Rating: 
Summary: Christian men wear pants
Review: Where did men get the idea that we have to sacrifice our masculinity to be "good Christians"? In an age where gender roles are increasingly smudged and distorted, would you rather be a spineless, toothless Nice Guy or a Manly Man with a solid identity and knowledge of God's purpose in your life?John Eldredge challenges us as Christian men to rediscover the passions of our youth. Christianity is not a prison of rules, regulations and restrictions; it is a battle to be won, an adventure to be experienced. Eldredge puts us in front of a mirror that reflects the person we were meant to be. He enhances a sound scriptural base with an eclectic collection of movie clips, song lyrics, poetry and literature. Where else would C.S. Lewis and Oswald Chambers meet George Thorogood and the Dixie Chicks? Those who scream heresy when Eldredge supports his arguments with contemporary, non-scriptural analogies just don't get it. He is not steering the reader away from scripture; he is making it more accessible and applicable to the reader. While this book will be most beneficial to men, I think women will get a lot out of this book as well, getting a better idea of how their man is really wired. No more Mister Nice Guy. Get Wild! Larry Hehn, Author of Get the Prize: Nine Keys for a Life of Victory
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Summary: Wild departure from biblical theology
Review: Wild at heart claims men want to be warriors and that is their role. Yes, we are all (women and men) warriors in the Lord's army, but yet in his book, Bible study and intercessory prayer aren't what is lifted up. Adventure is more the course of action. Men are urged even to be like the men in immoral movies. Very little scripture is highlighted in this book and the theology lifts up idols of the heart. Watch for how many times the men and women are people who want something for themselves, long for, and live for something. Watch what they worship according to him, it is not God, but actually, the idols of their hearts of what they want, what they feel, what they desire, and what they crave. It is rather self-centered and it is humanistic rather than God-centered. The book is sad in it's description of women. Women are seen as wanting a man only to rescue her, love her, and take care of her and protect her. I would be sinning terribly to be a woman who was so dependant on man instead of God. It really acts as if women are just waiting for a man. It doesn't make people who are single, widowed or divorced have a chance for living out their role unless they are WANTING a man to be with them. It would make most women very very sad to really review how shallow they are viewed. God provides all those things that we need and this book makes women to appear weak. Women are also warriors in scripture and have been part of the adventure through intercessory prayer for years. The thing about beauty was very disturbing and would really hurt most women. Most men think of beauty as only flesh. This book fosters men holding the beauty of women, but men were probably thinking mostly of sexual things when they read that. Real beauty is a women's or man's deep love of God. Women are made also in the image of God and don't want an adventure to share but are called to be in unity with any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. While this may make men feel better, it may make men love their wives more, it really misses the mark theologically and doesn't give much respect to the high calling of women and men as equal saints who are not to want but are to give. They are to love, not want to be loved, they are to take responsibility for their walk.
Rating: 
Summary: A much needed review of Christian Manhood
Review: I liked this book because Eldredge gives men encouragement to be themselves without any guild about it. God knows how much guilt is thrown at today's Christian men. I believe Eldredge is right in many ways when it comes to the condition of most of them men you find in Christian churches (I cannot speak about any other kinds). I know that many of them would benefit from reading this book. It is a book for someone who is willing to think about things in a self-examinng way, and from a historical perspective as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Generates Good Discussions But Book Is Lacking
Review: If you are part of a good solid Christian men's small group or Sunday school - get the book and go through it together. As long as you keep in mind what the foundation is (see the Bible) you should do fine. Many of the points that Eldredge does bring up are items that men need to address. Men should be more active in church and I agree - the majority of churches are run by women, that is they are doing most of the work from organizing the pot lucks to teaching the Sunday School classes. More men need to get out of the church leadership positions and get their hands in the ministry of the church. However ... Eldredge loses the intense thoughts and discussions points a little over half way through. For whatever reason his wheels fall off and worse yet, his last chapter just kind of died on the branch. It is like he ran out of stuff to say. Did not close the book out well. Eldredge mentioned in his book about a speaker he heard at a PK event by the name of Gordon Dalbey - Healing of the Masculine Soul (ISBN 084993257). It is easy to see why. Dalbey's book was written in 1991 and covers a lot of the same issues that Eldredge does. However, Dalbey is more biblical in his approach and in my view gets down to the real issues at hand - sin. In fact Dalbey's 1st chapter made me think much more than all of Eldredge's chapters combined. Eldredge's book is a quick read. It is not perfect by any stretch but does make you think - and that is always good. If you can find it used - buy it and read it. Would not pay the full price for it. Just my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent guide for any man searching for his true self
Review: The negative comments posted about this book really miss the mark. This book encourages men to be who they are...to be dangerous not in a tradition meaning of the word. Be a dangerously good husband and father...go to the extreme to do what is right. Be there for your wife, treat her right (God says so and John points that out), pursue her and love her as yourself. Be there for your kids and let, don't be an absent father, and be loving and caring to them. John embraces humility! This is an excellent book and hits the nail square on the head!
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous.
Review: This is a dangerous book. Just read some of these reviews, and you'll get that picture. Yes, dangerous. Like a scalpel. Do you have what it takes to read it and use it for good, not evil?
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Summary: Wild at Heart: Layman's guide to carnal Christianity.
Review: If the book Wild at Heart is intended to help Christian men better their lives, it falls far short of the mark. This work by John Eldredge is one of the worst "Christian" books that I have read and could be appropriately titled: A Layman's guide to Carnal Christianity. Of the many issues that need to be addressed in this book there are some more evident than others and these issues beg several questions.
