The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity by William P. Young
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Book Reviews of The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity
Book Review: Great Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best books I've ever read.
Please, check it out for yourself.
It's certainly intriguing, thought-provoking, and moving as I even found myself in tears during the later part of the book.
This is the kind of book whose waters run VERY deep . . .
So deep that I found myself days and days later still thinking about what I read and I'm just amazed (in awe) at what this author wrote. Whether he realized it or not, consciously or unconsciously, in his own way he's elucidated something (or Someone) absolutely profound.
It's also a good story as well! I attribute that, and also the author speaking to what I call perhaps a "silent majority" (or maybe, a faction within the Evangelical Christian community) whose viewpoints haven't so far been adequately expressed against the hard, right-wing side. No, not even Christians (or Christianity itself) is a monolith.
So why all the objections?
Well, for starters, yeah, this book rattles some "traditional" cages (and IMO these people are EXACTLY the ones who should be reading this book!) I almost suspect in part this is meant for them. They CLAIM faith -- but in fact their faith has become a legalistic religion . . .
And yet, . . . upon pondering it further . . . while not citing actual, literal, Scripture -- I was stunned to see that in fact this book VERY much so has Scripture backing it up! Maybe that is why the traditionalists are so uncomfortable. If you disagree, then you need to do more research on your own and not just go by what your pastor told you.
In addition, if it's not actual Scripture backing up what's portrayed in the book then it certainly is in keeping with conventional, orthodox belief about God (and yes, that includes the "mixing" of metaphors as Papa said).
I know the Trinity (or Godhead) are of one Substance and in a Community, but I've just never thought about what that means (let alone read a book about it). And then how do WE fit in with that Community exactly? Like I said, very thought provoking.
I think also alot of objections center around things like the Trinity submitting to each other (Christ submitted to us on the cross) and not being part of a hierarchy (and traditional, Christian teaching indeed teaches that They are not -- which demonstrates how far the revised theology (or heresy) of today unfortunately has strayed . . .) but also specifically the portrayals of God as feminine.
Again, those who object to this may not be aware but God is Spirit and Spirit has no gender. Gender is a created thing and in the Hebrew language itself there are NO gender-neutral nouns. You have to pick one and it's self-evident the whole Bible itself is set on default male (it's a patriarchal culture after all). But of course that doesn't mean it does not apply to females as well (otherwise, Eve apparently still lives in Eden! Gen. 3:21-24).
Both male AND female are made in the image and likeness of God, both reflect God, but neither IS God. Male/female obviously was meant for procreation and are valid metaphors for God, but neither is exclusively God.
People just continue to insist on putting God in a box. But, He is far, far above as are His ways.
And yes, I do believe the outrage against "Papa" is because She's seen as an African-American woman.
And yes, if you object you're being both racist and sexist and this book in its own subtle way is calling you out on it.
It's not female paganism. The book clearly explains why She is seen for Mack as She is.
I'm just still fascinated by this meditation on the Trinity . . . The issue of pain and why people suffer and God's role in this is also relevant.
Finally, someone here referred to the repetitive use of "Mackenzie" before he was being addressed. I admit, that was somewhat irritating, but that is nothing compared to the story itself.
This book I'm sure will be a classic. : )
Book Review: You be the Judge
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't write reviews, but I feel the need this time as I have been touched by this book in a profound way.
I have read a healthy sampling of the reviews here and am sometimes shocked at the skeptics reasons for their ratings. Their reasons are often just inaccurate. I will address those at the end. First what was so refreshing about this book.
First it is a high view of God to believe he is allpowerful but also loving and caring, it is also theological correct.
As someone who "was" Mac, I found myself the whole book having surgery done on my heart. I am a Christian, I am even fundamental in my beliefs, however this book constantly challenged my impersonal and uncaring view of my heavenly father and attacked my willingness to judge my own earthly father and "write off" groups of people who were so different they couldn't possible matter to God. This book is accurate in saying that "God is especially fond of YOU!" You being each and every one of us. That is not always simple to grasp and this author opens all sorts of doors for you to grasp its significance. God is Love and relationship is everything, two things that scare me to death, but the truth rings true.
I don't believe the intent of the book was to tear down "Christianity" rather to challenge Christians to understand our father's love for us and desire relationship with him versus seeing him as some distant and uncaring deity. Any "Religion" who loses sight of who God is or puts all its faith in its own works and personal holiness has lost sight of who God is and what his desire is for us.
