Book Review
Page 2
"Wild At Heart"
Wild
at Heart Plays Wild With the Truth
Analysis by Steve Olree
It has been well documented that manhood in American culture today, both
within and outside the Church, is in a state of confusion. There has been a
flood of books, tapes, and seminars produced for the purpose of helping men to
resolve this problem. When people are desperate and confused, they are
vulnerable to any voice that confidently claims to offer a solution. Sadly, this
is particularly true of many Christians who fail to investigate what Scripture
actually teaches on a particular subject. Far too many Christians take at face
value what some writer or speaker puts forth as the truth or solution to a
problem just because their message is coated with a bit of Scripture.
Unfortunately, that appears
to be the case with today’s best selling ‘Christian living’ book, Wild
at Heart, by John Eldredge. You may be a fan of Eldredge. If so, I ask that
you examine Wild at Heart in light of
the Truth of Scripture. The Word
commends the Bereans who, after hearing what Paul had to say to them, searched
the Scriptures to ascertain whether or not what Paul was telling them was the
truth. (Acts
Eldredge’s
‘wildly’ popular Wild at Heart
has been on the Christian best seller list for months and has spawned seminars
across the nation complete with workbooks and training for group leaders.
Popularity however is NOT an indication of doctrinal or biblical
soundness. On the contrary, popularity is too often the result of man’s never
ending sinful desire to either create God in man’s own image, or to place
human desires above obedience to God.
The following is a brief
examination of Wild at Heart. For
those wanting a more thorough analyses, I have provided references at the end of
this article.
An Age Old Error
In Wild at Heart, Eldredge
correctly highlights the confusion and frustration of many men today about their
purpose and role in life. Feminism has greatly influenced the culture in its
attempt to emasculate men, as if masculinity were a disease to be treated. The
Church has been feminized, as has the picture of Jesus presented within
Christian culture. However, Eldredge’s errors and his unbiblical viewpoints
negate any value this book may have had for a Christian man.
First Corinthians 5:6
states, “Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a
little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump?” Wild
at Heart has a lot of leaven in the nature of serious, fundamental error and
misinterpretation of Scripture. Eldredge’s overlying problem is
‘syncretism’ – an ancient error rampant in today’s Church of attempting
to integrate the 'wisdom of men' in the form of psychology, humanism and other
religions with Christianity. This is an error we are warned about in Scripture.
(Exo. 20:2-5, Isa. 55:8, 2
Chr. 20:33, Prov. 3:5, Col. 2:8)
Eldredge
elevates the nature of man and denigrates the nature of God, a heresy that
presents a low, weakened God vs. the true God of the Bible.
In Chapter Two he offers the
following views about the nature of God.
God is a risk-taker: God is all-knowing and all-powerful, yet Eldredge
declares “God is a person who takes immense risks" (pg. 30) and that He
“prefers adventure, danger, risk, the element of surprise.” By
definition, an action can only be “risky” or a “surprise” if the
outcome is unknown. Comments one reviewer, Randy Stinson, “if God is taking
risks, there are no assurances that God’s purposes will actually be
accomplished. If God is uncertain about how His creatures will respond, then how
can we really be guaranteed that He will be ultimately victorious over evil in
the end?”
God is a needy whiner: “And after years of hearing
the heart-cry of women, I am convinced beyond a doubt of this: God wants to be
loved. He wants to be a priority to someone. How could we have missed this? From
cover to cover, from beginning to end, the cry of God's heart is, 'Why won't you
choose me?' It's amazing how humble, how vulnerable God is on this
point." (God vulnerable?)
Eldredge paints a pathetic
picture of God not out of Scripture, but from listening to women he has
counseled (page 36). Men and women
may whine and complain, but God has never been a whiner or complainer. In fact,
God calls complaining (murmuring) a sin, which is totally contrary to His
nature.
Also on page 36, Eldredge asks
the question, “Do you know why he doesn’t answer prayer right away?” and
answers it with, “Because he wants to talk to us, and sometimes that's the
only way to get us to stay and talk
to him." There are a number of reasons why God may or may not answer prayer
right away. Usually, it is to teach us something. It is never that He is
desperate for our attention or lonely! God is NOT desperate for anything!
Man’s True Heart is “Good”
Why
are Christian men struggling? Eldredge tells us that they have “lost their
true hearts” because of their “wounds” and that he can help them to
reclaim their “true hearts.” Eldredge claims that men are not struggling
because of their fallen state, their own sin and disobedience; rather they are
simply victims of someone else’s
sin. This is pure psychobabble
coming from the world’s wisdom and is diametrically opposed to what Scripture
says about the nature of man’s heart. (Gen.
6:5,
Doctrinal Nazis and Other Problems
“Doctrinal
Nazis” and “doctrine cops”, as Eldredge calls them, must be silenced
because Eldredge’s teachings will not stand up to the light of
Scriptural Truth. If readers and
seminar attendees are to accept Eldredge’s worldly indoctrination, they must
turn away from sound biblical teaching and from the illumination of the Holy
Spirit.
