As Eldredge notes: “Masculinity is bestowed. It requires an intervention by men to bestow masculinity on the lower levels this requires action by the father, on the higher levels this requires action by God. Man has fallen, he has been wounded, and the one of the most noticeable results of this is the fear of failure and the false persona which we now put forth – the question being begged by men is “do I have what it takes.” We seek validation through means other than God (chiefly through women) and in doing so set ourselves up for failure in the battle which is at hand.
Through a brilliant weaving of personal experience, social commentary and analysis of Scripture Eldredge brings forth the image of God in man, outlining just what this image is (through the heroic figure of Christ), how we have lost it, and it may be regained (and perhaps most importantly, the false ways in which we try and achieve it). Immediately he dives into what it is that drives a man and it is around this which Eldredge forms the structure of his book: “… in the heart of every man is a desperate desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.” This is the idea which Eldredge begins with this call to reality. And ever since then boys have never been at home indoors, and men have had an insatiable longing to explore.” But Adam if you’ll remember was created outside the Garden, in the wilderness… Only afterward is he brought to Eden. “Eve was created within the lush beauty of Eden’s garden. It is an image often clouded by the noxious smoke of secular psychology and is often subdued by a society which wants to neuter its men it is this image which Eldredge desires to bring forth and to drive men to seek after, simultaneously dealing with the many problems which often accompany such a task. Man is made in a certain image, and that image is struggling to be seen. Yet this is just what John Eldredge does with his analysis into the soul of man.
It is very rare that an author comes along who can pierce straight to the heart of an issue, who can state just what needs to be stated in just the way in which it needs to be said.
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