The Allure of Gentleness audiobook

I have been going over a chapter a week with a group of young adults, drinking up the goodness of a Dallas Willard banger. I am always so encouraged and challenged as I read his works, desiring to pick up another to slowly trek through. As this was my second run through in this work, I picked up on

I wish Dallas Willard would have been one of my university professors. I'm so thankful he wrote books to pass on his wisdom and love.

Interesting thoughts on apologetics.

Probably the only book on apologetics that actually matters. Willard has a way of explaining and defending the faith that is unique, refreshing, and unyielding in its commitment to practicality.

Fascinating and refreshing are not words that normally come to mind when reviewing books on Christian apologetics. But these are words that capture my feelings as I finished this modified transcript of talks given by Dallas Willard before he died. The book addresses, though not as deeply as other books on apologetics, the expected topics of theodicy, reliability of spiritual knowledge, first causes, evolution, etc. However, it also makes three assertions that I've not encountered in other such books.First, Willard makes the case that the spirit of the apologist - a spirit of love, humility and gentleness - is as essential (if not more) than the content of her arguments. Jesus launched a revolution because he was gentle, not in spite of his gentleness. "When we do the work of apologetics, we do it as disciples of Jesus—and therefore we are to do it in the manner in which he would do it," says Willard.Second, though apologetics is usually addressed to the skeptic and unbeliever, Willard's book is addressed to believers. Apologetics is coming alongside people (including Christians) with their doubts and fears, and providing them with reasons to believe God. This is a pastoral and compassionate apologetics. Such an approach makes the local church a safe place for those who struggle to trust God and see His goodness in the midst of real life suffering, doubt, and anxiety. Apologetics, when done with the mission of Jesus in mind, brings liberty, joy, comfort, and faith. It's about entering new life in Christ.Third, apologetics done in the Jesus way can't be separated from discipleship. This begins with the commands to seek God, which imply that God is not easily or obviously seen. God is hidden, and though we can find him, God maintains a certain distance from his children so that our free will is not overrun by his blazing glory. We have the freedom to choose.Yet at the same time, we believe that "Jesus has the knowledge required to solve your problems." We pursue God's truth to deepen our confidence in and relationship with him. An apologetic of the possibility of a relationship with God includes the following (which Willard explains in detail):1. God exists.2. God is infinitely powerful to accomplish his purposes.2. God is good and has a good purpose for history and humanity.3. Through history, he is creating a community that freely responds to his good purposes.4. This community discovers God and the life that he offers described reliably in the pages of the Bible.5. Pain and suffering are also real.6. But pain and suffering are not necessarily incompatible with the goodness of God (though this is not immediately obvious).7. "A world that contains the possibility of evil is the one that also contains the greatest possibility of good." To become good people, we must have the real possibility of choosing evil. Evil in the natural world (earthquakes, sickness, etc.) "occurs because there is an enemy that wishes to make you doubt God."8. "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal."9. In this life, we "overcome evil with good." Each of us can make "a significant impact on the moral evil in our world."10. In all of this, Jesus becomes our model and the Holy Spirit our guide: discipleship.11. This requires learning to have a conversational relationship with God: prayer.12. It reflects the possibility of a personal relationship with God, who is imminent and active in and around us. We just have to learn to see and hear him.13. This leads to a confidence (faith) to speak "in Jesus' name" and to pray with confidence; to acknowledge that God is active and good things aren't merely coincidence. This requires a humble vulnerability and trust.14. Discipleship is teaching such spiritual knowledge of God, relationship, prayer and faith.I'd love to see an expanded version of this book. I give it only 4 from 5 stars because it raised many unanswered questions. However, perhaps this will encourage me to continue to seek the God who is hidden.

Beautifully thought provoking.

