For a week or so I carried around this book called “The Shack”. It’s one of those books that “everyone” is reading. At the time of this writing it has has sold over a million copies and spent 33 straight weeks at the top of the New York Times best-sellers list for Paperback Trade Fiction. It has also seen a significant growth in sales in recent months while overall book sales have dropped. Those figures are not too bad for a book that was never intended for publication and then launched with a total marketing budget of $300.
Church folk who read it seem evenly split between the opinions that the book is either heresy or this generation’s classic work of fiction. Eugene Peterson’s endorsement is especially effusive: “When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of ‘The Shack.’ This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” did for his. It’s that good!”
The book tells the story of Mack, a father whose young daughter is abducted during a camping trip and then murdered in a shack in the woods. Several years later Mack receives an invitation from someone named “Papa” to meet him back at the shack. As it turns out, Papa is God, or more specifically, God in the form of the three persons of the trinity. During the time Mack spends at the shack he is taken through the painful experiences of his life and is shown how God was at work in each of them.
I’ll be honest: I was ready to not like this book. For one thing, I don’t read much fiction. For another, there are people that I respect who think the book is rubbish. Although not a textbook of theology, there is enough theology that it is well placed in the genre “theological fiction”.
Popular Canadian blogger and author Tim Challies (www.challies.com) agrees that the book is not a lightweight endeavor.
“The author is unafraid to tackle subjects of deep theological import,” he say, “a courageous thing to do in so difficult a genre as fiction. The reader will find himself diving into deep waters as he reads this book.”
In the controversy surrounding this book, the words “orthodox” and “heresy” have often been mentioned – at least amongst theologically minded Christians who engage its content. The power and meaning of words like “orthodox” and “heresy” is of course somewhat muted in the current plurality of systematic theologies within Christianity. We generally use these words today to indicate whether what we’re referring to fits into our own systematic theology. If it does, it’s “orthodox”; if not, it’s “heresy”.
There are elements here that are a bit unorthodox to be sure – we are not accustomed to seeing God in the human form, and especially not in the form of a woman. But overall I was struck with just how orthodox the theology in the book is. By that I mean I found myself agreeing with a lot of what Young was saying about the nature of God, predestination, love, etc. Another popular writer and blogger, Michael Spencer, wisely recommends that,
“If you can read this book as what it was meant to be, and not as a chapter of someone’s Systematics, it will work on the level we most need such a story: our own sense of intimacy with God.”
This book has the potential to – and in fact already is – getting into the hands of many people who are not Christians. As an introduction to the faith it is above the level of sufficient. Overly long and analytical and critical reviews of the book (some nearly as long as the book itself!) seem to forget that the book is short and a work of fiction. Yes, there is much that can be said about this or that particular point of theology but overall the book presents an accurate portrayal of God and confirms his goodness at every opportunity.
The weaknesses of the book exist in some unresolved issues Young obviously still has with authority, theological education, and what we commonly refer to as the “church”. At one point, after Mack has met God, he realizes that all of his seminary training was insufficient in preparing him for such a meeting. Well, let’s hope not! Mack must not have done his homework before choosing a seminary.
While Tim Challies recommends staying clear of the book, Michael Spencer says just the opposite:
“William P. Young wants to introduce you to what it means to be loved by the Trinitarian God,” Spencer writes, “and he’s created a compelling story to do so in a way few sermons could ever begin to do.”
Both reviews are worth reading… but read the book first and decide for yourself.
More thoughts on The Shack here.
Recent Reads
The Shack – a review
Church folk who read it seem evenly split between the opinions that the book is either heresy or this generation’s classic work of fiction. Eugene Peterson’s endorsement is especially effusive: “When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of ‘The Shack.’ This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” did for his. It’s that good!”
The book tells the story of Mack, a father whose young daughter is abducted during a camping trip and then murdered in a shack in the woods. Several years later Mack receives an invitation from someone named “Papa” to meet him back at the shack. As it turns out, Papa is God, or more specifically, God in the form of the three persons of the trinity. During the time Mack spends at the shack he is taken through the painful experiences of his life and is shown how God was at work in each of them.
I’ll be honest: I was ready to not like this book. For one thing, I don’t read much fiction. For another, there are people that I respect who think the book is rubbish. Although not a textbook of theology, there is enough theology that it is well placed in the genre “theological fiction”.
Popular Canadian blogger and author Tim Challies (www.challies.com) agrees that the book is not a lightweight endeavor.
In the controversy surrounding this book, the words “orthodox” and “heresy” have often been mentioned – at least amongst theologically minded Christians who engage its content. The power and meaning of words like “orthodox” and “heresy” is of course somewhat muted in the current plurality of systematic theologies within Christianity. We generally use these words today to indicate whether what we’re referring to fits into our own systematic theology. If it does, it’s “orthodox”; if not, it’s “heresy”.
There are elements here that are a bit unorthodox to be sure – we are not accustomed to seeing God in the human form, and especially not in the form of a woman. But overall I was struck with just how orthodox the theology in the book is. By that I mean I found myself agreeing with a lot of what Young was saying about the nature of God, predestination, love, etc. Another popular writer and blogger, Michael Spencer, wisely recommends that,
This book has the potential to – and in fact already is – getting into the hands of many people who are not Christians. As an introduction to the faith it is above the level of sufficient. Overly long and analytical and critical reviews of the book (some nearly as long as the book itself!) seem to forget that the book is short and a work of fiction. Yes, there is much that can be said about this or that particular point of theology but overall the book presents an accurate portrayal of God and confirms his goodness at every opportunity.
The weaknesses of the book exist in some unresolved issues Young obviously still has with authority, theological education, and what we commonly refer to as the “church”. At one point, after Mack has met God, he realizes that all of his seminary training was insufficient in preparing him for such a meeting. Well, let’s hope not! Mack must not have done his homework before choosing a seminary.
While Tim Challies recommends staying clear of the book, Michael Spencer says just the opposite:
Both reviews are worth reading… but read the book first and decide for yourself.
More thoughts on The Shack here.
More From The Ascent to Truth
Posted in: Bible, Book Reviews, Books, Books and Authors, Canada, Church, Emergent Church, Emerging / Emergent Church, Emerging Church, Jesus, Quotes and Comments, Theology.