text: Of all of Willard's books, this one was my favorite.
  
  	Willard offers a systematic study of the nature of being, and then proposes a pragmatic approach to setting the hear back on course to purity and submission to God.  A human being, he says (p. 30), is composed of thought, feeling, choice, body, social context and soul.  He states plainly (p. 41), "It is the central point of this book that spiritual transformation only happens as each essential dimension of the human being is transformed to Christlikeness under the direction of a regenerate will interacting with the constant overtures of grace from God.  Such transformation is not the result of mere human effort and cannot be accomplished by putting pressure on the will (heart/spirit) alone." 
  
  Fundamental to this project is first dying to self, taking up the cross, and living in self-denial (chapter 4).  We must then go through a process like learning a new language.  The general steps he summarizes in the acronym VIM: vision, intention, means (p. 85).  These are a vision for kingdom life, the will to do it, and the means to carry it out.
  
  The rest of the book is structured around a look at the transformation of the mind (chapters 6-7), will (8), body (9), social context (10), and the soul (11).  The work of the mind involves being cognizant of the ideas and feelings that drive our society and our personal lives.  Instead we should be renewed with love, joy, and peace in the inner life.  The work of the will involves surrendering our will to God's, and then moving from abandonment to contentment.  Here the spiritual disciplines bring to light our duplicity on these matters.  The work of the body means realizing the over-emphasis we place on it and the need to cease idolizing and misusing our bodies.  The work of our social context involves noting the use of assault and withdrawal that characterizes our relationships (p. 181).  Lastly, the work of the soul, which Willard defines as the unifying factor of them all, is best summarized in Psalm 1.  We are to be renewed into new beings who happily fulfill the law of God.
  
  Again, I said this was my favorite of Willard's works.  I'm not sure any of the rest of them so thoroughly transcend from the theological to the practical without missing a step.  The systematic study of human nature is all-inclusive.  He lays out a blueprint of a kingdom vision of what the human being (emphasis on being) is.  The very nature of humanity, from the state in which we find it to the place it is supposed to be, is spelled out here.  The enormity of the work is amazing for such a readable text
  