One question that needs to be asked is this: Have we come so far in Christianity that we need to use secular examples, like "Tristan" in the movie Legends of the Fall, for Christian men to model themselves after? This person who curses God, rebels against the laws of man and of God, encourages his brother to have premarital sex as soon as possible and then makes a pass at his fiance, engages in extreme alcohol abuse and orgies, worships pagan gods with his Indian friend, etc., is a proper example of what a Christian man should be? And, what's more Eldredge asserts that this kind of man is what women really want. Have the Christian women in this country fallen so far away from the word of God that they long for lost and lonely men of the world who cannot be counted on to do what is right? I don't think so. Another question that is brought to one's mind as you read of Eldredge's references to hanging out in bars with his buddies is: What happened to being "set apart" for God? What about guarding your testimony? If the Christian man looks and acts like the rest of the lost world, how will he have an influence on them when he tries to share the gospel of Jesus Christ? I think Eldredge has lost his way with this book in that he has forgotten what is most important in the life of any Christian and that is that we should be conforming to the image of Jesus. The scariest thing about this book is that you realize that John Eldredge has been highly acclaimed for it. If Eldredge is an example of the best that the Christian community has to offer, we are in trouble.
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Summary: Beware feminist 1 star reviews about this book
Review: I have noticed that the people giving this book 1 star are mainly women. They do not want to admit that the heart of a man is described in this book. This saddens me, but unfortunately (for the women), they are only telling themselves something that is not true. This book DOES describe a man's heart. And it does so beautifully. If a woman is unsettled by it and doesn't like it, she can toss a '1 star' rating to make her feel better, but the truth of this book remains. its like walking out into the bright sunlight- you can cover your eyes and say "there is no sun", and you might even convince yourself it isn't there, but the truth is that you are only deluding yourself.
Same with feminisism and this book. A feminist can throw a towel over her eyes and say 'this book is old fashioned stereotypes', but it wont change the objective fact that the words in this book ring true. They strike at the very heart of a man. I read this book and learned things about myself; things that have been suppressed by our neutered society. I have found, in my experience, that today's leftist society has 2 primary fears: Christophobia (fear of christianity) and Hominophobia (fear of masculinity). This book shows all women what men are made out of. It is the truth. Plain and simple, this is what we truly are. A woman is not a man, so she has NO BASIS upon which to say the words in this book are false. Every woman giving this book 1 star is an example of a woman who THINKS she knows what a man is. But obviously since she is NOT a man, she has no rational basis for her rating; she is simply than projecting her hominophobia. If the woman doesn't like what is described in this book, then she is simply denying what men really are. I have known so many men that have read this book. EVERY single one of them agree- this book describes what is in our heart. A woman can accept that truth, or tell herself that its a lie. But it will still be true.
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Summary: A Book for Men & Women, Regardless of Politics...
Review: In "Wild at Heart", Eldridge shows God as he molds His own spirit into Adam & Eve. Then Eldridge shows how the Sin in the Garden has traveled down the generations. It fills ALL of us with confusion and pain about exactly these same God-given attributes. While we retain them to this day, we just don't know how to use them... "...Then comes Adam, the triumph of God's handiwork. It is not to any member of the animal kingdom that God says, "You are my very image, the icon of my likeness." Adam bears the likeness of God in his fierce, wild, and passionate heart. And yet, there is one more finishing touch. There is Eve.
Creation comes to its high point, its climax with her. She is God's finishing touch... Eve embodies the beauty and the mystery and the tender vulnerability of God... The reason a woman wants a beauty to unveil, the reason she asks, 'Do you delight in me?' is simply that God does as well.... Can there be any doubt that God wants to be worshiped? That he wants to be seen, and for us to be captivated by what we see?..." This book challenged my "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle" politics until I understood what Eldridge is truly saying: We are not as God intended; we remain wounded and broken by the Sin in the Garden. Our politics are a response to our innate inability to relate -- internally and externally -- as God designed. Instead of the (brief) joy and completeness of Adam & Eve, we find ourselves and our relationships plagued variously with anger, resentment, deceit and infidelity, jealousy, abuse, emotional and physical frigidity and impotence, and above all: self-doubt. Eldridge's answer? Briefly: "Let go & let God" by actively seeking and embracing our wounds, then bringing them to God as Christ, the greatest of healers. An extraordinarily powerful book, "Wild at Heart" is right up there with "The Ragamuffin Gospel" (Brennan Manning) and "The Challenge of Jesus" (N.T. Wright) in changing my life. All carry me into the cradle of God's love, and Christ's healing of my heart gets stronger every day.
Rating:
Summary: The message sounds good, but...
Review: This book came highly recommended to me. His message has an appealing ring to it and sounds great. But I want my adventure to come in following Christ. Eldredge made it sound like I should follow the example of William Wallace and if I'm not, then I've been sidetracked from what it means to be a man. I'm a man, I loved Braveheart, I love adventure, but I am wary of a message that seems more based on movies first and Scripture second. Movies can be helpful for illustrating points. I use them in sermons myself. However, I am truly concerned about what lens he will have men looking through: movies made by men or the Word of God. When he did use Scripture (sparingly), I hade major disagreements with his interpretational leaps. Additionally, he says he isn't advocating Open thiesm, but he certainly came too close to that line for me. He gave no treatment of verses involving the fruit of the spirit or humility or having a servant heart. I have no idea how those fit into his theology of what it means to be a man made in God's image. Certainly Christian men in the church do need waking up. There is a struggle. But again, even though at times he tried to imply otherwise by pointing to a need for an intimate relationship with God, he always left me feeling that a movie character was the better example. Oh, and if it is not in God's plan for you to ever have a wife, then you will also come away feeling less of a man. I could go on and on with my points of disagreement. I won't. I'll just end it by saying I don't think this book is able to stand the test of Scripture and I can not in good conscience recommend it be used in the church.
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