ISBN: 0785268839
List Price: $21.99
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
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Summary: Great book, here is the digest version
I've read this book 5 times, including once with my small group men's Bible study. The gist of this book is we receive emotional wounds throughout our lives, particularly from our fathers. We then attempt to repair those wounds by either driving hard at work to feel manly, becoming distant and macho to feel manly, or chasing women and becoming dependent on their love to make us feel manly. The remedy for those traps? Of course, become close to God and develope an intimate relationship. He also implies, but doesn't state, that mentoring is a practical way to receive masculinity, and that we can only receive it from other men (especially Godly, wise men). Don't get bogged down in the individual chapters, try to look at the high-level ideas as if you had to summarize the book in 500 words or less.
Summary: Gets to the heart of the matter
Wild at Heart gives an insightful view of what drives men. It's on point and worth the short time it takes to read. Eldredge has a very readable style - I also strongly recommend his newest book Captivating which is the women's counterpart to Wild at Heart.
Summary: Stands with the worst "theology" / antitheology ever put to print.
John Eldredge and Hollywood: manly men follow their wild hearts!
Solomon, Jeremiah, Paul: a man's wild heart is a deceiver without cure.
In terms of philosophy of biblical exegesis, logic, and theological integrity, Eldredge doesn't merely fall short; he constructs an idol to his vision of a manlier manly-man. His impassioned thesis is given to casting God in a human image. The citation of biblical texts is more than a bit contrived, it is persistently "twisted". The version of "God" that emerges is a man-oid of "danger", a testosterone junky. Eldredge says that a thrill-seeking God took a big "risk" in granting freedom to created beings. Theologians, whom the author takes condescending swipes at, must note that this statement immediately begs the question(s): could an omnibenevolent God (Eldredge accepts, in fact argues, that God is good) have created straight-jacketed automatons (mindless 'minds'), and in being Himself (is there a rational option?) must God be seen as taking a "risk"? Is it even possible for The Absolute (from whom "nothing is hidden" Heb 4:13), to be at risk? Think about it. One sees deep logical problems with the author's assertion, no matter how poetically he demands it. Is Divine intent reflected in concepts arising from the fleshly desires of humans? Isaiah 55:8-9 clearly records God's answer as an unambiguous "NO". Eldredge insists "yes" (it's his central premise), which sounds strangely like Nietzsche's argument against God's existence! The beliefs of many atheists will be affirmed in Eldredge's careless, anthropomorphous "theology". Whatever strengths some may feel this book has, it cannot overcome such serious logical and theological blunders. (Earlier I posted a review paying greater deference to those many men who think this book is wonderful, but I was too "nice". By the way, those who like this book might equally enjoy Paul Coughlin's "No More Christian Nice Guy," it is almost as flawed but inspired me to write a less "nice" review of this book.)
The author describes encountering men heavily armed with guns, machetes and ammo belts in an Alaskan wilderness -- and feeling embarrassingly under-armed in the presence of such obviously God-like men! He plucks "support" from the Bible but often does so misleadingly, as he does with other sources. He quotes Thoreau, for example, such that the reader might think Thoreau would support his (Eldredge's) wild man of violence, danger, and battle. Let the bullets rip! Thoreau, of course, was one of history's most noted pacifists. Muir, the consummate man in wilderness, went to Canada to avoid war and later spent extended periods of time alone in grizzly country "armed" only with a clear mind, a fascination with God's ways, and a coat pocket pre-loaded with -- biscuits! Presumably he wasn't quite Godly enough for serious firearms. Some reviewers have suggested that "real" men -- who love the wilderness -- will find a resonance and truthfulness in Eldredge's arguments. Not necessarily. Some see wilderness as a boyish playground for hardware-wielding buddies in rut. Others know that wilderness is best experienced alone. It is a place for solitude and reflection and instruction and quiet. Eldredge seems to hold both views. For Jesus (and for others Eldredge quotes, Thoreau, Muir, and Wendell Berry) wilderness is a schoolhouse, a storehouse, and a sanctuary.
Something "nice" must be said: the book may facilitate a psychological catharsis for some men and may be particularly valuable to women who would like to know what these men are about; why our age is mired in much masculine malfunction; and how she might have a more healthy and rewarding relationship with a certain man (or certain men). But not all men bear Eldredge's "wound" ("Am I really a man?") and not all men, or women, are so obsessed with HIS vision of manliness. Much begs to be made of his overwhelming obsession with 'manly' Hollywood heroes, but this speaks for itself. The book's strengths are overpowered by its errors.
Eldredge aims for a low target. Is the Christian called to be a manlier manly man, or, to become "a new creation"? C. S. Lewis says, "The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, ' . . . I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. . . . Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours'." The apostle Paul said, "what counts is a new creation." Eldredge says what counts is being true to a childhood vision of maleness. Paul said that upon becoming a man he "put away" childish thinking. Eldredge says man is meant to do "violence", is meant to be "dangerous", must have a "battle to fight". Solomon said that wisdom is to be preferred above weaponry and/or a "battle to fight." Christ invites all, men and women, "learn from me, for I am gentle and humble." These words should not be re-cast in conformity to one's fleshly desires. Jeremiah says that man's wild heart is a deceiver without cure, Solomon and Paul say that man's material desires are simply "death." Freedom to be a "real man" begins when a man stops trying to justify himself, submitting to what is true, not to what feels good.
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