There are also distinctive features to females as divine image-bearers, but Eldredge’s focus is on the male. Not “woman”, note well, but “man” as a male.

Those of you who have read this book already know that Eldredge identifies three features in the masculine soul that he contends are essential to “man” as God created him. The church, says Eldredge, has focused on teaching men to be “nice” and “good” and “moral”, all of which are certainly o.k., but woefully short of what true masculinity is all about. He sees, and he’s right, a bunch of bored, passive, frightened, complacent men who have no idea what it means to love God or their wives or their families. What’s at the core of masculinity? Eldredge looks at the church today and doesn’t find a satisfying answer.

It’s about time someone addressed the issue of what it means to be a man. We have to move on to substance.Īs I said, there is much in this book to like. Would that all Christian authors could communicate as effectively as he.īut my response must not stop with issues of style. One simply cannot deny that reading this sort of writing is fun! Eldredge has a way with words and illustrations and images that make it understandable why his works are so massively popular. There is much to commend in this volume, not least of which is Eldredge’s engaging and vivid style of writing.

After all, I had read with great delight and profit the book he co-authored with the late Brent Curtis, The Sacred Romance. I don’t know why it took me so long to do so. After nearly four years, countless reviews, and over one million copies in print, I picked up and read John Eldredge’s best-selling book, Wild at Heart.

Wild at heart john eldredge