The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, as it has been found difficult and left untried" So said that insightful and clever..." (more)
Key Phrases: disciplines for spiritual life, disciplines for the spiritual life, easy yoke, New York, New Testament, Kingdom of God (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fresh examination of the nature of life and discipline . . . exciting and instructive." -- -- The Disciple

"A fresh examination of the nature of life and discipline...exciting and instructive." -- The Disciple

"A profound call to discipleship based on spiritual disciplines [that] awakens us to a forgotten truth, that the transformation to Christ-likeness is realized through taking on the 'easy yoke' of the disciplines." -- Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

"A strong call to biblical obedience and discipline, this book presents a fresh look at the eternal--and contemporary--relevance of the Scriptures." -- Ted W. Engstrom, president emeritus, World Vision

"Essential guidance for spiritual growth." -- -- Richard J. Foster, author of Streams Of Living Water

"Few books have challenged me like this one. I would urge every serious minded Christian to read it...at your own risk." -- Bill Hybels, author of Honest to God?

"The book of the decade." -- Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline and Streams of Living Water

Product Description

How to Live as Jesus Lived

Dallas Willard, one of today's most brilliant Christian thinkers and author of The Divine Conspiracy (Christianity Today's 1999 Book of the Year), presents a way of living that enables ordinary men and women to enjoy the fruit of the Christian life. He reveals how the key to self-transformation resides in the practice of the spiritual disciplines, and how their practice affirms human life to the fullest. The Spirit of the Disciplines is for everyone who strives to be a disciple of Jesus in thought and action as well as intention.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (December 7, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060694424
• ISBN-13: 978-0060694425
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,380 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides a Practical Theology of the Spiritual Disciplines, August 15, 2001

By	Cameron B. Clark (Bristow, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This book, "The Spirit of the Disciplines," is part of a trilogy which includes "In Search of Guidance" (later revised and retitled "Hearing God") and culminates in "The Divine Conspiracy." Do not make the mistake of thinking that the latter book, as good as it is, surpasses and makes obsolete the other two. All three are great books in their own right and supplement each other and should be read together as the author intended. Also, Willard's books are good complimentary companions to those by Richard Foster, especially his "Celebration of Discipline" and "Prayer: Finding The Heart's True Home." In fact, in "The Spirit of the Disciplines," Willard refers readers to "Celebration of Discipline" for more practical application of the disciplines since his book's main thrust is to provide a practical theology of the spiritual disciplines which he felt was lacking in contemporary Christian literature. Another good book on the spiritual disciplines is "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life" by Donald S. Whitney which takes into consideration Willard's and Foster's insights and adds a few of its own, including the important one that "meditation is the missing link between Bible intake and prayer." I also consider spiritual mentoring to be important and I've found the book by Randy Reese and Keith Anderson entitled "Spiritual Mentoring: A Guide for Seeking and Giving Direction" to be very useful in this regard. Reese and Anderson also value the wisdom of the Christian spiritual masters of old, as do Foster and Willard, and saturate their book with their insights.

Willard's thrust in this book is to emphasize and expound the vital importance of the spiritual disciplines to the Christian life and to clear away popular misconceptions of them. In the preface, he says: "My central claim is that we CAN become like Christ by doing one thing - by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself. If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that he knew how to live. We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities he engaged in, by arranging our whole lives around the activities he himself practiced in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of his Father." He continues: "What activities did Jesus practice? Such things as solitude and silence, prayer, simple and sacrificial living, intense study and meditation upon God's Word and God's ways, and service to others. Some of these will certainly be even more necessary to us than they were to him, because of our greater or different need. But in a balanced life of such activities, we will be constantly enlivened by `The Kingdom Not of This World' - the Kingdom of Truth as seen in John 18:36 - 37." We must go beyond asking "What would Jesus do?" to practicing what Jesus practiced. "Following `in his steps' cannot be equated with behaving as he did when he was `on the spot.' To live as Christ lived is to live as he did all his life."

Some of the misconceptions he exposes, as they relate to practicing the spiritual disciplines, include the denigration of the physical body and confusing it with the fallen human nature, and the elevation of poverty as a virtue and denigration of wealth as a vice. He takes exception to some of the ascetic practices of some of the early Christian monks who went so far as to abuse their bodies. He also states: "to withhold our bodies from religion is to exclude religion from our lives" (pg. 30). Spiritual life is the body's fulfillment. He also respectfully disagrees with such notables as John Wesley and Alastair MacIntyre who more or less see the rich as destined for Hell. Additionally, he argues that salvation is not JUST forgiveness, as popularly taught today, but a new order of life (which includes forgiveness). He expounds more on this disagreement in his book "The Divine Conspiracy" and there takes exception to theologians such as Charles Ryrie. This disagreement is one of the contemporary controversial issues (not only among Arminians and Calvinists but even among those who believe in "eternal security" or "once-saved, always-saved") and involves the relationship of faith and obedience in a true (not just professing) Christian's life. Willard's position seems to be that discipleship and/or obedience to Christ is NOT optional but integral to what it means to be a Christian. But this implies that a lack of discipleship to Christ (which includes a lack of some sort of spiritual discipline in one's life) means a lack of salvation. This is what provokes debate since some see this as promoting the idea that we maintain our salvation by works, an idea that surely Willard would reject because it misunderstands his point about the relational aspect of salvation inherent in discipleship. He sees two great omissions from Christ's great commission in the contemporary Church (that is, among those who profess to be Christians): 1) the omission of making disciples, and 2) the omission of the step of taking our converts through training that will bring them ever increasingly to do what Jesus directed (see Appendix II). This book is intended as a biblical corrective to those omissions and I think it contributes admirably to that purpose. This is essential reading.

