The Divine Conspiracy : Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God

An Overly Sophisticated Approach to a Most Simple Divine Gospel... 2005-10-24 Willard goes into extensive details about theological things he knows little about, or at least has only a passing understanding of. This book is way too long and gets bloated and outright boring in places! This book is filled to the brim with intellectually superior language, and a reductionist look at the Bible, a book that is certainly challenging, but not as complicated as Willard makes it out to be! He wastes the readers time by roaming from subject to subject, and drifting off the subject entirely at times.

I was disappointed in this work; it was not at all the 'gem' that I thought it would be. Read something by C.S. Lewis, Philip Yancey, or Henry Nouwen, you will be inspired and not driven to distraction by all the superfluous theological notions. There is nothing conspiratorial about THE DIVINE CONSPIRACY, it is simply another book that beats Christians over the head with wearying and overly complex ideas that may, in fact have little to do with the Truth of Jesus Christ.

Missing the Obvious 2005-10-19 Though there are some problems with Willard's work, his main point stands: We as Christians today do not take Jesus seriously and there is more to the gospel than just "getting saved." That is good enough, but it is stopping short of the fulness of salvation God intends for us. He intends for us to live in the pattern of Christ, to have access to the Kingdom of God in our everyday lives, not just after we die. Willards explanation of the Beatitudes is also brilliant, though I don't necessarily agree with the conclusions he comes to each time.

It only remains for me to take Jesus' words seriously, which is very hard. It has always been hard, even for those who heard those words from Him in person. "Those who hear my words and DO them...." So Willards work both simplifies the Christian life, and challenges us.

Divine 2005-10-12 This book is a gem. I only wish I would have been able to read it earlier. Mr. Willard is a master of understanding the human heart and the meaning of Christ's message for us.

Essential to any Christian's Library 2005-08-24 Willard is great.

This book systematically walks through the teaching of Jesus and gives a reasonable path for discipleship. Becoming a disciple, or student, of Jesus should be the aim of all followers of Christ. This book is an excellent tool.

Everyone

- HarperSanFrancisco