A Pint to Drink, a Pipe to Smoke and Some Theology/Philosophy to Discuss

I just read a very interesting review/opinion on the book Captivating by Stasi and John Eldredge by CT columnist Agnieszka Tennant (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/august/25.60.html). It helped me to further clarify my conflicting thoughts on the Eldredge movement. The premise of this movement is that "in the heart of every man is a desperate desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue" and "Every woman longs for three things: to be swept up into a romance, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to be the Beauty of the story."

Let it be clear up front that my wife falls into the Captivating camp, so I know there is validity in these thoughts. I first encountered this thinking when I read Wild at Heart and Sacred Romance around 2000 and thought, "Great! Some easy handles for holding the world!" In 2001, I moved to Colorado and met a young woman who helped shatter those neat categories. She seemed more Wild at Heart than Captivating. And as outdoorsy and adventurous as I can be, I soon found my three life themes to be a pint to drink, a pipe to smoke, and some theology/philosophy to discuss. Does that make me Mild at Heart? Probably. Less of a man? I hope not.

I then applied the 80/20 rule to the Eldredge scheme. (80% of men are Wild at Heart and 80% of women are Captivating.) That makes it possible to have a best-selling book franchise of monolithic thinking, since it merely pisses off the 20%, and the 80% just drink it in while shaking their heads in pity at the cranky 20% (if they're aware of them at all). If authors would be a bit more nuanced in their arguments, saying, "Most women long for three things:", they would be able to say they have integrity, but unfortunately for them, they probably wouldn't sell books.

Ms. Tennant's CT article carried my understanding of the Eldredge movement a bit further by casting some light on a sort of reverse gnosticism. The emphasis seems to be on extreme physicality, between the adventures for men and the "beauty" for women (which is more about prettiness; a nice catch!). It's interesting that the heart of evangelical Christianity has been all about spiritual development and desire to get out of this damned body so we can celebrate (what, I don't know) as disembodied souls for all eternity. Now we have the Eldredges saying it's all about adventure and beauty, some very physical things. (To be fair, they talk a lot about relating to God, which surely fits neatly into a spiritual category.) But can't we bring the pendulum back toward the center and engage true humanity, body and spirit? I know that's asking a lot, but the world works much better when it's nuanced. [rant off]