Wild at Heart Review

This is a review of Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. I offer my impressions for you and encourage you to read the book for yourself. The book formed the foundation for many of the thoughts that I expressed in my series of articles that started this blog and I quote John quite liberally. It would be nice to meet him one day. God willing we will meet in the Kingdom of God.

Wild at Heart Revised and Updated: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul

Author: John Eldredge

Genre: Religious

First Take: I loved this book

When did I read it? Mid 2017

Details:

Look, let’s deal with the negative up front.

There are all sorts of issues with the book and I get that.  I think one of the issues that people take umbrage at is the lack of scholarship in the book.  It is pretty light from an expository viewpoint.  I think it does have a healthy dose of humanism and maybe even pop psychology.  The book runs against current thinking around masculinity and femininity and for that comes in for some fairly belting criticism from many.

Now, the positive.  For men, there is a lot in society today that tells us to suppress our masculinity, that we are toxic and the source of all that is wrong.  This book examines who we are as men and gives us licence to engage as men with God.  And it does it in a way that does not devalue women but asks men to be their best self before they seek to partner a woman.

“A man needs a much bigger orbit than a woman. He needs a mission, a life purpose, and he needs to know his name. Only then is he fit for a woman, for only then does he have something to invite her into.”

In essence, men are made in the image of one aspect of God and women in another.  Eldredge is looking to get this image out and forefront so that we can engage God as His Sons.

Call to reality

I love the book’s call to reality rather than the rather neutered image of men that has become the norm in our society today.

Men are failing creatures. We are wounded and for the most part we put forward a false persona in a world that tells us all the time that we aren’t worth it.

Eldredge beseeches us to accept God as our Father and seek validation in Him.

The book’s primary premise is:

“Deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.”

Without seeking to overstate the case, this book saved my life.