The Shack

The Shack by William P. Young has been a huge success selling millions of copies. The book was brought to my attention by a pastor at church pointing out that that several people had told him that the book had changed their lives. I thought, “Wow, sounds like I’ve got to check this one out.”

Prior to obtaining a copy I did some research and quickly discovered that the book is not only a huge bestseller but is also quite controversial. The next week I randomly found an un-needed copy on my sister’s bookshelf while on vacation. Having a little extra free time, I immediately began reading. The story starts with a little girl being abducted in Oregon, and since I was vacationing in Oregon with my young daughter (and family), I got sucked into the plot rather easily. As the story progresses, evidence suggests that Mack’s abducted daughter was murdered in a little mountain shack. Three years later, Mack, who is stuck in his “Great Sadness”, gets a note supposedly from God offering to meet Mack at the shack for the weekend.

From my early research, I was already aware of many of the controversial points. For instance, I already knew that when Mack goes to the shack and meets God, Young has a somewhat “outside the box” approach to personifying God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Because I was already expecting God the father to be a woman, when I arrived at the scene I was actually more open-minded than I expected to be. Plus, Young eventually did a decent job of explaining his reasoning which is tied more to the story than Doctrine. Open minded as I was, I still disagreed with much of Young’s theology throughout the book.

I agree with the overall purpose of the book as my friend Walter summarized, “to show that Christianity is about a relationship (between man and God) that God desired, instigated, cherishes, and upholds.” What I don’t agree with is Young’s premise that the church body is stuck in boxes of religion and is completely ignorant to the true relational desires of God. In the story even Mack himself was a seminary graduate who had never figured it out. The sad part is that there is an element of truth to some of Young’s generalizations. Frankly there are many church attendees who call themselves Christians that not only aren’t, but are no where near an actual “relationship” with God. I just don’t happen to personally believe it is as much “the norm” among the true spirit filled church as Young and Papa (the God the Father character) seemed to imply in the book.

I honestly found the book rather boring, kind of cheesy, and very forced. It was a quick, simple read and I’m glad I read it. Nonetheless, I have to admit it was merely curiosity that kept me moving forward through the pages. As far as the controversial side goes, I don’t really see it as a big deal; in fact I actually think it’s good to have your beliefs challenged from time to time in order to direct you to Scripture to ensure your beliefs are based in sound doctrine.

The pastor at my church said it well, “The book’s mind-boggling sales reflect an overwhelming desire among millions to have a personal relationship with God.” My only concern is that while the book does a good job of drawing people toward a “deeper relationship with God,” I felt it implied that all you really need to do is love more and feel closer to God. I’m all for lives that are transformed as long as they’re biblically transformed and not just emotionally transformed. We, as believers, need to focus on helping people, outside and (especially) inside the church, fall in love with the Bible where God most accurately reveals Himself.

My friend Walter Goodwater has a great review below that I highly recommend as a more standard type book review. 

Review By Walter Goodwater

This book is neither the God-breathed nor Hell-spawned work that many make it out to be. It has its strengths (emotional impact, earnestness) and its weaknesses (flawed writing, moments of questionable theology). The very premise of giving God a speaking role is itself a two-edged sword; it is vital for the book's desire to preach about a God who longs after relationships, but will anger many with its presumption to put words into God's mouth. A close friend would not finish reading, as he considered the book's concept idolatry and blasphemy. Describing God as a person was making a graven image, he said. I suspect, however, that he took more of an issue with the author's representation of God the Father as a woman than with God being a character. But Young is no Joseph Smith, claiming to have a new Testament of God; The Shack is not up for the Canon. It is a work of fiction, nothing more.

I have to believe that God would approve of Young's method of expressing theology in a story format, as He is wont to do Himself. And I hope that all Christians would agree with the idea Young wishes to express: that God loves His creation and desires to be in a relationship with them. This does not diminish God's glory or justice; His attributes are each infinite and do not take away from the others. I do wish, however, that Young could have addressed this worthy thesis with more theological and literary care. I do not care that God appears as a character; I do take issue with some of the things he says. And because this is a story, I must be critical of it on that level. The pages leading up to Mack's arrival at the shack are stilted and rough; I've recommended to a number of people who are about to read this book to skip them altogether. The dialog reads like characters talking, not people, especially with many of Mack's questions to God. He's throwing softballs over the plate so Papa can knock them out of the park with the replies.

This is a flawed work that should be treated critically as a brave and novel approach to theology and used as a door for the reader to ruminate on the love of God, best done not with the work of Young, but the Bible itself.

Posted in: Early DoF,Extras,Reading