Other
problems in Wild at Heart include:
personal “issues” and hang-ups with their own masculinity,
and they assume that all men are like them.
2)
His ‘battles’ either seem to be internal, vague, or fantasies
such as in movies like Braveheart and
Gladiator. Unfortunately, many
Evangelical men seem to prefer this fantasy world, instead of the very real
battles raging in our culture today. Any vestige of Christian philosophy and
ethic is systematically being removed from American culture while the Church
sticks its head in the sand, or even worse -- participates. If men truly want
’battles,’ they can turn away from the movies and spectator sports, and join
in the battle for the hearts and minds of this nation-a battle rapidly being
lost to the forces of darkness.
3)
Eldredge’s view of women as a “beauty waiting to be rescued”
is ridiculous and unbiblical. God created Eve as a helpmate, not as a passive,
weak victim awaiting rescue.
4)
Like Larry Crabb, he presents Adam’s fall as a sin of abdication
(not stopping Eve), rather than of Adam’s own rebellion and disobedience. The
text only tentatively supports this view.
5)
He commends examples of “risk taking” that are simply reckless
stupidity.
6)
His discussion of penis size in the book, and his use of profanity
in the lecture series, including the ‘F-word,’ ‘G__ damn,’ and
‘sh__’ should be objectionable to Christian men, and a warning signal that
Eldredge is not qualified to impart wisdom about biblical manhood.
Conclusion
There
is a definite need for Christian men to learn the concept of biblical manhood,
but Wild at Heart takes men in the
wrong direction. If men truly want to know the truth, the Bible
is sufficient. And, if they need help with discernment and interpretation, there
are books that are far more biblically grounded. Those by Douglas Wilson are
excellent (Federal Husband, Reforming
Marriage, etc.).
It
is difficult to be in a position of disagreement with so many Christian leaders
and a top-selling author, but when the choice is between them and Scripture, the
choice is clear. Just call me a “Doctrinal Nazi.”
“For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching
ears; “ (2
Ti. 4:3)
References:
The
Bible, King James Version and the New King James Version
Wild at Heart, by John Eldredge
Wild at Heart Field Manual, by John Eldredge
Wild at Heart Facilitator’s Guide, by John Eldredge
Wild at Heart Boot
Is God Wild at Heart? A Review of John Eldredge's, Wild
at Heart,
by Randy Stinson at http://www.cbmw.org/resources/articles/eldredge_wah_review.html
A Critical Review of the Book, Wild at
Heart, by John Eldredge, by
Daryl Wingerd at http://www.ccwonline.org/wild.html
Wild at
Heart, a Critique by Jim Harmon at http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/wahbkrev.html
Wildly Unbiblical. By Don Veinot,
Robert
Bly's Iron
John & The U.S. Men's Movement
at http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~germ270/Lecture%20Notes/4-29.html
Male Spirit, Pagan Federation Online at http://www.paganfed.demon.co.uk/information/malespirit.html
John Eldredge’s
Wild at Heart: A Critique by
Byron Borger at http://www.ccojubilee.org/minexfolder/minex2002/june2002/Borger_June02.html
Unfounded Bias, a review by Charles Sell, Professor at
Eldredge
vs. Scripture on Man’s Heart
By Steve Olree
John
Eldredge declares as a solemn truth that “your heart is good,”
and that we should follow the desires of our heart (emphasis his). But what does
the Word of God say?
The word “heart” occurs 833 times in the King James Bible. It
is used in various contexts to describe the nature of man’s heart, the heart
impacted by man’s will or by God’s will, descriptions of God’s heart, and
even Leviathan’s heart. Of the verses describing the nature of man’s heart, NONE
of them describe man’s heart as anything but wicked. Here are just of few of
the many verses regarding the nature of man's heart:
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and
[that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil
continually. (Gen. 6:5)
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in His heart, I
will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of
man's heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every
thing living, as I have done. (Gen. 8:21)
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and
remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not
after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
(Num. 15:39)
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he
shall be delivered. (Prov. 28:26)
This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done under the sun, that
[there is] one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of
evil, and madness [is] in their heart while they live, and after that [they go]
to the dead. (Ecc. 9:3)
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the
days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of
thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these [things] God will bring thee into
judgment. (Ecc. 11:9)
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: (Matt. 15:19)
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, (Mark 7:21).
The very foundation of Eldredge’s prescription for men, that we
should trust and follow our hearts, is absolutely in contradiction to God’s
Word.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
(Matt. 7:26-27)
The two articles above,
(Wild
at Heart Plays Wild With the Truth
An Analysis of John Eldredge’s Book, Wild
at Heart
http://www.metrovoice.net/2003/1003_stlweb/1003_articles/wild_at_heart.html
Book Review:
Page 3
"Wild At Heart"