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!” Eugene Peterson
The above review is what prompted me to read William P. Young’s The Shack when a friend at work offered it to me. Unfortunately, for those looking to read a fictional story with the foundation of solid, Biblical doctrine like Pilgrims Progress (although PP is more of an allegorical story than The Shack, it is fiction nonetheless) will be shaking their heads and wondering where we are headed theologically in America. This simple look at this book is not intended to be exhaustive, but I felt like it deserves some criticism, not only to the author, but to the supposed positive response of American Christendom.
The basic story is about a man named Mac and his journey to faith, much like Christian’s in John Bunyan’s work. A stark and important difference is Christian carried upon his back the burden of his sins. Mac, on the other hand carries ‘the great sadness’ upon his soul. The Great sadness is brought about by the kidnapping and murder of one of his children, a young girl named Missy. While tragedy in our lives can and does draw us closer to God, here sin is replaced as a driving factor for reaching out to the Lord. The premise of tragedy drawing men to God by itself is not the problem. In that drawing, we eventually find ourselves at the foot of the cross with nothing of our own but our transgressions toward a Holy God. Mac on the other hand finds himself alone with his sadness in a small shack, the presumed place of Missy’s death, with God. He carries his sorrow and regrets about Missy’s disappearance and God is there reasoning with him about just how things really work (theology per W.P. Young). There is no overbearing burden of sin on Mac’s part. In fact, the word sin (sinfulness) is only used once during the books long sections of dialog between Mac and God.
Mac eventually finds himself on the judgment throne, that’s right, on it not before it. He is judging the world and the God who created it. Another troubling doctrine that flows from The Shack is the nature of God Himself. God the father is a large black women. running around cooking up Mac’s favorite meals. Her first appearance goes like this;
"...the door flew open, and he was looking directly into the face of a large beaming African-American woman. Instinctively he jumped back, but he was too slow. With speed that belied her size, she crossed the distance between them and engulfed him in her arms……”
I don’t know the intentions of the author, but I pictured in my mind Aunt Jemima! The God who is not to be made in the image or the likeness of man looks just like Aunt Jemima, this is quite a picture don’t ya think?
She hustles around saying things like;
“Well Mackenzie, don’t just stand their gawkin’ with your mouth open like your pants are full,…….”
In explaining her appearance to Mac, she says;
Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I chose to appear to you as a man or a woman, it is because I love you. For me to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me Papa (Mack’s’ wife, Nan’s name for God) is simply to mix metaphors, to help you from falling back into your religious conditioning.”p93
Mac’s ‘religious conditioning’ (Historical teachings of the church and her Biblically based creeds) is formal training in a seminary earlier in his life. I’m pretty sure there are a few things God the Father will set straight as pertains to our religiousness and Church-isms when the day comes. One thing I do not think we will see is God personified as a large black woman named ‘Papa’. I dare to think the depths of the doctrine of God that are yet un-mined have anything to do with a total reversal of what is means to describe the nature of God. Truly, we would have to recondition the theology as we have known it for some 2000 years. It is also pertinent to mention that most theological heresies begin with a redefining of the nature of God. Mr. Young has definitely done that here.
God the Father is not the only personage represented by human form to Mack. The complete trinity is here together in the Shack. Jesus is depicted as a Middle Eastern man with a big nose and the Holy Spirit is portrayed as a kind of shape shifting oriental women whose main attribute is her creativity. You could almost say she is creativity personified.
The Shacks words on this new trinity;
"When they finally stopped giggling, the large woman... said, 'Okay, we know who you are, but we should probably introduce ourselves to you. ...you could call me what Nan does: Papa.'... “'And I,' interrupted the man, who looked to be about in his thirties.... 'I am Hebrew....' “Mack was suddenly staggered by his own realization.
“Then, you are....” “'Jesus? Yes....'
"Mack stood dumbfounded.... Just as he was about to crumple to his knees, the Asian woman stepped closer and deflected his attention.
'And I am Sarayu [the Holy Spirit, Creativity].' she said... "Thoughts tumbled over each other as Mack struggled to figure out what to do.... Since there were three of them, maybe this was a Trinity sort of thing.... 'Then,' Mack struggled to ask, 'which one of you is God?'” “'I am,’ said all three in unison.'” Pp86-87
Papa speaks of Jesus in this manner:
The above review is what prompted me to read William P. Young’s The Shack when a friend at work offered it to me. Unfortunately, for those looking to read a fictional story with the foundation of solid, Biblical doctrine like Pilgrims Progress (although PP is more of an allegorical story than The Shack, it is fiction nonetheless) will be shaking their heads and wondering where we are headed theologically in America. This simple look at this book is not intended to be exhaustive, but I felt like it deserves some criticism, not only to the author, but to the supposed positive response of American Christendom.