** spoiler alert ** Tasting Notes 🤌Why should someone read this?:When we come to share or explain our faith, we often don't know what to say and how to say it. We can tend to think that apologetics is a battle to be won. Willard frames apologetics as pastoral care. The loving work of lifting doubt in others, and helping them to see that faith in Jesus is realistic, reasonable, logical and utterly true. Apologetics is therefore immensely important work to do within ourself, with other Christians and with those who aren't christians yet.Top 3 Baller Quotes:"People are fully at the mercy of their ideas... Discipleship is how we get our ideas corrected""It is only in the heat of pain and suffering, both mental and physical, that real human character is forged. One does not develop courage without facing danger, patience without trials, wisdom without heart - and brain - racking puzzles, endurance without suffering, or temperance and honesty without temptations. These are the very things we treasure most about people. Ask yourself if you would be willing to be devoid of all these virtues. If your answer is no. then don't scorn the means of obtaining them.""The ultimate apologetic is the life of the individual who is living out of the resources of the kingdom of God. To have a nice set of abstract ideas and arguments can be very important for us, but we need to be people who are actually accomplishing things in the kingdom of the heavens through our prayers and our words."What are 3 questions someone should ask themselves about this book?:1. What is my area of most doubt about Jesus? 2. What work do I need to do to allow the Spirit to turn that doubt into belief?3. In what ways can you prepare to be a Doubt-Lifter to those you know, love and serve?

A unique book on apologetics, Willard invests some ink in one's manner in doing apologetics, that it is not a contest to win, but that it is a helping ministry, a ministry by which we are assisting individuals by using our God's-given reason (while trusting the Holy Spirit) to help people come to faith in God. He stresses that apologetics is not just a ministry to those who are not believers, but also to those who do believe but who struggle with doubts in one or more areas.Willard highlights the importance of, even the biblical mandate/example to use our, reason, to use our minds. He also emphasizes that what really sells the Christian faith is a Christian life, a life that is surely lived in obvious communion with the living God and in the obvious power of something greater. He returns throughout the opening chapters to the NT charter on apologetics, 1 Peter 3:15-16, and its surrounding context.In addition to the manner of apologetics, he also dives into the content of various apologetic issues. He responds to typical questions about the Christian faith with fresh answers and helpful illustrations. His illustrations remind me of Jesus' parables--using ordinary life to illustrate spiritual principles.Is it necessary to say that I don't agree with all his theological points? Perhaps not, but I will say that his understanding of Scripture is down-to-earth, thought-provoking, and attention-getting all at the same time.

This is one of the posthumous works of the late Dallas Willard. Here he sort of offers a spirituality of apologetics. The essential premise (as the subtitle suggests) is 'defending the faith in the manner of Jesus,' taking a respectful, humble approach which is gracious toward unbelievers and religious outsiders and mindful of Christ's resurrection presence with us. Willard places a major emphasis on living the sort of life which unbelievers would find compelling (including having joy in all circumstances, and having a vibrant confident faith). This is not your typical apologetics book in that Willard doesn't provide various logical proofs, though he does speak about reason and walk through relevant New Testament passages on the mode and style of Christian apologetics and address particular issues. The occasion for the book was a series of lectures Willard gave way back in 1990 that he and his daughter were preparing for publication before he passed on. His daughter augmented the original material with other occasional papers and lectures from Willard's notations on what areas he wanted to include in the final form of this book. This isn't the greatest book Willard ever wrote but anything from him is worth reading.

The Allure of Gentleness is a book about apologetics, but as the author makes clear it is about apologetics “in the manner of Jesus”. Therefore, the title includes the word “Gentleness” and the subtitle reveals the method of apologetics presented: “Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus”.At the beginning of chapter 0ne, Willard defines apologetics as “a New Testament ministry that uses thinking and reasoning, in reliance on the Holy Spirit, to assist earnest inquirers in relinquishing disbelief and mistrust in God and God’s purposes for humankind. Apologetic work helps people believe and know the things that are especially related to Jesus Christ: his coming into the world, his life and death, and now his continuing to live in us.”For me reading the book has made clear what apologetics means in the life of saints today and has given a wonderful approach to answering questions of life and my faith by both believers and non-believers. What is more Willard’s emphasis on gentleness has reduced arguments to persuasion.Willard also addresses some critical issues of contention; one of the most interesting is the “Big Bang Theory”. His method of uncovering it as a myth is quite notable.

