What is God? Every great thinker, every system of thought answers that question, even if their answer assumes God's non-existence. For the rest of us, however, God may call up an oblong blur. This is not a wise approach to life and many teachers in history - some theologians, some not - can help. Of these, none may be more helpful to this century than Dallas Willard. All of his writing and teaching are pervaded by his idea of God.
The trouble is, Willard rarely addressed the topic, as he did many other topics, explicitly and with his signature insight and clarity. Some writers need an introduction because they wrote too much. Willard may need one because he wrote too little.
In Dallas Willard on God Michael Stewart Robb invites readers to uncover what Willard thought and taught about God through engaging exploration of his multifarious writings and lectures. With his inviting, low-key style Robb guides readers through four key traits of God which were basic to Willard's view of God's what-ness: self-sufficiency, spiritual-ness, substance and moral personality. With the skill of a trained theologian/philosopher, Robb gently and carefully compares Willard's view with what the other major thinkers have taught about God, making it an excellent introduction to theology proper.
Written as an essay for students and seekers, Robb's latest and most accessible book on Willard challenges all to move beyond vague or blurry ideas of God and instead to live, as Dallas Willard himself did, with "a rich and accurate way of thinking and speaking about God" (The Divine Conspiracy).
