One of the most misleading aspects of this entire book is the manner in which it was marketed, and the impressions left in the minds of readers. Bear in mind that Wilder’s real effort here is to discredit the work of Dallas Willard on multiple levels, and instead promote a “scientific” approach to spiritual development based on brain science. Yet somehow he leaves the reader with the impression that he and Dallas worked on these ideas together and that in the end, Dallas agreed with him. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Amazon Description
Here are a few of the phrases from the Amazon page for this book, and how they misrepresent the true intentions of this book, as well as point us away from the answers we need to help the modern Church.
The Subtitle: “God, Dallas Willard, and the Church That Transforms.” Right off, the reader might get the impression that this is a book that examines the contributions of Dallas Willard in a positive light. Not at all what happens.
A misleading dichotomy: “Christianity tends to focus on beliefs and choices as the keys for personal growth. But biblical evidence and modern brain science tell a different story.” There is an element of truth here, which makes it easy to take in uncritically. Much of the Western Church does in fact focus on a combination of correct doctrine and the power of the will to make right choices. Many even believe that all behavior is volitional in nature. But depending on these two factors to promote spiritual growth has proven to be a mistake.
The problem with this part of the book description is its assumption that the alternative to ‘information and choices’ is brain science. While the sentence also includes “biblical evidence” as part of the answer, it then receives virtually no treatment at all in the book; the phrase has no real meaning here. Which leaves us with ‘brain science’ as the missing answer. But gives us a false dichotomy. The real answer is to learn from those who have found abundant life in learning how to engage relationally with God, people like Dallas Willard!
Further, what the reader does not see in this comparison is that Wilder is foreshadowing the contrast he will attempt to make between Dallas and himself, casting Dallas in the role of someone who relies on education and choices, another serious distortion of what Dallas believed and taught.
A Collaborative Effort? Look at this sentence: “Drawing from conversations he had with Dallas Willard … Jim Wilder shows how we can train our brains to relate to God.” That sounds like they worked this out together, which is about as misleading as it can be! Wilder is “drawing” his theory entirely from his own mistaken understanding of neurology, not from discussions with Dallas. In fact he disagrees with Dallas on nearly every point that he makes in the book.
Loose use of terminology: “… deepening your relationship with God through the wondrous brain and soul that he has given you.” It’s the word “soul” that is problematic. In LMW’s response to Stan Wallace’s book (see elsewhere on this site), they declared that “Jim Wilder has no interest in studying the soul.” Well if that is the case, then he has no idea how to “deepen your relationship through the soul.” Perhaps he should not advertise how to do something he has no interest in studying.
Summary
Once the reader actually engages the book, they discover that four of the chapters actually give us transcriptions of the presentations that Dallas gave at the 2012 Heart and Soul conference. Again, this leaves the initial impression that Jim wants to promote Dallas’ teachings. And if not paying attention, the deconstruction can slip right by.
As to whether readers actually finish the book with these false impressions, all you have to do is look at the hundreds of 5-star reviews. One reader seemed to think that Jim Wilder was “ever the student of Dallas Willard.” Not a chance! Jim disagreed with virtually everything Dallas taught.
And if the reader did in fact discover that Wilder was contradicting Dallas, the only reason they could have believed what Jim was saying, was if they had little to no idea who Dallas was or what he taught.
In any case, none of the real purpose of the book is at all visible in the description that shows on Amazon.com.
— Article added 11-11-25