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What about Jesus and his life and earthly ministry and resurrection? Are these things matters of knowledge? Willard pursues the standard apologetic approach, defending from objection the possibility of miracles and the veracity of the apostolic testimony of Jesus' resurrection. Willard says the evidence "strongly favors the resurrection of Christ as an actual event," and that "the factuality of a major miracle in this world can be known by those who would like to know." But to say that evidence "strongly favors" a conclusion is to back off from saying it "conclusively establishes the conclusion."

The whole goal of the book is to remind Christians that they can have knowledge (not just belief or opinion) that allows them to have full assurance and boldness in sharing the gospel with others. Yet Willard also says we can know something without knowing that we know it. But if I don't know that I'm in the state of knowing rather than opining, how can I have the confidence this book is supposed to inspire?

Still, one can hardly blame Willard for refusing to make a popular book more technical. "I should alert readers," he says in the introduction, "that this is not a devotional book, and this will require considerable mental effort to understand."

Despite such philosophical concerns, the chapter "On Knowing Christ" is well worth the price of the book. The book's central chapter on knowing Christ—not knowing about Christ—explores the "living experiential reality," the "firsthand interaction" with Jesus. Here he echoes and extends themes broached in his 1999 Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. Such a relationship is available to all who humbly acknowledge their need of "total transformation." Drawing on his deep knowledge of the spiritual disciplines, Willard counsels readers on how practices such as silence, solitude, worship, spiritual reading, prayer, and fasting open us up to the reality of Christ's living.

I also found Willard's defense of Christian pluralism compelling. His pluralism is grounded in the generosity, love, and work of the eternal Word (Logos), the Cosmic Christ who has come into the world to enlighten all persons. Willard affirms that all have sinned and that no one merits heaven apart from the atoning work of Christ. But he denies that to benefit from Christ's work one must have explicit knowledge of the historical Jesus, or that one must have all one's doctrinal p's and q's in order. Many Christians, he notes, cannot articulate an orthodox account of the Trinity: "Groups and their institutions tend to confuse what they need to teach with what one must believe in order to be saved."

Some Christians, says Willard, display the outward, identifiable marks of the faith—baptism, church membership, having prayed to receive Christ, having received the sacraments—but lack a heart of true devotion. "On the other hand, any who lack those recognizable marks but have the inward heart God looks for is acceptable to God—no matter in what other ways they may or may not be identifiable." The Roman centurion of Acts 10, though lacking knowledge of Christ, nevertheless had his prayers answered by God, prompting Peter to conclude that "God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:34–35, ESV).

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June 2009, Vol. 53, No. 6, Page 55