''Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul'' is a book published in 2005 by

John Eldredge John Eldredge (born June 6, 1960 in Los Angeles) is an American author, counselor, and lecturer on Christianity. He is known for his best-selling book '' Wild at Heart''. Life and work Eldredge received his undergraduate degree in theater from ...

and his wife Stasi. The book rejects the idea of an ideal woman and explores biblical scripture from the view that God desires woman to embrace, rather than fear, her

femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

. ''Captivating'' is a companion to '' Wild at Heart'', also by John Eldredge, and argues that its model of femininity complements men's innate desires for "a battle to fight," "an adventure to live," and "a beauty to rescue." They claim that women have three core desires: "to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil

beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

". The authors use scriptural analysis, personal experience and interviews with others as the basis for their argument, along with pop culture references to romance fiction. They also claim that God made woman as the "Crown of Creation", an embodiment of God's beauty,

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

, and vulnerability. The book has received considerable criticism from people both within and outside the Christian sphere. Many argue that the authors' personal experiences add too much bias to a book intended to address wide human conditions, while others find fault with the authors' scriptural analyses.

References

2005 non-fiction books Christianity and women Thomas Nelson (publisher) books {{Christian-book-stub