even more captivating

(Right up front I'll apologize -- this is going to be long, because it covers two chapters and I'm writing it.)

"A Special Hatred"

The main point being argued here is that women particularly suffer because the Serpent (Lucifer, Satan, etc.) envied Eve more -- and therefore targeted her first -- because she was the incarnation of God's beauty and glory.

This all hinges on Satan wanting beauty above all things. John and Stasi use a passage from Ezekiel 28 to support this. Unfortunately, the passage is what the prophet is supposed to say to the king of Tyre. Yes, you could use it as a parallel, but it seems unwise to me to make this criticial-to-the-rest-of-the-book claim and not provide any more evidence. Perhaps Satan did target Even instead of Adam for that reason, but I was always taught (for better or worse) that Satan got demoted for wanting to be God (just like Adam and Eve). And Satan did go to Eve first, but hey -- there was a fifty-fifty shot of being targeted to start with when there are only two humans to choose from. Do you think there is a reason he picked her?

An exerpt:

Most of you are living with the guilt that somehow it's your fault you aren't more deeply pursued now. That you do not have an essential role in a great adventure. That you have no beauty to unveil. The message of our wounds nearly always is, "This is because of you. This is what you deserve." It changes things to realize that, no, it is because you are glorious that these things happened. It is because you are a major threat to the kingdom of darkness. Because you uniquely carry the glory of God to the world.

The Satan-beauty-envy thing still isn't working for me. The idea of Satan envying us for any reason doesn't seem right. Others?

Skipping to another exeprt:

Part of a man's fundamental reluctance to truly dive into the world of a woman comes from a man's deepest fear, failure. ... The effect is that most women feel alone. Some of this is simply selfishness on the part of men. Lord knows men are selfish and self-centered. When Eve was first assaulted, Adam didn't do jack squat. Men sin through violence and through passivity.

Immediate reaction: maybe. Women are clearly self-centered, too. As a not-male, I can't verify that failure is a man's deepest fear. Token males, what do you think about this passage?

"Healing the Wound"

Turning to this page, I thought, "Okay, this is it," as in this chapter will be a tipping point for me in assessment of the book. Will it take a new approach to healing, or have we built up to a healing message we've heard before?

Exactly what I did not want to read was "Turn to God, God thinks you're beautiful, that there's no one else like you, and he would have died if you were the only person on earth." These things are true, but -- maybe I'm off here, reactions? -- hearing that God thinks I'm beautiful is like your mom telling you that you did a great job at that last concert or play or what have you. How God feels about my appearance and general attractiveness is not one of my big concerns -- there's no need to attract God. Maybe that sounds bad or shallow. But it's like someone telling you God loves you when you're crying and all you really want is a physical hug. Your mom loves you completely apart from your own merit, but simply because you are hers. And that is a good thing, but there are other times when you want to be loved for more than that. Does that make sense?

(Before we came down to it, readers were addressed as "dear heart" a few times and it was hard to keep a straight face.)

This is the last paragraph of the chapter:

Take your Question (usually "Am I lovely?) to Jesus. Ask him to show you your beauty. And then? Let him Romance you.

(Sigh.)

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not denying that Jesus can heal us. But he does it on his own time, and I am not renowned for patience. Again, I don't want to be romanced by God. Then, to be my own devil's advocate: Isn't He supposed to be sufficient?

I leave you with what seems to me a theological inconsistency. In this chapter we read:

Why did God curse Eve with loneliness and heartache, an emptiness that nothing would be able to fill? ... He did it to save her. For as we all know personally, something in Eve's heart shifted at the Fall. Something sent its roots down deep into her soul -- and ours -- that mistrust of God's heart, that resolution to find life on our own terms. So God has to thwart her. In love, he has to block her attempts until, wounded and aching, she turns to him and him alone for her rescue.

But back in the last chapter:

The Evil One had a hand in all that has happened to you. If he didn't arrange for the assault directly -- and certainly human sin has a large enough role to play -- then he made sure he drove the message of the wounds home into your heart. He is the one who has dogged your heels with shame and self-doubt and accusation. He is the one who has done these things in order to prevent your restoration.

Which is right, or are both or neither?

(To their credit, their premises of "what women want" seem accurate. Thought I'd better end on a positive note.)