It is a standard-bearer in a particular and recent (though durative) “movement” 12 of Christian masculinity that draws from a complex nexus of cultural norms whose roots extend back into the early modern period. This task is also important because Wild at Heart is not really new or unique. Its sustained influence fifteen years later suggests that there are still valid and pressing reasons for questioning the legitimacy of Eldredge’s version of masculinity. Detractors may be tired of talking about Wild at Heart, but, nevertheless, the book and its ideas still find favorable reception in the Christian community. Perhaps, then, the unremitting popularity of the book despite multiple well-argued criticisms urges us to address its “theological and cultural vices” 11 anew. God was in it then he is in it still.” 10 It is somehow paradoxically “truer” than before, because “it rings eternal, and universal.

8 Stephen Mansfield, for example, calls the book “masterful,” listing it first in “The Ten Essential Books for Manly Men,” because it provides men with “the tools for understanding and living out the essential passions of manhood.” 9 For Eldredge himself, such steady reception confirms its timeless truth.

7 Hardly a year passes without some popular Christian book on gender or parenting acknowledging the Eldredges and their teachings or listing Wild at Heart as recommended reading.

Beyond this, the ideologies of Wild at Heart find expression in subsequent books written by John and Stasi Eldredge, most notably Captivating, 6 as well as numerous contemporary Christian works on sex and gender that display direct influence from the Eldredges’ teachings or promote similar ideas. 5 To date, the book has been translated into thirty languages. The English language version has sold over 4.5 million copies, 3 annual sales exceed 100,000, 4 and it currently holds the #1 Best Seller spot in Christian Men’s Issues on Amazon. 1 Although many excellent critiques arose in the years after the book’s initial release in 2001, 2 it still sells unusually well, progressively working its way into churches, homes, and minds. I have long deliberated the possible efficacy of another Wild at Heart critique.

Wild at heart womens book