A Dallas Willard Dictionary

I didn’t know what to expect from a “dictionary”.But this is a very interesting compendium of Dallas Willard’s work. I found great insight into the mind of such an inspiring man. Well written and very well documented.

Great book! I'm older baby-boomer of little brain and of little-less than-little literary skills in the English language. Raised speaking pidgin English in Hawaii didn't help, however, I am a Christian raised in a kind of evangelical cultural soup or stew in somewhat of a 'Baptistic cultural' family setting but also being part of a family that had gone-the-other-way-from-Buddhism kind of Japanese American Family. Attending a Buddhist mission elementary school, Baptist Church, Catholic High School and the Pentecostal charismatic experience during college makes for some very dense spiritual chop suey.Perhaps all the more reason I was drawn to the simplicity of Elane O-Rourke's compilation of Dallas' use of what I call reorganized thought filled rhetoric and love-language to explain important words and phrases like Faith, Hope and the Great Omission. I would have immediately reached for my evangelical christianese vocabulary bank to explain deep concepts like Hope and Faith or Holiness and the hearer would have sensed that I really didn't have a grasp of the meaningful action behind the word. More importantly, I see Dallas as an older brother which I would have like to have had; that is, someone who I could look up at and felt good that he was trying to mentor me because he really loved me as his younger sibling. And then, there's that one word he said that describes Jesus which I try to picture and practice daily in our crazy Island metropolis with the second worse traffic jams in the USA: the word is "relaxed".. Jesus was always relaxed. I feel that way after I use this book as a devotional correlating the definitions with chapter themes in Thomas A. Kempis then writing it in my prayer journal. This isn't a very objective review but life is warmer and fuzzier that way.

Elane has done a wonderful service for those who honor words and who intend to use them rightly. Accurately defining the words we use about God, about ourselves, and about the reign of God can make a significant difference in our thinking and, therefore, in our living. As someone has said, we form our words and our words form us. This little book gathers together most of the definitions Dallas Willard offered and in so doing captures the essence of his teaching. Much of what Dallas did was to define and redefine the most familiar terms Christians use: life, spirit, disciple, love, hope, believe, profess, the good life, reality, the kingdom of God, peace, to name but a few. To have all of these definitions in one place is a gift. Thank you Elane!

I love Dallas Willard and his teachings and writings as they have helped me to develop and grow in my walk with Jesus as his disciple. This book captures the best quotes and sayings of Dallas arranged by topic! It’s wonderful, especially if you are teaching, preaching or discipleing others it is a great resource to have.

As with Jan Johnsons book Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice, this book takes Dallas Willard's most popular writings and breaks his thoughts and teach by subject. e.g. Evangelism, accountability, fellowship etc. You will find various quotes and references from a number of books on any given subject. Although I would recommend reading all his books this is a great way to have them accessible and reduced to different subject matters.

Buy it quick. Elane.....you beat the rest of us to it. Brilliant book! Bravo! Ortberg says he is the "Dallas for Dummies" LOL. This makes Elane the grand librarian or consolidator or ???? Someone make up a great title for her. Please! I cannot tell you how many times I have returned to this exquisite reference book of one of the greatest theologians of the modern era. Again . Bravo!!

(Actually a review of the printed book, not the Kindle edition)Compliments to the author for producing a close look at Willard's exceptionally diligent, explicit, insightful, and careful way with words. I've never encountered a writer other than Willard who was so determined to plumb the depth of meaning of a word (correction: not just *a* word, but every word that plays a pivotal role in the questions of unexcelled importance he addresses); and to communicate with such precision that depth of meaning.In a way, Willard is so careful, in his writings, to enlighten by being very explicit about what he means by each key word he uses, and by explaining how the things so named are related to each other, that he almost embeds his own "Dallas Willard Dictionary" in his writings. Also, Willard frequently adds clarity to one book, spoken presentation, or article, by what he says in another.And therein lie my reservations about this well-intentioned author's dictionary. Willard's commentary on Willard, I would say, is the best there is; and the best possible synthesis of his delvings into any given word, would neither omit anything from -- nor add anything to -- as complete as possible a collection of Willard's own approaches to its exhaustive definition. The author of this welcome beginning of the project of perfecting a Willard dictionary, takes a little too much license -- for my money -- in injecting what she thinks belongs in the discussion and definition of each of the words in question. As a result, I don't come away with the impression that this is a dictionary I can rely on for *fully* accurate authoritative and definitive accounts of what Willard says these key words mean.The author's citing of instances of Willard's use of each given word -- together with Willard's explicit explanations and definitions -- are very, very welcome, indeed. Willard's work is an education unlike any other I've come across. Everyone I've "heard" comment on reading him -- many of them exceptionally intelligent people in their own right -- mention how dense, rich, valuable -- and challenging -- his written works are (and it's almost always the case that they are leaving aside his works in philosophy -- which leave most of us completely out of our depth in a stride or two). So I'm guessing a lot of people will find this inauguration of the Willard reference-works category a big help.

An excellent resource, much referred to by me

Excellent and very helpful for understanding Dallas. Only one problem, the "Some other relevant citations" page numbers do not always match the edition of the book you have on your shelves. Still a good resource for people trying to understand Dallas Willard.