Renovation of the Heart, Ch. 3

This chapter focuses on radical evil in the ruined soul. For Willard, the centerpiece of this ruin is in our denial of God as God and placing ourselves in His place in order to worship self. He sites AA as an example that, the foundational decision to be made before change can take place is to realize that we are not God. I appreciate Willard's care and references to other writings (such as Knowing Christ Today). He suggests that there be an academic field of study of Evil which is an incredible idea. It is so jarring because I have a tendency to think of those realities as make-believe. In this way, I am lost. Willard ties this to the harshness of telling someone they are spiritually lost. It should not be a problem in his view. For Willard, this is a matter of fact. He introduces the reality of Hell suggesting that "no one chooses in the abstract to go to hell or even to be the kind of person who belongs there. But their orientation toward self leads them to become the kind of person for whom away-from-God is the only place for which they are suited." Because of this, they cannot want God. He clarifies "wanting God to be God is very different from wanting God to help me." In this framework, remorse becomes a central point of change. This remorse is not just acknowledging struggle and woundedness, but our own contribution to our lost state of affairs. So, without acknowledging our own inability and orienting ourselves toward God Himself, we cannot be renovated.