Fathered by God by John Eldredge

Eldredge, John. Fathered by God. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009.

Fathered by God presents again material previously published in The Way of the Wild Heart. It’s a map of the masculine journey.

Finding that I’ve writing the flowery metaphor “map of the masculine journey,” let me launch directly into a rant. Sometimes Eldredge’s writing annoys me. He writes too much in phrases when complete sentences are within his grasp. His outdoorsy examples miss me as often as they connect. For a guy into a lot of manly activity, he can come across as very touchy-feely.

In spite of this, I’ve read a half-dozen of Eldredge’s books. He talks directly about the difficulties of walking with God in a world bent on taking out those who undertake it. It’s stuff I deal with as a Christian, even if I don’t always like they way he writes about it.

The message of Fathered by God, in tough language, is, “Grow up. You need it and the people you love need it from you. Growing up is hard. You need help, especially from God.” That is where the map comes in.



The maturity of a man comes in stages, beginning in boyhood and ideally leading to sagacity in old age. In between, a man needs to be an adventurous cowboy, a dutiful warrior, a lover (of God in every case and of a woman, too, for most men), and a king of some sort of realm. These terms are mostly metaphorical. Few men are literal cowboys, but young men need challenges and hard work. Fewer will be literal kings, but every man is made to be a leader of something and hold dominion over some part of the earth.

At each stage of a man’s life, there are many opportunities for the enemy, the world or other people to take him out. This is exacerbated by the loss of the man-to-man and generation-to-generation connections that once served to help a man experience, mature, and succeed in each stage. Eldredge sees these networks of men helping men as important and encourages men to take there places in one, both to receive and give support.

Eldredge’s encouraging message is that even if a man has be damaged at some stage and hasn’t grown up the way he need to, it’s not to late to do it. The ultimate Father, God Himself, is willing and able to lead His sons into maturity. Whatever wounds a man received, God can heal. Whatever a man missed, God can supply. The masculine journey can begin or resume now.

John Eldredge also wrote
Epic
The Sacred Romance (with Brian Curtis)
Walking with God
The Way of the Wild Heart

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Into the Depths of God by Calvin Miller
No More Christian Nice Guy by Paul Coughlin

Stories for a Man’s Heart by Al and Alice Gray