106 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unparalleled look at an underspoken topic, July 31, 2000

By	Brian Douglas (Brighton, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dallas Willard's examination of the disciplines of the Christian life is an unparalleled book on the subject. I have never read its equal. In Christianity today, there is so much emphasis on a quick conversion and the love and mercy of God, but rarely does a teacher speak on the difficult topic of the strain and pain and longevity of the daily walk with Christ. The disciplines of a Christian are similar to the disciplines of one running a marathon, the Apostle Paul teaches, and Dallas Willard has taken a careful examination of these disciplines. He declares that Christianity can only be a relevant guide for modern humanity if it takes the need for human transformation through the Holy Spirit seriously, and clarify and exemplify realistic methods of this transformation by modeling it ourselves as Christians. Willard goes into great detail concerning the disciplines as the method by which Christians model the work of the Spirit in their lives. He declares that they are the very nature of life itself for Christians and that only by consistently teaching and practicing them will Christ's church be the force required for true spiritual change in today's society. A masterful work, this book should be in the library of any Christian that seeks to truly live the life of Christ and be a light in the world today.

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, thought provoking look at one aspect of sanctification, October 30, 2003

By	David T. Wayne "aka The 'JollyBlogger'" (Glen Burnie, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the doctrine of sanctification, or Christian growth, it is customary to distinguish between God's role and man's role. Spirit of the Disciplines is focused exclusively on man's role in sanctification, or his own spiritual growth. As long as you keep that in mind and read from that perspective, this book is dynamite. However, it is useful to point out that this book is not the last word in Christian growth, or sanctification, simply because it does not deal with God's role in our sanctification.

For study on God's role in sanctification you need to look to books like "Transforming Grace," by Jerry Bridges, or "Holiness by Grace," by Brian Chappel. Both books do an excellent job of bringing out the fact that God's grace is the thing that enables a man to engage in spiritual disciplines. Also, Jerry Bridges book "The Discipline of Grace," is probably the best book dealing with both God's role and man's role.

I give these commercials for other books simply to prevent the reader from thinking that Willard's book is the whole story on sanctification. If this is the only, or the main book that you read, frustration is inevitable, simply because Willard does not point you back to the source of our sanctification, or the source of our ability to practice spiritual disciplines, which is the grace of God.

Having said all of that, I heartily recommend the book. I think the most useful thing that Willard said was his comparison of the Christian life to athletics. He has a great illustration of how kids will idolize a major league baseball player (this illustration will work for any sport). They will copy his stance, his swing, his position in the batter's box (I'm thinking of Joe Morgan of the Cincinnati Reds and his famous double elbow pump as the pitch was being thrown), and any number of his mannerisms. However, they will never be able to perform like their idol unless they enter into the same kind of life of their idol. The star didn't get to be a star by performing that way on the spot. He adopted an entire style of life that enables him to perform the way he does on the field. He adopts a certain exercise, diet, and practice regimen that enables him to perform the way he wants to on gameday.

So it is with the Christian - we can not behave "Christianly" on the spot, at a time of crisis, unless we have conformed our entire life to the pattern of Christ. We cannot turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, be merciful, etc., at a time of crisis unless all of our life, before the crisis has been devoted to following Christ. Willard gives Peter as the example of this. When Peter denied Jesus three times, it was not because Peter did not love Christ, for he did. It was not because Jesus had not warned him, for He did. Peter denied Christ because the habitual pattern of his life till that point was one of saving his own skin. Peter needed to develop new habits and a new way of life. I think that in this example Willard neglects the role of the spirit in Peter's transformation, but the point is well taken. We who are accustomed to self-indulgence, must often learn self-denial through a long period of training.

This is where the spiritual disciplines come in - it is through the practice of spiritual disciplines that we become like Christ. Most of the book is a kind of philosophy, or apology for the spiritual disciplines, rather than an explanation of the disciplines themselves. He only spends one short chapter on the disciplines themselves. The bulk of the book is concerned with persuading you and me why we need the disciplines.

In doing so He does make the disciplines seem attractive rather than restrictive. This is one of the great strengths of the book. He shows that disciplines don't restrict freedom, they enable it. Disciplines are not harsh, punitive things, but are the means of knowing and becoming like Christ. In large part, he makes an apology for Christian asceticism. He does a good job of distinguishing biblical asceticism from many of its historical abuses. As someone from the Reformed tradition I have always looked at asceticism as a dirty word, but Willard's take on it is balanced and biblical.

Willard's concern is to show that salvation is unto a new way of life, not merely unto heaven. He shows that the church has pretty much failed in helping people live for Christ on this earth because we have been so focused on getting them to heaven. This is a good, well taken point. But, this leads to what I think is a very unfortunate statement in the chapter "History and the Meaning of the Disciplines" in the sub-section called "The Continuing Error." He says that we have replaced salvation, which he defines as a new way of life, with one of its effects, or components, which is forgiveness of sins. This is a glaring error, since salvation is at its essence the forgiveness of sins. In fact, the new way of life is an effect of salvation, or the forgiveness of sins, not vice versa. Willard's statement is pure Romanism, or works righteousness. Because of his soundness in other areas I choose to believe that this was either carelessness in wording or that I may not fully understand what he is getting at here. Still, though it is one sentence, it is crucial in the scheme of things. It is forgiveness of sins that makes possible all that Willard talks about in this book in the realm of spiritual disciplines.

All in all I would say this is a book that should be read by the Christian as long as you balance it with some of the other books I mentioned. Willard's writing style is dense, he packs a lot of content into a few words. This is meaty stuff and well worth the effort.