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Summary: Recover a Life of Freedom, Passion, and Adventure
Review: What life are we men meant to live? What does God want for us? Do our souls cry out for something more in our Christian lives? John Eldredge attempts to answer these questions in this thought-provoking book. According to Eldredge, the true nature of man's heart (the one God gave us) longs for an adventure to live, a battle to fight and a beauty to rescue. Our desire reveals our design which reveals our destiny. This book should hit you hard -- its core message rings amazingly true. This book can radically change the lives of bored, "nice" Christian men who lack passion and purpose in their lives.We all know we are made in the image of God, but what does that mean? For those men who are looking for an exegetical analysis of Genesis 1:27, you will be sorely disappointed. This book is not a scholarly theological study -- but it was never meant to be. This book speaks more to the heart than to the mind. Eldredge does refer to the Bible, but he also makes his case by relying on movies, songs and secular books. However, Eldredge does persuasively explain in biblical terms "what is man for?" God gave Adam an incredible adventure -- to rule, to be fruitful and to multiply. This original purpose is still with us. That is why we yearn to explore, build, conquer and love. But we are fallen -- as a result, many of us hide, faking our way through life. Eldredge explains that the wounds we receive in life, especially as children, lead men to choose a "false" way of life. School, church, parents and society at large strip men of their true identity and emasculate them. The Enemy fears the man that God created, and attacks each of us in an attempt to hide from us our true nature. Eldredge says we can find meaning, validation and our true self only through God. The source of our real strength is through our dependence on God. Eldredge explains in his book how God can help us heal our wounds, fight our battles with the Enemy, "rescue" our beautiful women from their wounds and find the adventure we are meant to live. If you read this book, you likely will find the hidden, lost part of your soul that desperately needs to be rediscovered. We need more Christian men who are Wild at Heart!
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Summary: Good insight on what a man's journey ought to be
Review: John Eldredge tells us what manhood is supposed to be like, not safe, but adventurous. Without the quest and the danger it contains there is little meaning in life. Few of us males received this type of fathering, but we can father our children that way and re-father ourselves in a new way of thinking, if we choose to do so. Women may find this book interesting as it explains many things about women that some women say they don't understand about men.
Overall, John Eldredge has given us an excellent look into the possibilities of manhood and of the possibility of wringing something wonderful out of our lives rather than merely existing. As a fellow adventurer and psychotherapist who is on his own journey I found the book excellent.
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Summary: Great Book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It was easy reading and very enjoyable. I definitely learned a lot. I would recommend this book to any man who may not have had the best father while growing up. I give it a thumbs up.
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Summary: Good Mens' Issues: Shaky Theology
Review: I got about a quarter of the way through Wild at Heart and found myself cheering, yeah manhood! Anyone who now defines men as men and supports them as such is my instant hero. We have been beaten down by: feminists, liberals and the PC patrol. However, upon finishing the book, I began to feel uneasy. There are some real theological problems with Wild at Heart. In addition, a very thin line is drawn between being inspiring and outright dangerous... Don't get me wrong: passion for the Lord is great and vital; and maybe the intent here is honorable, but there are some big inaccuracies and exaggerations of scripture embedded in Wild at Heart. We Christian men are called to be bold and impassioned as we journey with Christ and begin to comprehend His larger mission and our purpose therein. Just read Acts, especially where Paul testifies before Agrippa. And, the Old Testament certainly distinguishes men as men: here we can seduce (but must marry) multiple virgins and crush Canaanites. Sword and virility; courage, obedience and burning love for the Lord are all commanded of men. So the question of God's purpose for men as men is legitimate. However, Wild at Heart verges on being gimmicky, pop-Christianity where the author forces Robert Bly's Iron John into a Biblical context. The fit does not work. Jesus is not Iron John, nor does He intend this for us. The Bible does not tell us Christain men that we are centrally meant to be warriors in a drop zone, immersed in evil and battling evil forces away in every: dizzy spell, sickness, marital discord or blase day. Our role in marriage is not to fight evil forces to win back our wives, who have been wounded and emotionally absconded since the Fall. We are called to be faithful, to repent, to make often deep and painful sacrifices in Christ's name, to receive the Holy Spirit (in deep joy) and to be radically changed and sure, to resist evil. But evil is not the central mercenary issue. We are not on some wild Star Wars-esque adventure. Quite the opposite, a lot of being a Christian man is calming down, staying at home with your wife and kids, doing the otherwise boring stuff and putting aside a lot of potentially damaging sexual and aggressive passions (that can be easily masked as Christian passions). What I also find unsettling is that sound Biblical teaching, theology and scholasticism seem to get lost in the evangelical church. Wild at Heart is a good example of this scholastic void. At best read this book for a fleeting kick such as a Clancy novel or a Grisham, but get back to the real stuff, "the meat": the Bible and traditionally respected commentators such as C.S. Lewis and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer's seminal work: The Cost of Discipleship, for example, is well recommended. Lastly, considering the potential for this book to inspire serious error, I suggest that the author recognize the flaws with this treatise, pull this work from publication and revise it along the lines of more accurate theology. As it is now, the work is Satanically inspired.
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Summary: God is using the principles in this book to change my life!!
Review: Eldredge has outlined the battle that is being waged for our hearts. He invites us to realize the depth of God's love for each of us. He describes how we can become the people God created us to be. I have read many books, but this one guided me into a deeper Bibilical understanding of the fullness of God's love. As a psychotherapist, a Christian, and a man, I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy of this book immediately. It will help you to understand the desires God has placed in your heart and how understanding this will free you to allow God to bless you with the culmination of those very desires.