Dallas Willard talks apologetics. So much better than anything else I've encountered that has to do with apologetics.Apologetics, as defined by Willard, is "a ministry that uses thinking and reasoning, in reliance on the Holy Spirit, to assist earnest inquirers in relinquishing disbelief and mistrust in God and God's good purposes for humankind." Apologetics has come to be defined by terms like defense and argument and debate but Willard points out that it is a "loving service" and to engage in Christian apologetics, one must examine and understand the way Jesus did it.For much of the book, Willard examines the way Jesus interacted with earnest, and not so earnest, questioners including the specific time and attention he gave to each individual and the gentleness and graciousness he had in engaging with them.In the last few chapters of the book, Willard spends some time tackling some of the major barriers people have to belief in suffering and whether God speaks to people today.

Willard's treatment of the subject comes at a different angle than most, establishing first and foremost that apologetics is a serving ministry in which we examine "What are the hard questions that smother faith?" It is not an in-depth, comprehensive approach to apologetic argumentation, but chock full of succinct insight and pertinent scripture to meditate on. Emphasis is placed on the believer seeking to work with the Holy Spirit "in gentleness and reverence. We surrender our powers and use of words, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to relieve the burden of doubt from a troubled heart." Willard address a broad range of questions and difficulties, (of an intellectual, spiritual, and emotional nature) such as cosmology, the seeming illusiveness of God, God's redemptive work in human history, the problem of pain and evil, and others. The final section begins with this affirmation: "The ultimate apologetic–that is to say, the ultimate lifter of doubt–is the believer acting in faith in an interactive life with God." A worthwhile read.

I love Willard's unusual approach to Christian apologetics: He declines to debate, but will engage in a mutual search for the truth. And he does believe in truth. Apologetics is “A New Testament ministry that uses thinking and reasoning, in reliance on the Holy Spirit, to assist earnest inquirers in relinquishing disbelief and mistrust in God and God’s good purposes for humankind.” (9) Knowledge is “Being able to deal with things as they are on an appropriate basis of thought and experience.” (13)The book's strength is his reframing the questions and issues (evil, pain and suffering, heaven and hell, etc.) so we can begin to find our way past the usual conversational logjams. He also leans heavily on Christians to reason from a loving perspective. Willard also spends considerable time coaching the reader on how to live as well as how to think. This should be a required primer for Christians who are enthusiastic about sharing their faith, and it may be helpful for those who do not identify as Christians as they explore their doubts.

Perhaps even more than The Divine Conspiracy, Willard presents a true and thoughtful alternative to a prevalent pattern of Christian culture. Whereas we have been led to believe that apologetics is really best exemplified in an argument, Willard truly leans into themes like the example of Jesus, Christian discipleship, and a mercy-based view of apologetics that is extremely refreshing.Gentleness is one of the forgotten “fruit of the Spirit.” And far too much of our Christian culture is consumed with the opposite of this powerful product of the Spirit-filled life. In this book steps are taken to clear the soil, fertilize the ground and create an environment that will foster the growth of our gentleness again.If you don’t like Dallas Willard, this isn’t the book for you. This is quintessential Dallas Willard stuff. And I mean that in the best possible sense.

Published Posthumously, The Allure of Gentleness is a follow-up to Willard's fantastic book on discipleship, The Divine Conspiracy. Taking on apologetics, Willard offers a different take from many of the arguments and debates that make up the defence of the faith today, suggesting that Jesus made the faith appealing not simply through persuasive arguments, but through a tone of gentleness. An encouraging read, particularly insightful and clear on the problem of pain and evil. It's worth the read.