A Guidebook to Waking the Dead: Embracing the Life God Has for You (2003), Nashville: Thomas Nelson, ISBN 0-7852-6309-8 [with Craig McConnell] Most disturbing is his insistence that God is a risk taker. It's just not true. When God created us and this world, He knew exactly what would happen. And he even had a plan (1 Peter 1:20). The Journey of Desire: Searching for the Life We've Only Dreamed of (2001), Nashville: Thomas Nelson, ISBN 0-7852-6716-6 Wild at Heart is split into three sections, called "movements." The first argues that every aspect of a man, from his desires to who he is as a man, reflects God. Eldredge argues that the reason a man has the desires that he does and the reason why he is masculine is because he is, ultimately, an image-bearer of God. Captivating Study Guide: Unveiling The Mystery of a Woman's Soul (2007), Nashville: Thomas Nelson, ISBN [with Stasi Eldredge]

Many would defend the author against misogyny because they think of misogyny as obvious and overt hate, while Eldredge is overtly gentle and loving toward women. But misogyny (and all forms of bigotry) can be covert, even hidden to the offender. This author's narrow expectations of women contribute to cultural restrictions for women NOT to be adventurous, exploratory, or thrill seeking, etc. This discourages the exact SAME freedoms in women that the author (correctly) pines as having been discouraged in men! It hurts women, and thus is misogyny, EVEN THOUGH UNINTENDED. This powers the stereotype that women are dependent on men. THEY ARE NOT! He also said of exploring: "My gender wants this naturally"... well, true! ...and so do women. THAT is how this author's bigotry and offense against women is often revealed (but sometimes more overtly - see below about Bathsheba). John Eldredge (born June 6, 1960 in Los Angeles) is an American author, counselor, and lecturer on Christianity. He is known for his best-selling book Wild at Heart.

Gnostics seek Eldorado. Sorta like Whitman in Leaves of Grass - the Grand Old Vision of Superabundant Life. The theology of "muscular Christianity" was itself highly dubious from a scriptural point of view, but it fit the prejudices of the age, when people (including Christians) sincerely thought that Europeans were racially superior, and that masculine toughness was a reflection of superiority and the source of future national (or imperial) greatness. These social and political ideas of the imperial age were combined with theology by those who believed that Christianity is best spread and defended by masculine "warriors" equipped to prevail in a Darwinian struggle against competitors on the world stage, particularly in a military struggle, which has always been regarded as the ultimate expression of masculine virility. (It is no coincidence that Eldredge's chosen heroes, repeatedly analogized through Wild At Heart, are violent Hollywood warriors like Braveheart and Gladiator.) A set of beliefs and theological principles created to legitimize and rationalize empire-building (and all the cruelties that attended to it) is not exactly a good foundation for a book aimed at hapless readers in the 21st century. The view of women. According to Eldredge, women are passive helpless beings waiting for men to rescue them. They seem to have no other purpose then to be beautiful for men. In July 2000, Eldredge left Focus on the Family, where he had worked for 12 years, to launch Ransomed Heart Ministries. [2] John, his wife, Stasi, and their three sons live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. [3] In addition to publishing many books, he has produced three videos: Risky Business: A Look at Gambling, Whatever Happened to Marriage?: A Look at Divorce, and Created Different?: A Look at Homosexuality. [4] Bibliography [ edit ]