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Summary: Outstanding
Review: Every Christian Man living a "dead: life in the church needs to read this book and grab life as a man needs to. Enough of the wishy-washy - gotta be a "nice" guy preaching and gospels - I love how John brings out the man and what God's desire for being a man is. Finally! A book that makes you feel good about being on the wild side and being aggressive. For those of you who have felt that you may be a bit unruly - or who feel that you may loose the "wild side" - this is the book for you. I highly recommend this for every men's ministry group out there as a "must-read" book.
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Summary: A Misguided Effort
Review: I believe the author has good intentions to address the significant needs of Christian men today. Unfortunately, his efforts are based in anecdotal experience rather than solid Biblical theology. He makes some good points, but fails to develop and balance them with the support of scripture, relying instead on personal experience, stories, and pop-culture examples. This leaves the door open for his messages to be grossly misinterpreted and used inappropriately by the men and women who read this book. Without solid Biblical teaching, it is easy to interpret the call to "follow the longings of your heart" and to "be dangerous" in a way that leads to self-centered and manipulative responses. Anyone who does not already have a solid Biblical understanding of masculinity would be ill advised to read this book, as it requires a critical reading, one that is able to check what is being said against what scripture has to say. There are a few helpful insights to be found. But on the whole, I am afraid this book will do more harm than good in helping us better understand God's design for Christian men.
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Summary: An life changing experience
Review: The Christians I have known think that psychology is about "dark spirits" and exists in the shadows of good v. evil. Not so, according to Eldredge. Using beautiful anecdotes and personal experiences, he walks us through the struggle of being a "really nice guy" in the modern church to being the "dangerous" men that God intended us to be. The book caused me to view my past wounds and allow God to begin a healing process there. The secound half moved me into an excitement about what God has planned for my life. This was truly a life changing book for me.
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Summary: Mixed review
Review: NOTE: This review is based on reading the book and attending the 4-day conference of the same name, and graduate education including Bible (honors). Since Eldredge earned a Master's degree in counseling, some of his counseling advice is well-advised and worth considering. His theology, however, is much less well trained, poorly or not supported with proof texts, and sometimes dangerous. The problem is that sometimes counseling and theology are so interwoven and interdependent that it is difficult to untangle the two. That said, he does say some things that are not being said in the modern church, and need to be said.
All of this poses a serious problem for the new Christian, or the long-time Christian who has not benefited from formal training in Biblical interpretation. This comment will offend some who think that 'reader-response" is a valid interpretative method. They should read at their own risk. As for me, I can only recommend this book to those trained in a good, conservative school in exegesis and hermeneutics. At the least, if someone does not know what a Berean is and five Biblical interpretative methods, they should not read this book. I agree with the specific issues raised by several previous reviewers. The problem, of course, id that those with this training will not need this advice, and those who need it may not heed it. If you are a pastor, and your congregation rave's this book, you need to educate them.
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Summary: Poorly Written Self-Help Psychology
Review: I thought about giving this book two stars because, to be honest, the book starts off well. Eldredge suggests that the primary problem with Christian men is a lack of passion and desire. He suggests we are too "nice." This drive to be a "nice guy" keeps us from being who we really are, adventurers. I think Eldredge states the problem very well and although this was a good start, Eldredge then goes way off the deep end. It all starts when he gives an account of his son being picked on by a bully. Eldredge's advice to his young son? Punch the bully in the face. What?! He then quickly mentions Jesus' command to "turn the other cheek" but claims that the church has misunderstood this verse. OK, I thought, maybe he's going somewhere with this. I thought wrong. Eldredge never again mentions this verse. I guess he just assumes that we all will reinterpret the verse his way after reading his book. I didn't. The problems continue as Eldredge further drives home his point. He claims that deep within a man there is a good heart waiting to be let out. Men are, somewhere deep down, adventurous and this desire is inherently good. OK, but Eldredge states his point by boldly proclaiming that men have a "good heart." This borders on a complete rejection of the Christian doctrine of original sin. Eldredge really lost me when suggested that "we are never told to crucify our hearts." True enough, but we are told that the "heart is wicked above all things." Later in the book, Eldredge lays out what he believes are the three primary enemies against a man's heart, namely the sinful nature, the world and its influences and the Evil One (Satan). However, Eldredge never again mentions the sinful nature or the world as man's enemies. Instead, he spends the next chapter developing his battle plan against the Evil One. In this chapter, Eldredge blames Satan for everything from dizzy spells to traffic jams to supermarket tabloids. Interestingly enough, although Eldredge indicated that the sinful nature is indeed one of man's enemies, in this chapter on the Evil One he repeatedly infers that most of man's inner lusts and sinful thoughts are actually placed into our minds by Satan. I'm not sure then where our sinful nature would actually fit into the picture for Eldredge, and unfortunately, as I mentioned, he never develops this. In the end, this is just a bad book. Eldredge never develops any of his arguments. Also, there is just too much bad theology in this book to warrant more than one star. I understand that Eldredge is a counselor and not a theologian, but that doesn't exempt him from presenting sound Christian theology in his arguments. If men are hoping to get a better grasp on what it means to be a man and a Christian, I highly recommend Man in the Mirror by Patrick Morley instead of this book.
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