Dallas Willard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dallas Albert Willard
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Willard giving a Ministry-in-Contemporary-Culture Seminar at the George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon, in 2008
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| Born | September 4, 1935 Buffalo, Missouri, U.S.
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| Died | May 8, 2013 (aged 77) Pasadena, California, U.S.
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| Institutions | William Jewell College, Tennessee Temple College, Baylor University, University of Wisconsin–Madison. |
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Main interests
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phenomenology, Edmund Husserl |
Dallas Albert Willard (September 4, 1935 – May 8, 2013) was an American thinker. He was known for his work in philosophy and for his books about Christian spiritual growth.
Much of his philosophical work focused on phenomenology. This is a way of studying how we experience things. He especially studied the ideas of Edmund Husserl, a famous philosopher. Dallas Willard even translated many of Husserl's writings into English.
He was a long-time Professor of Philosophy at The University of Southern California (USC). He taught there from 1965 until he passed away in 2013. He also led the philosophy department for a few years.
Contents
Becoming a Philosopher
Dallas Willard went to several colleges to study. He attended William Jewell College and then graduated from Tennessee Temple College in 1956. There, he earned a degree in Psychology.
In 1957, he got another degree in Philosophy and Religion from Baylor University. He continued his studies at Baylor and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 1964, he earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin.
Teaching and Research Career
Willard started his teaching career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He worked there for five years. He was a research and teaching assistant, then a special fellow, and finally an instructor in philosophy.
In 1965, he moved to the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. He taught at USC for 48 years! He started as an assistant professor and became a full professor in 1984.
He also served as the director of the School of Philosophy at USC from 1982 to 1985. He was a visiting professor at other universities too, like UCLA.
His writings in philosophy mainly explored how we gain knowledge (called epistemology). He also studied the philosophy of the mind and how logic works. He was an expert on the works of Edmund Husserl. Willard translated many of Husserl's early writings from German into English.
Recognitions and Awards
Dallas Willard received many awards for his work and teaching. These show how much he was respected by students and colleagues.
- He was a member of many committees that checked how schools were doing.
- He won the "Outstanding Faculty Member" award from Blue Key National Honor Fraternity in 1976. This was for his great contributions to student life at USC.
- He received the USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1976-1977.
- In 1984, the USC Student Senate gave him an award for Outstanding Faculty of the Year.
- He was invited to speak at international philosophy events in Italy.
- He was also part of several honor societies like Phi Kappa Phi and Alpha Lambda Delta.
- In 2000, he received the Gamma Sigma Alpha Professor of the Year Award.
Books on Christian Life
Besides teaching philosophy, Dallas Willard also wrote many popular books about Christianity. These books focused on how to live a Christian life.
His book The Divine Conspiracy was named Christianity Today’s Book of the Year in 1999. Another book, Renovation of the Heart, won two awards in 2003. It was recognized by Christianity Today and The Association of Logos Bookstores.
Willard believed that many people in the Church were not actively trying to grow. He famously said, "Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning." This means that God's grace helps us, but we still need to put in effort. He taught that it's important to choose to be a follower of Jesus. This means learning from Jesus and trying to be like him.
He explained that being an "apprentice of Jesus" means learning activities that help you grow. These activities help you develop qualities like love, joy, peace, and kindness. Such activities are often called "spiritual exercises." They include things like prayer, spending time with others, serving, studying, and fasting. Willard wrote about these in his book The Spirit of the Disciplines.
He was influenced by many historical Christian writers and thinkers. Some of these include Thomas à Kempis, William Law, Richard Foster, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Willard also served on the boards of several important organizations. These included the C.S. Lewis Foundation and Biola University.
His Family Life
Dallas Willard was born in Buffalo, Missouri, on September 4, 1935. His mother passed away when he was very young. In 1955, he married Jane Lakes. They had two children, John and Rebecca, and one granddaughter, Larissa. His brother, L. Duane Willard, was also a philosophy professor.
Willard sometimes found it hard to balance his busy academic life with his family. He once said he wished he had been a wiser husband and father. However, his daughter said he was a "great example of unconditional fatherly love." His wife, Jane, who is a family therapist, said she always felt loved by him.
Dallas Willard passed away on May 8, 2013, after a short illness.
His Lasting Influence
In 2010, Westmont College started a special center in his honor. It's called the "Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation." This center is dedicated to continuing his ideas and teachings.
Selected Books
Here are some of the books Dallas Willard wrote:
Books on Philosophy
- Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics (1993). ISBN: 0-7923-2262-2
- Philosophy of Arithmetic (2003). ISBN: 1-4020-1546-1
Popular Books on Christian Living
- The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (1988). ISBN: 0-06-069442-4
- The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (1998). ISBN: 0-06-069333-9
- Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God (1999). ISBN: 0-8308-2226-7
- Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ (2002). ISBN: 1-57683-296-1
- The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship (2006). ISBN: 0-06-088243-3
- Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge (2009). ISBN: 978-0-06-088244-0
- The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus (2015). ISBN: 978-0-06-211408-2
See also
- American philosophy
- List of American philosophers
- Christian literature
