Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul | 
 enlarge | Author: John Eldredge
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  601 reviews
Sales Rank: 953
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0785287965
Dewey Decimal Number: 248
EAN: 9780785287964
ASIN: 0785287965
Publication Date: January 3, 2006
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
If Christian men are going to change from a pitiful, wimpy bunch of "really nice guys" to men who are made in the image of God, they must reexamine their preconceptions about who God is and recover their true "wild" hearts, writes bestselling author John Eldredge in Wild at Heart: Discovering a Life of Passion, Freedom, and Adventure. Eldredge throws down the gauntlet--men are bored; they fear risk, they refuse to pay attention to their deepest desires. He challenges Christian men to return to authentic masculinity without resorting to a "macho man" mentality. Men often seek validation in venues such as work, or in the conquest of women, Eldredge observes. He urges men to take time out and come to grips with the "secret longings" of their hearts. Although the book succeeds best in its slant toward a male audience, it also strives to help women understand the implications of authentic masculinity in their relationships with men. Eldredge frames the book around his outdoor experiences and appealing anecdotes about his family, sprinkling the text with touches of humor and overlying everything with heartfelt passion. Even as he mixes eclectic ideas about masculinity from popular movies such as Braveheart with classic words from Oswald Chambers, and lyrics from the Dixie Chicks with stories from the Bible, he points to only one answer for men searching for their true wildness of heart. Writes Eldredge, "The only way to live in this adventure ... with all its danger and unpredictability and immensely high stakes ... is in an ongoing, intimate relationship with God." --Cindy Crosby
Product Description
Helping men rediscover their masculine heart, this guide to understanding Christian manhood and Christian men offers a refreshing break from the chorus of voices urging men to be more responsible, reliable, dutiful… and dead. God designed men to be dangerous, says John Eldredge. Simply look at the dreams and desires written in the heart of every boy: To be a hero, to be a warrior, to live a life of adventure and risk. Sadly, most men abandon those dreams and desires-aided by a Christianity that feels like nothing more than pressure to be a "nice guy." It is no wonder that many men avoid church, and those who go are often passive and bored to death. In this provocative book, now available in trade paper, Eldredge gives women a look inside the true heart of a man and gives men permission to be what God designed them to be-dangerous, passionate, alive, and free.
Download Description
God designed men to be dangerous, says John Eldredge. Simply look at the dreams and desires written in the heart of every boy: To be a hero, to be a warrior, to live a life of adventure and risk. Sadly, most men abandon those dreams and desires-aided by a Christianity that feels like nothing more than pressure to be a "nice guy." It is no wonder that many men avoid church, and those who go are often passive and bored to death. In this provocative book, Eldredge gives women a look inside the true heart of a man and gives men permission to be what God designed them to be-dangerous, passionate, alive, and free.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 596 more reviews...
 Not worth the read August 29, 2008
John Eldredge is writing from a fundamentalist perspective, and is part of the backlash against the feminist movement among other things.
The following are my major concerns with Eldredge's book:
1) Eldredge speaks right past anthropological scholarship that regards gender as a social construction.
2) Eldredge takes stereotypes of masculinity and femininity and makes them normative and ordained by God.
3) Furthermore, Eldredge's stereotypes are rooted in sexist notions of manhood and womanhood.
4) Eldredge uses decontextualised texts from the Bible to uncritically support his argument.
May I suggest an alternative, a book more rooted in Scripture and scholarship than 'Wild at Heart'; namely, 'New Adam' by Philip Culbertson.New Adam: The Future of Male Spirituality
 No man should miss this book August 28, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is extremely insightful. It is invaluable to men in todays society who have not been taught how to be men. It is a must read. However, it is just about as good for women, especially mothers of young boys. It can help them to understand why little boys must jump in mud puddles and climb trees.
Hook, Line, and Sinker August 16, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read the book, saw the videos, and sat through the seminars at church, trying to keep an open mind. In the end, I was sickened and disgusted by the author's attempt to fuse the kingdom of Heaven with the earth below, and make the church try to act more like the world. His loose interpretation of scriptures along with his numerous examples drawn from Hollywood, et al, is really treading on dangerous ground. When we use our emotions and our "feelings" to gauge our relationship with God, instead of relying on what the Bible has to say, we are in trouble. Does Eldridge not realize that a lot of man's attributes are not what God originally intended, but are a result of man's fall from grace (original sin)? This book may make you feel good about yourself and be ready to go slay the proverbial dragon, but it is fantasy, NOT reality!!! The fact that millions of Christian men have bought into this nonsense "hook, line, and sinker" is a sad testament to how much the Church of Jesus Christ has succumbed to the enemy's seduction in modern times.
Incredible! - Must Read! August 14, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul This is an incredible book that literally was used by God to change my life for the better! John provides valuable insight into what makes a man tick, and what he longs for more than anything else. You MUST read this incredible book, or your life may likely suffer a HUGE loss!
Stereotyped, Sexist and Unbiblical August 8, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This would have to be one of the worst books i have ever had the misfortune to read, a fact that is made all the worse because the book has been read so widely by so many people, most of whom seem to imbibe its sexist attitudes completely uncritically.
From beginning to end the book presumes stereotypes of gender that would be laughable, if they weren't so widely accepted. According to Eldridge, at the heart of masculinity is the God given orientation to fight battles, hunt, and rescue beauties - a description the finds greater resonance with films such as Braveheart and Gladiator (which the author cites as proof of his point) than with the story of Jesus. Indeed, one wonders how the thought that "everyman needs to know he is powerful" might be reconciled with the value that Jesus seems to place in humility, meekness and mercy, and with his modeling of true humanity by turning the other cheek and taking the path of the cross.
But it is Eldridge's portrayal of women that really is sickening. For him, true femininity is to be found in the fantasy of being rescued by a night in shining armor. A women is at her best when she is being a women, says eldridge, and by that he means, when she is waiting to be rescued, led, inspired - a task that requires only that she try to "arouse, inspire, energize and seduce" (p. 192) her man. If his inspiration for masculinity is violent films, his idea of femininity comes from pulp romantic fiction.
How anyone can think this book is biblical and empowering is simply beyond me.
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