The basic story is about a man named Mac and his journey to faith, much like Christian’s in John Bunyan’s work. A stark and important difference is Christian carried upon his back the burden of his sins. Mac, on the other hand carries ‘the great sadness’ upon his soul. The Great sadness is brought about by the kidnapping and murder of one of his children, a young girl named Missy. While tragedy in our lives can and does draw us closer to God, here sin is replaced as a driving factor for reaching out to the Lord. The premise of tragedy drawing men to God by itself is not the problem. In that drawing, we eventually find ourselves at the foot of the cross with nothing of our own but our transgressions toward a Holy God. Mac on the other hand finds himself alone with his sadness in a small shack, the presumed place of Missy’s death, with God. He carries his sorrow and regrets about Missy’s disappearance and God is there reasoning with him about just how things really work (theology per W.P. Young). There is no overbearing burden of sin on Mac’s part. In fact, the word sin (sinfulness) is only used once during the books long sections of dialog between Mac and God.
Mac eventually finds himself on the judgment throne, that’s right, on it not before it. He is judging the world and the God who created it. Another troubling doctrine that flows from The Shack is the nature of God Himself. God the father is a large black women. running around cooking up Mac’s favorite meals. Her first appearance goes like this;
"...the door flew open, and he was looking directly into the face of a large beaming African-American woman. Instinctively he jumped back, but he was too slow. With speed that belied her size, she crossed the distance between them and engulfed him in her arms……”
I don’t know the intentions of the author, but I pictured in my mind Aunt Jemima! The God who is not to be made in the image or the likeness of man looks just like Aunt Jemima, this is quite a picture don’t ya think?
She hustles around saying things like;
“Well Mackenzie, don’t just stand their gawkin’ with your mouth open like your pants are full,…….”
In explaining her appearance to Mac, she says;
Mackenzie, I am neither male nor female, even though both genders are derived from my nature. If I chose to appear to you as a man or a woman, it is because I love you. For me to appear to you as a woman and suggest that you call me Papa (Mack’s’ wife, Nan’s name for God) is simply to mix metaphors, to help you from falling back into your religious conditioning.”p93
Mac’s ‘religious conditioning’ (Historical teachings of the church and her Biblically based creeds) is formal training in a seminary earlier in his life. I’m pretty sure there are a few things God the Father will set straight as pertains to our religiousness and Church-isms when the day comes. One thing I do not think we will see is God personified as a large black woman named ‘Papa’. I dare to think the depths of the doctrine of God that are yet un-mined have anything to do with a total reversal of what is means to describe the nature of God. Truly, we would have to recondition the theology as we have known it for some 2000 years. It is also pertinent to mention that most theological heresies begin with a redefining of the nature of God. Mr. Young has definitely done that here.
God the Father is not the only personage represented by human form to Mack. The complete trinity is here together in the Shack. Jesus is depicted as a Middle Eastern man with a big nose and the Holy Spirit is portrayed as a kind of shape shifting oriental women whose main attribute is her creativity. You could almost say she is creativity personified.
The Shacks words on this new trinity;
"When they finally stopped giggling, the large woman... said, 'Okay, we know who you are, but we should probably introduce ourselves to you. ...you could call me what Nan does: Papa.'... “'And I,' interrupted the man, who looked to be about in his thirties.... 'I am Hebrew....' “Mack was suddenly staggered by his own realization.
“Then, you are....” “'Jesus? Yes....'
"Mack stood dumbfounded.... Just as he was about to crumple to his knees, the Asian woman stepped closer and deflected his attention.
'And I am Sarayu [the Holy Spirit, Creativity].' she said... "Thoughts tumbled over each other as Mack struggled to figure out what to do.... Since there were three of them, maybe this was a Trinity sort of thing.... 'Then,' Mack struggled to ask, 'which one of you is God?'” “'I am,’ said all three in unison.'” Pp86-87
Papa speaks of Jesus in this manner:
“Although by nature he is fully God, Jesus is fully human and lives as such. While never losing the innate ability to fly [as he does in fact do in the story], he chooses moment-by-moment to remain grounded. That is why his name is Immanuel, God with us, or God with you, to be more precise.’
‘But what about all the miracles?............Doesn’t that prove Jesus was God-you know, more than human?’
‘No, it proves Jesus is truly human’.
‘What?’
