in heart were critical of others, for example. Or the merciful were taken advantage of. Peacemakers aren't trusted by either side. Or those who were persecuted were annoying whistle-blowers.

But ... in other places, Jesus Himself clearly tells us to be merciful. He leaves us His peace. He tells us to expect persecution. I don't think we are called to be mournful, particularly, but whenever we find ourselves mourning, it's nice to know we will be blessed because of it. If all the attributes of the beatitudes were just the ones that happened to be in the crowd around him, why were the wealthy, comforted, well-fed, laughing ones given woes instead of blessings? I don't have good answers for this.

I liked Willard's paraphrase of Jesus in Matthew 11:4-6, "And blessed are those who are not disappointed with me."

Willard said that anger happens when something crosses our will. Perhaps. But I've heard it said that anger occurs when something or someone we care about is threatened. Not just our will, although that may be one thing threatened. But a beloved child, perhaps, and anger is not always a bad thing.

"Anger indulged, instead of simply waved off always has in it an element of self-righteousness and vanity. Find a person who has embraced anger, and you find a person with a wounded ego." I felt like Willard was over-simplifying things here, and that there are additional, other possibilities. In the case of the endangered child, it might have nothing to do with ego, and everything to do with fear for the child or bitterness that the child was harmed.

And yes, some people do seem to be addicted to the adrenaline rush of anger. I stay away from them.

I thought Willard's section on contempt was good, and not one I'd really considered before. I'd also never thought of his section on swearing oaths as manipulation before. I think it can be done sincerely, too, however. I tend to think of avoiding oaths more because it is degrading to God.

On the topic of turning the other cheek, I like what C. S. Lewis wrote in "Why I am Not a Pacifist." He said that the slap on the cheek in that society was more of an insult and not an endangerment, and so, in turning the other cheek, we were opening ourselves up to more insult, but not endangering ourselves. That thought has interesting ramifications for domestic violence cases.

I like what Willard wrote, "As anger feeds on anger, so patient goodness will normally deflate it... Our response allows the kingdom of God, with all its resources to begin its work. ... Suddenly our attackers sense that they are not playing the game they thought they were, that they are not in control. Their behavior will, in most cases, undergo a radical change and will always be profoundly affected... We can be vulnerable because we are, in the end, simply invulnerable."

"Those are people who do not invest a lot of reflection in doing good for others. Their deeds are 'in secret no matter who is watching, for they are absorbed in love of God and of those around them. They hardly notice their own deed and rarely remember it."

"It is extremely rare that anyone who is condemned will respond by changing in the desired way. And those who can so respond are most likely to be spiritual giants already." 'Rebuke a wise man and he will love you for it.' - Proverbs 9:8. "Yes, but in most cases where we condemn we are not dealing the wise people. We are dealing with people, even very young people, who will simply be deeply injured, become angry, and repay in kind." I'd not thought of that proverb that way before.

"Condemnation, especially with its usual accompaniments of anger and contempt and self-righteousness, blinds us to the reality of the other person."

I like the reminder to pray like Jesus did, that someone's faith will not fail.

I am confused by the comment that heroic praying is not for most of us. It makes me think of the verse, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours ..." James 5:17 and his mighty works due to prayer.

Willard had a different perspective on the passage about casting pearls before swine, (Matthew 7:6), rejecting the notion that the pigs were unworthy, saying if that were so, Jesus would never have come, and that because He did come, that interpretation is opposed to "the spirit of Jesus." I would say, rather, that the two should be balanced to get a fuller picture of Jesus. Yes, He knowingly endangered Himself for us, giving His pearls of truth to us pigs, and He was "torn" or "rent" or "bitten" for doing so. In fact, He became a picture of the One who did give sacred things to dogs & cast pearls before swine, when He taught publicly in the synagogues, although of course, some things He only taught privately to His disciples.

My take on balancing all this is that we should be careful and only cast pearls before swine knowing the cost and prepared to pay it.

And what of the swine? Willard objects to the notion they are unworthy. But all of us swine were unworthy because we had sinned, and that is precisely why Jesus came to die in our place to save us to redeem us, and restore the earlier value we had when He created us.

It's a person's action that determine whether or not they are a swine we should back away from sharing pearls with. It's their own level of hostility to the truth that labels them, not some judgment on our part. But that assumes we have tried to share some level of truth to know how they react.

Willard thinks the parable's not about unworthiness, but helpfulness. I think it's about endangering ourselves and being careful. Yes, the swine can't eat pearls. Swine can't digest pearls. I'd add, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." - 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Does that mean we shouldn't give Bibles and speak truth? Not if we want to fulfill the Great Commission Jesus gave us, "Go therefore & make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." - Matthew 28:19-20a

And I think it's entirely appropriate to be deeply grieved and troubled whenever swine trample the holy things of God. I think of Jesus' anger in "cleansing" the temple that had been used for greed rather than worship.

