A thoughtful telling of a beautiful life. Gary Moon writes with a clear sense of the life and work of Dallas Willard, and presents an integrated story to the challenges and gifts Willard encountered that helped shape and form him as a human (and as an influential writer and teacher).

I didn't know about this Dallas Willard. Halfway through the book, I bought his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines and put a few others on my Amazon wish list. He was a philosopher who became convinced one could live in the presence of God all the time. He explored a variety of ancient spiritual practices to understand how this might be possible.

In all honesty I had trouble getting into this book at first. I think that is mostly my fault. It seems that I can't remember that there is a significant difference between a biography and a memoir. I like biographies, but I love memoirs and almost every time I start a biography I find myself vaguely disappointed until I reconcile myself to the genre.

However, once the author moved past the basic facts about Willard's family and childhood and started to really speak about the Dallas' development of thought and character I sincerely enjoyed the book. And while I appreciated knowing the childhood facts and understanding how they played a part in the formation of the man, it was the spiritual formation, the heart of "becoming" that really made this book one I'm glad that I read.

In one sense I'm of just an age that the concepts that seemed so radical to Dallas Willard (and Richard Foster as mentioned in the book) are concepts that I took for granted in my own spiritual formation. So in reading this biography it was enlightening to see how these ideas came to be introduced to the modern evangelical world through Willard's teaching and writing. Growing up as I did, comfortable in a number of different denominations, also made me deeply appreciative of how Willard sought to learn from the different expressions of faith.

While some of the context in the book, specifically the philosophical context, felt a bit over my head and not particularly engaging I did develop a deeper appreciation for the intellectual depth of thought that informed Willard's writing. This also led to a deeper appreciation of his work as his books, while deep and thoughtful, have never seemed "over my head" in intellect.

All in all, I would recommend "Becoming Dallas Willard." I would especially recommend it for those who aren't as familiar with Willard's books and teaching as it gives a very helpful overview of the contribution that Dallas made to the realm of understanding spiritual formation as well as giving a wise and thoughtful look at how modern culture perceives reality and how the reality of the Kingdom can be so easily overlooked or misunderstood.

Most of all I loved seeing how Dallas grew in his real and present interaction with the King and his Kingdom and hope that many others will find the sweetness of that reality as they reflect on how we become the men and women in Christ that we are meant to become.


I received a free digital galley of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The biography of an author should not only highlight the life and background of the writer, but provide an overview of the author's work in such a way that the reader is compelled to read it. Gary Moon has accomplished this in Becoming Dallas Willard: The Formation of a Philosopher, Teacher, and Christ Follower. I have read some of Willard's books over the years, some more than once. His writing is of such depth and richness that I can't help feeling like I'm missing out on some of the meaning and need to read it again. Moon brings together Willard's writing and teaching, highlighting themes and streams of thought. I appreciate the way he illuminates Willard's books.



As a professional philosopher, one of Willard's focuses is realism. Things we encounter are real, even things we can't see. This seeps into his Christian teaching, as he teaches the we can experience God and Jesus and the Kingdom, even though we can't see them. He once told a student, "Now when you pray, Jesus will walk right up to you and he will listen to you." It's a simple point, maybe an obvious one, but to me it's a revolutionary idea.



He did not shy away from the idea of visualization in prayer. This was a source of some resistance from Christians who thought his emphasis on visualization and other contemplative practices reeked of Eastern religions. He had a perfect answer when someone asked him about similarities of this practice with other world religions: "Just because Buddhists eat breakfast doesn't mean I'm not going to eat breakfast."



Regular guys like me can be encouraged that Willard was a regular guy, too. "The fact is Dallas was a real, sweaty, tobacco-spitting, occasionally cussing, often lusting, God-fearing Missouri farm boy." He was sometimes not a great student, even failing some college classes. He prefers paper plates to china, and always maintained a simple lifestyle. He always found time for his students, pastors he mentored, and others who sought counsel from him.



Dallas Willard exemplified and taught a life lived in communication and fellowship with God. He believed that "it is possible to live life 'with' God." Life with God is not just about salvation. When told of someone who "had accepted Jesus as his Savior," Willard responded, "Well, I hope that was good for him and leads him into accepting Jesus as his life." Being a Christian means life with Jesus, day in and day out.



If you know Dallas Willard and his writing, Becoming Dallas Willard is essential reading. If you don't, this is a great place to start to see how accessible and, at the same time, revolutionary his ideas are.





Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Summary: Spiritual maturity requires growth and formation.

I have been intentionally reading a number of Christian biographies over the past year or two. Christian biographies for me are about spiritual formation. I do want to know about the people I am reading about. The story is important. But I read good Christian biography/memoir to learn about spiritual formation.

Becoming Dallas Willard is exactly that type of biography. Dallas Willard helped to spark the modern Christian formation movement so it is not surprising that Gary Moon wrote a biography that was oriented toward tracing his spiritual formation. We are never finished with spiritual formation. Spiritual formation in some ways becomes more important as we age and mature spiritually because ending well and passing on the faith requires a level of humility and graciousness that invites those that are younger to the path of spiritual formation.

I have previously read three books by Dallas Willard. So I was roughly familiar with Willard’s writing but I did not know anything about his life other than his relationship to Richard Foster early in Foster’s pastoral career. Investing in others was a theme of Becoming Dallas Willard. I know Willard more through his intentional investment Richard Foster, John Ortberg, Jan Johnson, James Bryan Smith and others than I knew of him. Having read Becoming Dallas Willard I can see the influence that he had in the writings of these others that I have been more directly influenced by.

Willard had a fascinating life. The lives of earlier generations are often fascinating because they are so different from our own. Willard was a child of the late depression and early World War II days, roughly the age of my younger set of grandparents. He went to Tennessee Temple for his undergrad degree, where my grandmother’s brother was a long time professor. And I know many that went to either  Baylor (his masters) or University of Wisconsin (his PhD in Philosophy), but no one that went to both. Despite the differences in generations and life experience, Willard’s life was not so different that I can’t relate to him.

As a 40 something work at home parent, I find Willard’s story encouraging. It is not that he was a late bloomer. He was not. He was director of the Philosophy Department at USC in his late 40s. But in his early 50s, the work he had done in different areas, his professional work in philosophy, bible teaching in his local church and community, and his own spiritual development started coming together in a new way. It was then that he started becoming a popular author in the area of Christian formation.

After having encouraged Richard Foster and his first book Celebration of Discipline, Foster gave away tapes of Willard’s bible teaching and encouraged publishers to seek out Willard. Willard was not seeking to be published by Christian press, but his faithfulness in small corners of the church led to his teaching spreading. Through Richard Foster, and his student James Bryan Smith, Willard’s teachings have spread widely, even though many may not actually know the name of Dallas Willard.

Becoming Dallas Willard does not fall into the trap of hagiography (glossing over the negatives to present only the idealized saint) but presents a whole, but flawed person. We are all flawed and limited because we are human. Our biggest strengths are often our biggest weaknesses. Becoming Dallas Willard does do what I want from a good biography, it gives me a good picture of the whole person, but also makes me want to read more by and about them. I have picked up several more of Willard’s books and I will read them differently because I have read Becoming Dallas Willard.

Overall, the book is interesting and informative. The biographer writes in a way that clearly trying to show the positives and accomplishments of Dallas Willard, but the feeling toward the end of the book is that this isn't a guy you would probably want to hang out with. Throughout the biography, Dallas doesn't end up coming alive as someone you could relate with. I should mention that some of the "mystic" leanings that Dallas ends up promoting aren't something that I am comfortable with. Perhaps this led to some negative vibes toward the end of the book. .

I've never completed a book by Willard (though I have started two), but I'm resolved now to at least give one book a chance.

It is comforting, somehow, to understand that your personal heroes are also human, that they struggle in their own ways. It brings special meaning to the human experiences of ordinary life, and gives us hope that we, somehow, may do something more significant than we realize.
Such is the story of Dallas Willard. Certainly a giant in the world of modern Christian theology, his book, "The Divine Conspiracy" is among my favorites. It's like a steak dinner, carefully tasted and digested. It was somewhat startling to me to discover that this magnum opus about the Kingdom of Heaven came from the pen of a man who struggled with feeling inferior, even encountering difficulty in finding his place in the world.
Willard's story is one of humility and discipline, a reckoning of intellectualism and spirituality. There is no scandal here, no revelation of deep flaws which cast a seedy pallor. There is instead a man from the most humble of beginnings, coming to terms with his own belief and his deep desire to mentor future generations. There is an encouragement in reading his story that we may do great things if we should agree to walk with God in the paths where we are led.