Mackenzie, I can fly but humans cant, Jesus is fully human. Although he is also fully God, he has never drawn upon his nature as God to do anything. He has only lived out of his relationship with me, living in the very same manner that I desire to be in relationship with every human being. He is just the first to do it to the uttermost-the first to absolutely trust my life within him, the first to believe in my love and goodness without regard for appearance or consequence’.
‘So when he healed the blind?’
‘He did so as a dependent, limited human being trusting in my life and power to be at work within him and through him. Jesus, as a human being had no power within himself to heal anyone’.pp99-100
‘But what about all the miracles?............Doesn’t that prove Jesus was God-you know, more than human?’
‘No, it proves Jesus is truly human’.
‘What?’
Mackenzie, I can fly but humans cant, Jesus is fully human. Although he is also fully God, he has never drawn upon his nature as God to do anything. He has only lived out of his relationship with me, living in the very same manner that I desire to be in relationship with every human being. He is just the first to do it to the uttermost-the first to absolutely trust my life within him, the first to believe in my love and goodness without regard for appearance or consequence’.
‘So when he healed the blind?’
‘He did so as a dependent, limited human being trusting in my life and power to be at work within him and through him. Jesus, as a human being had no power within himself to heal anyone’.pp99-100
This understanding leaves out what is a neglected doctrine of the church and this proves it is surly neglected. No where is there portrayed the victorious Christ on His throne. Instead, Jesus is like you and me, he is forever man. As well, we humans are reasoned to be limited by our own misconceptions of what relationship with God is. This relates back to our ‘religious conditioning’. We are limited in power and deed because of our lack of relationship with Papa, brought about by our past conditioning. Now I am all for questioning or beliefs. Personally, I came from growing up in the Mormon Church and had to ditch the convictions of my youth. The difference I think is that I learned the Truth before I could recognize the error. That’s not the case in The Shack. Mac is encouraged to ditch his religious conditioning so he could learn the truth from experience in relationship. I understand this formula may not fit in every situation, but it does however pose a red flag. It reminds me of the what Jehovah's Witnesses request of those they teach.
The Shacks salvation is relationship with God, and it is always different than what we have perceived by our Christian heritage.
Here is Jesus talking about what it means to be ‘Christian’.
"Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims.... I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters.”
‘Remember, the people who know me are the ones who are free to live and to love without any agenda.’ pp182
‘Remember, the people who know me are the ones who are free to live and to love without any agenda.’ pp182
The Shack’s gospel has no sin, no guilt, no judgment, only love and relationship. That is The Shack’s version of salvation in a nut shell. To go along with the theme of reconditioning, the book also condemns the intuitions of the Earth, including the church. I suppose Paul must have been wrong as well as he labored to establish the churches throughout Asia Minor. He purposefully laid out instructions to those who were in charge of their respective churches. Paul laid an inspired, definite order and structure within the churches. In The Shack, authority is a man made misconception.
Mac grills Jesus on the subject:
"Why would the God of the universe want to be submitted to me?"
"Because we want you to join us in our circle of relationships," answers "Jesus.” pp145
Other doctrinal issues arise from The Shack, such as:
Contact with the departed;
Mac views Missy, his daughter playing and frolicking around, all the while conscience of her daddy’s presence yet she cannot see him.
Also, Papa is particularly fond of everyone equally. Only the positive attributes of the person are recognized by Papa. No mention of their sin and failures. Guilt and remorse over our sin is not part of The Shacks Christian.
Also, Papa is particularly fond of everyone equally. Only the positive attributes of the person are recognized by Papa. No mention of their sin and failures. Guilt and remorse over our sin is not part of The Shacks Christian.
Papa shares the scars of crucifixion along with Jesus as he was a participant at the cross. This brings up issues with the Biblical view of substitutionary atonement, without which we have no salvation.
After reading The Shack, the review that prompted me to do so comes into new light.
“This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his…………….”
The Shack's Gospel is a progressive Gospel. Truth is relative and the old truths need updated.
After reading The Shack, the review that prompted me to do so comes into new light.
“This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his…………….”
The Shack's Gospel is a progressive Gospel. Truth is relative and the old truths need updated.
The Shack presents to modern man a message that fits his world view, rejecting a world view that changes modern man.
If a friend offers up this book to you, do him a favor and politely suggest Pilgrim's Progress that is referenced within the review on the cover. He will be better served a meal that truly can bring life to the dead.
*******EDIT 7/9/08********
This is an interesting article I found on 'The Shack"
Labels: Book review, Discernment, Fiction
posted by Hank at 7:20 PM
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