The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood published a piece back in November which gave its own boat-rocking opinions and insights. The bottom line?
"This method of drawing theological conclusions is flawed and therefore results in flawed views of both God and woman. We must guard against any view of God that is unworthy of Him. While an idea of God may subtly veer from truth and may appeal to our emotions, we must discern the flawed method that surely has profound ramifications. Not only does our view of God determine the priorities and trajectory of our lives, but our very purpose is to know Him. To know him, we must seek him where he has most clearly revealed himself."Christianity Today stepped out last week with a piece of their own. It did my heart good to see it. Not because I agree with everything, but because such a wide-spread bestselling book with such obvious theological flaws should not be passed by without comment.
CT's conclusion on beauty is worth quoting at length (read the whole piece here)
I may not be an Eldredge kind of lady, but I know beauty when I see it. And the most regrettable failure of Captivating is its tame idea of beauty...Beauty draws blood to the heart and speeds up the pulse; sometimes it evokes repentance. I wish more Christians were comfortable with its pull. Too often, beauty raptures us so forcibly that we fear it will lead to temptation. So we avert our eyes. What if we turned our ecstasy into worship?
With provocative hyperbole, a character in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot predicts that beauty will save the world. Commenting on this line, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn imagined that "if the too obvious, too straight branches of Truth and Good are crushed or amputated and cannot reach the light," then "perhaps the whimsical, unpredictable, unexpected branches of Beauty will make their way through and soar up to that very place and in this way perform the work of all three."
But it won't be the beauty described in Captivating. That beauty isn't wild enough; it's mere prettification, a tendency toward sentimental adornment. For some reason, the Eldredges restrict the source of beauty to women. Sorry, Rubens, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Bach, and men with stunning looks—you don't make the list.
True beauty is precarious, unbound.
It cannot be confined to pre-approved tastes or to one gender. It is wild at heart. Like Christ. And like the complicated men and women who follow him (some of whom room alone when they travel).
Posts
9 comments:
bravo, Natalie!
I just read your earlier review, and though I haven't read this book, I've heard enough to believe that you are right on. I appreciate this kind of straight talk and clear thinking. keep it up!
jen
Thanks for this! I bought the book last year and began reading it, fully intending to finish, but I never found the motivation to get past the 3rd chapter.
Your review helped me put a finger on what didn't seem quite right with the message of the book.
I personally loved Captivating and was much challenged by Helpmeet. Both have serious flaws. Yet each ministered to me.
I agree that we are nothing without God.
At the same time we are not nothing without a man.
My dearest friend Rachel and I think a mix of the two would be almost perfection. =)
~Anna
Natalie...thank you so much for posting the link to your review on "Captivating". I used to want to read that book, never really knowing what it was about, except the title. After reading your review, I am certainly not reading that book, and I have a new found passion in my heart. I do what to be who HE created me to be, not what this world tells me.
Thank you so much! You have been blessed with the gift of decernment, and of boldness!
Amen!
I think you're right; there are sections in that book that are very troubling. I can't let this pass by without adding, however, that God has used Captivating to convict me on a fundamental level and to teach me things that I needed to know. What good is it to be a woman, anyway? Captivating helped me begin to understand that for the first time. :)
So I would still recommend that other women read the book, even though I always qualify my recommendation heavily. :)
Hey Natalie,
thanks for your thoughts on this. I have not read this book, but I have read another co-authored by John Eldredge, and found it to be full of similar flaws. It's one of the few books I never finished reading, because I found so little in it to inspire me.
For a more balanced view of womanhood, check out Michelle Guiness, a British author. I heard a talk of hers recently (based on her book 'Woman: the full story') and was pleasantly surprised to find that she knows Scripture well and uses her knowledge of Jewish culture and the Hebrew language (she comes from a Jewish background) to highlight the meaning of what is written.
I was expecting a feminist diatribe, but I found encouragement instead - encouragement to be a woman of God who has a gentle strength and who is willing to serve; who is a helper and a mother without being 'fluffy' or boorish.
God bless you all!
Hi Natalie,
Thank you for raising those red flags. When it comes to any source interpreting the Word of God, we need to help each other keep high standards. We appreciate all that you do on this site!
I read "Captivating" as well, and I was cautious about accepting the accuracy of what was being presented. I chose to disregard some parts. At the same time, God used the Eldredge's writing to minister to some very deep wounds I've carried in my heart for years. Though I've been a Christian since I was a little girl, I couldn't really grasp the love God has for us, or what it meant to be a godly woman.
There are brilliant examples of godly women in the Bible, of course! But somehow, I just needed to be reassured that God really did love me, and thought I was beautiful, despite my scars. He truly met me in a "dark place" as I read this book. As the Lord continues to restores me to wholeness, I'm more able to live my life in service to God and others.
Thank you for not only offering your own thoughts on this book that so many people seem to be wild about but also thank you for putting the links to the other critiques. It is so important that our theology is based on the truth found in scripture and not just personal feeling. For a well-grounded book that seeks to help women form a true and whole feminine spirituality I would recomment "Eve's Revenge" by Lillian Calles Barger. It is a gem. Peace
Post a Comment