Now for the inaccuracies, first the book was not a "one world religion message", the critics who alluded to that should actually read the words written. What was said was that Jesus loved the people of all religions and he would go anywhere to find them...It did clearly state that there wasn't many roads to travel for salvation, rather only Jesus.
Secondly the gender issues of God. Again did you read the book? It clearly made it clear that to God, gender is completely irrelevant. He appeared to Mac as a black women for a clear reason, not because God is a WOMEN. I'm aghast that someone could read it that way. God is God...He is indescribeable and no work of fiction can capture the wonder of who he is. This was an illustration of how much God loved Mac that he worked to heal him of the wounds that were "killing him". God cut through the pain, but also explained why sometimes he doesn't "shelter" us from hardship. We live in a "sinful and fallen" world. This world will disappoint time and time again, but God is "GOOD" and God is in "CONTROL". The sovreignty of God was clearly spoken throughout.
Lastly, this is "Fiction". The author taking creative license to inject humor into story apparently offended some, I admit some of the words I found far fetched coming from our God's mouth, but blasphemy it was not. The author skillfully communicated the unity of the trinity and gave a beautiful depiction of who God is. God's love for us to send his son to earth to die for "all" needs to be digested by us all and this book invites us to explore the importance of that and not try to live an "independent and rebellious life". I think most of us if we are honest, can confess we have fallen into the worldly trap and we should confess that. God even cared for the killer of Mac's daughter. That should challenge us all, it wasn't accepting the sin or the act, but still desired to reconcile the man to him. Jesus died for the molesting murderer...That challenges us all I think.
The bottom line message is that it is "all about God" and because it is we can value what God does. He loves people. He loves all people and so should we. But unfortunately many of us can't separate loving the person and hating the sin. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God.
Book Review: It's all about Relationship!
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me preface this by saying that I am NOT a theologian, although I study the Bible. I am not a Pastor, preacher, prophet, evangelist, and not one who would be considered extremely learned in scripture. I've never been to seminary, I hold no license, I'm not ordained, and I'm not what one would consider, traditional.
What I am, is a woman whose heart longs for more of God. I am a woman who, in her heart, has toiled with the very nature of God, trying to understand who He is and what that means in my life. I am a woman who has experienced GREAT LOSS, disappointment, and hurt, but in spite of these things, I am a woman who has tried to continually chase after God.
I've suffered great loss in my life, even after coming to Christ. I battled, much as "Mack" does in the story, to understand how God could allow terrible things to happen to His children, and how anything bad can be considered "good." How can "all things work together for the good" when everything around me seems to be so evil, hurtful, painful?? Yes, I was saved, I LOVED GOD with my whole heart, but it's hard to love God, when you don't trust Him. When you only see God as a Judge, and not a friend, it's difficult to have RELATIONSHIP with Him.
Then, I read The Shack. Keep in mind, that this is a work of fiction! It's not meant to be fact, so we know when reading fiction novels, you have to look for the general principle that can be applied to your life, and not be so concerned about how its presented. Yes, initially God is depicted as a large, black woman, but later He's depicted as an older white man. Which is more accurate? Scripture tells us that God is a spirit, but in the Bible, He took on many different forms: a burning bush, a talking donkey, and an angel (The Angel of the Lord), are those inconsistent? God chooses to reveal Himself to man in many different ways, so it is not too difficult for me to believe God COULD appear as a Black woman, an Asian woman, or a Jewish Man (um, didn't He already do that, anyway?) If an Asian man is better able to relate to God as an Asian man, is that sin?
I don't want to delve too deeply into details, I just want to say this. As a believer in Jesus Christ, the God-Man, Theanthropos, Who was and Is, and Is to come again; the shack drew me closer to God. Yes, the Word of God is true, God is seated on the throne, His train filling the temple; yes, God is still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; yes, God is still the God would judged the wicked in the Old Testament, swallowing men whole into great chasms, but also God is a Merciful, Kind, Just, Loving, Forgiving, and GRACIOUS Father. I don't believe God only wants to be known as a judge, although it is an essential part of His nature. The Shack reveals the kind-hearted, wise, friendly, loving, and compassionate nature of God, which is equally important. The Shack reveals the GRACE of God! We've gotten away from that. Grace is a Gift, and is an essential part of developing a relationship with God. Grace frees us from being bound to the law, which can never be fulfilled. Grace bridges the gap between us and a Holy God, and Grace's name is JESUS CHRIST.
