The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey [Hardcover]

John Eldredge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006

I can fix it. I don't need directions. I can figure this out on my own. These thoughts that erupt from a man's bravado, from his deep urge to be a real man. Yet underneath this, there is a louder voice countering, You can't. You're not capable. You're weak. Many men-possibly all men-face two looming questions at some point in their life. What does it mean to be a man, and am I one?

The Way of the Wild Heart reaches out to "unfinished men" trying to understand and live their role as men and fathers. Exploring six biblically based stages, John Eldredge initiates men into a new understanding and ownership of their manhood and equips them to effectively lead their sons to manhood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to Eldredge, whose book Wild at Heart has been a fixture on the CBA and PW's monthly religion bestseller lists, Christian men have lost their way. How can the church empower its men to find that path of spiritual growth that will enable them to grow up into the image of God? Eldredge, founder and director of Ransomed Heart Ministries in Colorado Springs, Colo., attempts to answer this question in this helpful guide, a praxis-oriented follow-up volume to Wild at Heart. He begins with the observation that "God is a God of process," then identifies six stages through which men pass in their life journeys: boyhood, cowboy, warrior, lover, king and sage. Eldredge describes typical behaviors that occur in each stage, and illustrates them with examples primarily from the Bible but also from secular biographies, popular films and legends. He views the transition from one stage to another as a time when "something in us needs to be dismantled and something needs to be healed," a form of damage control that allows men to advance along Eldredge's "map." Eldredge insists that the church has not served its male population well and calls for greater insight into the masculine journey. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

John Eldredge is the founder and director of Ransomed Heart™ Ministries in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a fellowship devoted to helping people discover the heart of God. John is the author of numerous books, including Epic, Waking the Dead, Wild at Heart, and Desire, and coauthor of Captivating and The Sacred Romance. John lives in Colorado with his wife, Stasi, and their three sons, Samuel, Blaine, and Luke. He loves living in the Rocky Mountains so he can pursue his other passions, including fly-fishing, mountain climbing, and exploring the waters of the West in his canoe.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson; 1 edition (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785206779
• ISBN-13: 978-0785206774
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Eldredge is an author (you probably figured that out), a counselor, and teacher. He is also president of Ransomed Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God, recover their own heart in his love, and learn to live in his Kingdom. John grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles (which he hated), and spent his boyhood summers on his grandfather's cattle ranch in eastern Oregon (which he loved). John met his wife Stasi in high school (in drama class). But their romance did not begin until they each came to faith in Christ, after high school. John earned his undergraduate degree in Theater at Cal Poly, and directed a theater company in Los Angeles for several years before moving to Colorado with Focus on the Family, where he taught at the Focus on the Family Institute.

John earned his master's degree in Counseling from Colorado Christian University, under the direction of Larry Crabb and Dan Allender. He worked as a counselor in private practice before launching Ransomed Heart in 2000. John and Stasi live in Colorado Springs with their three sons (Samuel, Blaine and Luke), their golden retriever (Oban), and two horses (Whistle and Kokolo). While all of this is factually true, it somehow misses describing an actual person. He loves the outdoors passionately, and all beauty, Shakespeare, bow hunting, a good cigar, anything having to do with adventure, poetry, March Madness, working in the shop, fly fishing, classic rock, the Tetons, fish tacos, George MacDonald, green tea, buffalo steaks, dark chocolate, wild and open places, horses running, and too much more to name. He also uses the expression "far out" way too much.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Men Headed this Way, October 16, 2006

By 

Kevin Miles (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey (Hardcover)

Mark Twain once said, "Most men die at 27, we just bury them at 72." John Eldredge is a master at explaining this puzzling quote from Mark Twain with his newest book, The Way of the Wild Heart.

Eldredge says that in our technologically advanced/post-industrial revolution world, we have "Unfinished" or "Uninitiated" men. By this he means that we men can get spiritually stuck in an earlier stage of our development, even though we continue to mature physically. There are six stages of masculine maturity according to Eldredge, ranging from Boyhood, Cowboy/Ranger, Warrior, Lover, King, and the Sage. As a man grows, he can get wounded at one of the earlier stages, and never grow out of it, so he never fully realizes his God-given potential.

Fans of Wild at Heart will draw strength from each page, and it will be hard for a man to put this book down. Eldredge has not only grown as an author in my opinion, but this book is backed up with solid scripture that drives home his points.

This is a book that I will go back to again and again as I raise my son and have influence over those in the next generation. This is a must-read for any man, and especially those working with men.

It's time for all men to follow the Way of the Wild Heart, and raise our sons to do the same.

Our world will forever be grateful.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild at Heart II, March 26, 2007

By 

Scott Knudsen (Air Ronge, Saskatchewan Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey (Hardcover)

Having read the first half of the book, I was starting to think it was more of an in-depth work book of 'Wild at Heart'. But then I started learning new things that made the whole book worth while reading.

It only takes one paragraph from a book like this to help a man bring parts of his life into perspective that he has been struggling with. 'Wild at Heart' did this for me and now 'The Way of the Wild Heart' has also enlightened me on certain subjects that I was not getting answers on from elsewhere.

Thank-you John Eldredge for stepping out and publishing a very personal book like this. I know your books have touched many a man's heart, and have also shown them what it takes to raise their son's to become men of God.

I would urge you to overlook the negative reviews of this book. I really don't think the negative reviewers understand what the author is trying to get across. This book is not the definite guide book to being a man, nor does the author want you to feel that way. Even though he heavily explores an important aspect of being a man, he does not leave out the other ones. In fact he does a good job of covering all the different aspects that the negative reviewers are saying he rejects!

The readers are not only shown how to implement what is shown in this book into their lives, but into their sons lives.

I would encourage all men, religious or non-religious, fathers or not, to read this book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Biblical Imagery of Masculine Spirituality, August 21, 2007

By 

David R. Bess (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way of the Wild Heart: A Map for the Masculine Journey (Hardcover)

I've read Eldredge's first book, Wild at Heart, and believe he has as good of a work here if not better. Wild at Heart is a pre-requisite to gain the most benefit from this volume. Even without having read the first title however, Eldredge here will resonate with many Christian male readers.

I simply don't understand how other reviewers can say this book is shallow on its Biblical content -- I don't believe I have seen a better analogy to the life of David in any other work. The masculine journey, according to Eldredge, begins first at boyhood, then progresses to the cowboy, then warrior, lover, king and finally sage. While the author doesn't bluntly offer chapter and verse for the ideas he shares, anyone familiar with the life of David can see clearly the parallels.

I recommend this book to all Christian men. Grandfathers, fathers, and sons alike will all find something here to inspire to walk closer to God and to develop much-needed relationships with other Christian men. This title is well-worth the price.