I’m not sure how well I can give a true analysis of the heart of this book, simply for the fact that it is designed to speak to the soul of women rather than men, to confront their chief struggles rather than ours. It is a call to women finding their true beauty, their true romance, in God, and at the same time to help mend her relationship with her fellow man. That is why we spoke of the Romance with him first… our core validation, our primary validation has to come from God.”Īs with Wild at Heart, Captivating is built upon personal testimony coupled with Scriptural analysis and examples pulled from popular media so as to better relate to the reader.

Only God can speak the answer you need to hear. No man is the verdict on your soul… Only God can tell you who you are. Thus: “No man can tell you who you are as a woman. The goal of Captivating is to reveal the truth once more and to help in healing that wound and seeking ultimate validation through God. She becomes a dominating, controlling woman – or a desolate, needy, mousy woman.” When a woman falls from grace, what is most deeply marred is her tender vulnerability, beauty that invites to life. He either becomes a passive, weak man – strength sundered – or he becomes a violent, driven man – strength unglued. This can be seen in two primary ways (both for men and women), “When a man goes bad, as every man has in some way gone bad after the Fall, what is most deeply marred is his strength. They become haunted by questions and doubts concerning their beauty and they become wounded. The problem comes when the woman (or man) seeks to find these things in places other than God, when validation is sought from created things rather than the creator.

This image is reflected in how “every woman in her heart of hearts longs for three things: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty.” It is an image of God being reflected as is only done through the feminine nature, as the authors state: “And she, too, bears the image of God, but in a way that only the feminine can speak.” With his wife as co-author the two set out to ‘unveil the mystery of a woman’s soul’.Īs with man, woman is made in a certain image, and that image is struggling to be seen. In Wild at Heart the question of man’s soul, his design and his relation to God is analyzed in Captivating the question is turned towards woman.

John stasi eldredge