It is as if the Eldredges are saying, “You are powerful, beautiful and strong. For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (emphasis mine). But is it true? Is there any biblical reason to believe that Eve’s creation somehow excelled Adam’s because of the order of creation? Remember that Paul seemed to say just the opposite in 1 Timothy 2:12-13: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man rather, she is to remain quiet. Look out across the Earth and say to yourselves, “The whole, vast world is incomplete without me. Given the way creation unfolds, how it builds to ever and ever higher works of art, can there be any doubt that Eve is the crown of creation?. Maybe that is why it was so appealing when Eldredge said: Deep down, some prideful part of us wishes that everyone else were captivated with us, too. Even as adult women, we often tend to be overly captivated with ourselves. Like the Eldredges, I believe it’s a part of our nature that as children we imagine ourselves as heroines, as the center of attention, and as the princess. It should come as no surprise to any of us that we are the stars of our own daydreams. To be the beauty, abducted by the bad guys, fought for and rescuedīy a hero-some version of this had a place in all our dreams (pg. Sadly, the problems with the book outweigh this good message. I agree wholeheartedly with the premise of the book-that we were created for a love relationship with God, and that the deepest longings of a Christian woman’s heart are to be loved by God, and to love God 1. It was refreshing to see that Captivating deviates from the predictable “how-to” pattern of most Christian women’s literature. And then there were the books that gave me the “secret” to victorious womanhood in a few simple steps-steps that never seemed to work for my family and my situation. Over the years I’ve read dozens of worthless books aimed toward Christian women. I never picked it up again.” Can you identify with her feelings? I certainly can.

In the introduction to Captivating, Stasi Eldredge writes, “As a new Christian, the first book I picked up to read on godly femininity I threw across the room.

Eldredge, John and Stasi, Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul, Published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville 2005, 225 pages.

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