Another prominent theme in the book is the notion that the conditions of the modern world have sapped the life from people and cut them off from the invigorating beauty and pleasures of God's natural creation. In Eldredge's story, such ideas are used in his criticism of the tedious, mundane, unexciting lives that the majority of men on the planet must endure, the unfortunate routines that cause men to lose their spark of life. By being "wild" and "fully alive," he suggests, we can overcome these impediments to our spiritual and emotional vitality. The idea is good so far as it goes. But it is important to remember that Eldredge's notion of how to overcome the pitfalls of modern life derive from modern ideas and modern solutions, particularly from the Romantic Movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, which emerged as a reaction against the ideas of the Enlightenment and the scientific rationalization of nature that occurred during the Industrial Revolution. I can honestly say that I find this book trite, over-espoused, and drastically overadored by a great many men and women that I generally like and enjoy spending time with. This doesn't make them dumb, bad, or idiots. It just makes them different than me. This doesn't make me smarter, good, or a non-idiot. It just makes me not a person who fits comfortably into any of the suggested roles that John Eldridge tells us that men secretly long for. He is married to an extraordinary woman, Cherie, and finds great joy in adventuring with his 15-year-old son, Joshua, and his 12-year-old daughter, Abigail. When he’s not with his family or on mission, he is most often found on expeditions in the mountains of Colorado. Board Members Relax, folks! That’s only a shimmering mirage in the desert of modernity. And anyway, Superabundant Life in now verboten by our modern, belt-tightening standards.All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You Love (2017), Nashville: Thomas Nelson, ISBN 978-0718037994 Furthermore, Eden is meant to point to the New Heavens and the New Earth. It's no mistake that John's description of Heaven at the end of Revelation bears more than a passing similarity with Eden. Another example of Eldredge reading his own ideas into the text comes with his treatment of the book of Ruth. According to Eldredge, Ruth teaches us that biblical womanhood involves a woman being a seductress and using her feminine charms to get what she wants (contrary to Proverbs 31 and every other biblical passage on womanhood. He goes on to say that this Ruth as seductress thing is a biblical example for "all women" to follow (191). These are just two examples of Eldredge's misuse and abuse of the biblical text.

The Journey of Desire Journal & Guidebook: An Expedition to Discover the Deepest Longings of Your Heart (2002), Nashville: Thomas Nelson, ISBN 0-7852-6640-2 [with Craig McConnell] Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus (2011), New York: FaithWords, ISBN 978-0-89296-088-0 Here's what appears to be surprisingly misogynistic too... Eldredge referred to a passage (Matthew 1:1-17 I believe) that references Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah. I was aghast reading Eldredge's words “that Bathsheba goes unnamed tells you of God’s disappointment with her.” WHOA! It seems FAR MORE LIKELY that God was disappointed in DAVID, yeah, remember? ...The one who raped Bathsheba and murdered her husband! (I hope Eldredge is not pretending that Bathsheba had a choice.) Many (including me) believe the Bible was honoring Uriah, and highlighting DAVID'S sin (NOT devaluing Bathsheba at all). Until Eldredge clarifies further, his words seem to flagrantly blame the victim (even in the face of David's murder and rape). This is misogyny. As I've said, Wild at Heart is well-intentioned, yet it falls short of delivering proper justice to an important topic. In wrapping up this lengthy review, the longest I've yet written, I leave you with a powerful quote from a friend I discussed this book at length with: Killing Lions: A Guide Through the Trials Young Men Face. (2014), Nashville: Thomas Nelson, ISBN 1-4002-0670-7 [with Sam Eldredge]Ok, the below review that I wrote when I was an intellectual child still married to my first husband keeps getting likes, so I clearly need to either update it or delete it. Those of you who see this, please understand, I was obliged to find good in this thing that my then husband loved so much. I wanted to love what excited him. But you should also know: I divorced him 6 years later. And most of the reasons can be found in this book. Unfortunately, there are some significant problems in his method and his message that make this an unhelpful and perhaps even a dangerous book. First, most of Eldredge's points come from films ("Braveheart" is a particular favorite of his it would seem), books, conversations with friends, Eldredge's own life experience, and moments of God speaking to him privately. Now, of course God can use movies and books and friends to communicate with us and that's fine. But God's primary way of speaking to his people is by His Spirit, through His Word. Unfortunately, most of the book's main points come from the former list of things and not the Bible. Eldredge then pulls Bible passages out of context, twisting and distorting them to fit his purposes. Here are some few points I noted while reading this book that try to explain how man is created in Gods image. Of course you have to read it to understand where all this is coming from.