Not all seed-planting is done out of a desire to control, either. Wherever did Willard get that notion? He didn't say.

So, as to Willard's notion that the pearls aren't nourishing to the swine, how would they be nourished by eating us? Because it silences the conviction that they might need God, or that others have been walking with integrity when they could not and there, it was possible after all to live with integrity.

"... some views of prayer are degrading of God... of those that make his response inevitable if we can just get our words right. Or of those that has us buying him off with sacrifices of various kinds."

Willard belittles "doctrinal correctness" but "Whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." - Hebrews 11:6. That's doctrine and theology, not devoid of action, but encased in it.

Forgiveness is different than trust or accountability.

Willard assumes "it is universally conceded today that you can be a Christian without being a disciple." I have heard people mention that before, but I've not seen any basis for it in scripture. I don't know, but it seems to be at odds with his earlier portions in the book.

Willard talks about all "religious activities" taking 2nd place to our jobs. That sounds to me like making our jobs an idol. I would say it's whatever God directs us to at the time -serving Him in our jobs, serving Him in "religious activities."

Willard downplayed Christian teaching, saying, "The task is not to inform the disciple, or student, about things that Jesus believed, taught, and practiced." I would say it's not merely to inform, it's more. But as one who's volunteered with youth, I'd say it is dangerous to get out of the habit of teaching them, because new generations coming up do not know and do not have that collective memory or Biblical literacy.

Willard said, "The acid test for any theology is this: is the God presented one that can be loved ...?" The acid test is not just whether or not God is lovable, but whether or not our understanding of Him is true, that we're not just deceiving ourselves. True understanding of Him will lead to loving Him.

Willard talked about churches where people only talk about the role of the Holy Spirit and don't talk about our role in gaining maturity. The opposite is also true. There are churches that only talk about our role and not about God's role in it, or how to work with Him.

Willard keeps talking about being empowered to do what we want to do (assuming, I hope, that our character has been transformed to want the right things), but we should really want to be empowered to do whatever God wants us to do instead of what we want.

In the last chapter of the book, Willard says "it seems to matter very little little what one believes" but, in actuality it matters hugely, all the difference between heaven and hell. He thinks this because "all cultures and languages will come together to see God in his glory." But that doesn't mean all beliefs. It means that some people out of all those cultures and with all those languages will come to saving faith in Jesus.

He says it doesn't sound like belief matters in the Biblical description of the future. But belief is not forefront there because, by then, those that don't believe are not present - and they face a horrific fate. Willard's belief is almost Unitarianism, and one can't come at that viewpoint from the Bible as a whole. He did talk about some being separated from God in eternity so Willard is inconsistent.

Everyone being saved is nice, but it's not true. It's dangerous to think it doesn't matter what we believe, and then discover, upon death, that wasn't true.

Quotes:
"a Being who, from his infinite wisdom, cannot err or be deceived, and from his infinite goodness, can do nothing but what is eternally just and right and kind." - Adam Clarke

"What comforts me in this life is that I now see Him by faith, and I see Him in such a manner as might make me say sometimes, I believe no more, but I see." - Brother Lawrence

"His meaning is that those who love and are loved by God are not allowed to cease to exist, because they are God's treasures. He delights in them and intends to hold onto them." on Luke 20:38

"He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied." - Isaiah 53:10-11.

Glad to have had this one on our book club list for this year. Of course I've often heard about Willard's books, definitely lots of references to this one in sermons over the years etc. Good to have a 'nudge' to get me to read it. I bought it in hard copy and quickly realized it was far too dense and slow of a read for me to reasonably get through in this season, so I switched to audiobook, which was a good call for me.
There is SO much richness in this book, and it feels like one I could go back to in another season of life and find a whole new set of ideas and thoughts to chew on that I didn't even absorb this time. I was most fascinated and drawn in by his lengthy and in-depth look at the Sermon on the Mount. I appreciated his overall argument that the sermon is just that- one *cohesive* speech, to be looked at as a whole, with each part understood in relationship to the other parts. It is not in a mishmash of isolated snipits and one liners to take out of context and spout off, but a beautiful arc/story/progression, with one piece building upon the previous pieces. Wow, I learned a lot and had a lot to think about through that significant portion of the book.

I was tempted to give it a 4 because it's SO dense, and not particularly 'readable,' but I think that speaks more to my season of life and current tolerance for sitting with 'harder' literary works than anything else. It definitely is a book that is worth the work!

One of the best books on the Christian life I have ever read. This is a must-read for every Christian.

Rightfully regarded, it seems, as a spiritual classic from Dallas Willard.

Dallas shows how much of Christ's teaching is about changing us from the inside out, so that we can live full and joyful lives.

The Divine Conspiracy should blow the cobwebs off our faith in Christ and demolish many misconceptions of the Gospel.

Much of the talk about heaven is about how it breaks into this world and changes it for good.