There is much calamity in the world now, and many people think that God is to blame for their hardship. How can we win the lost, when they see God as their foe? We all need to go back and learn God's heart, and the Shack helped me do just that. Religion doesn't win people to God, RELATIONSHIP does! People have to know that God loves them and cares about what concerns them and how better to convey that truth than to tell a FICTIONAL story about a man God visited to heal his broken heart?
So, to sum up my review... I give The Shack Five Stars! Five snaps, and a "Hi-Five, Up High!" Read it, learn from it, internalize, and then pray and ask God to show you HIS Truth in it, and He Will. Trust me, He Will!
Book Review: The Shack is just a metaphor
Summary: 5 Stars
Because I have long since stopped jumping on any Christian bandwagon, I waited a year or so before reading "The Shack" by William Paul Young. It had been recommended by my daughter's Pastor who said it was a book about Grace and Forgiveness. That sounded safe enough. But I could tell it had really dug deeply into his soul. So, I bought copies and handed them around, maybe to get some feed back?? John commented on this, and often asked why I hadn't read it yet. Maybe I let myself get distracted by a gypsy time away from home, a disquieted restlessness of spirit that drove me to the brink of exhaustion, or just time spent as a hovering mother, and an ever solicitous grandmother. So much to learn, look at, try my hand at, and understand in this technology-driven matrix we live in.
I couldn't stop reading "The Shack" once I started, and have been rereading it since. Not that it's become like a bible textbook. Oh no. It's an outside-the-box book for an inquiring Christian like myself, who once devoured Philip Yancey's book, "The Jesus I Never Knew". I'm not devouring this one. It's too dense, and too simplistic. But it has uncovered old wounds once delivered by members of Christ's own Body, the Church. The whips were in the hands of performance-driven addicts in His Name, and the lashes were publicly shown to compound our shame and guilt, the dark fruit of living in the Old Testament.
Then, to further aid my understanding, I was given a copy of the author's testimony on CD. That will also take many hearings. He began by reassuring his audience that this story was only a metaphor. This Greek word means "to transfer", to carry. Writers use symbolic transference of meaning from one thing to represent another. (CS Lewis used the figure of Aslan to represent Jesus.) Suddenly it became clear to me that the real story behind the story was far more compelling, and it definitely filled in the blanks. The author needed to hide his pulsating pain under metaphorical wraps after he had stumbled out of his shack to be healed.
William Young was a church kid, an MK, and a PK. He was raised by dedicated parents on the Mission field in New Guinea, but that was also where he was unwittingly initiated into the sexual rituals of a primeval cannibalistic culture. These stone age people became his surrogate family, guardians and teachers, and he often overheard them talking about killing his parents. He didn't know he was a WASP, and thought he was black like them for many years. He had in fact, been raped, his childhood innocence ripped from him like Missy's torn dress, and he had to lead a double life, hidden beneath the slick veneer of a Christian superstar, for many years in the church world. His marriage survived, his kids thrived and he has been revived. Those can only be called miracles of God's grace, and underscore the powerful lessons of the book.
The Shack isn't a theology rewrite, but a cross-cultural testament for wounded Christians, of which I am one, and there are many more like me. The shack is a symbolic place where the author runs headlong into God, and is transformed from an angry, judgmental doubter into a loving, forgiving believer. The story line isn't important here, neither is the literary style. What is transferred to us from the metaphor are imaginative conversations with God, in three distinct Persons, and that is where the trouble begins. This is not a new teaching on how to understand the Trinity. That is too great a mystery for us to take on. Augustine has handed that one down for us in excellent form. But Young approaches God on a very personal, earthy level, which may seem disrespectful to many Christians. However this must all be translated back into the realm of the author's imagination, as it became for him, and for some of us, a denouement, and the catharsis of his struggle to "keep the faith".
Book Review: 5 Stars (With Warning: This is not for fundamentalists or Calvinists)
Summary: 5 Stars
It's perfectly obvious (to anyone familiar with Tim Challies, who reviewed this book negatively) that Challies would not like this book at all, so his recommendation against the book should come as no surprise. Let's just be really clear: A five point Calvinist (who believes that the atonement of Christ is limited only to the elect and that God created people who are predestined to suffer eternally in hell) is *not* going to like the theology of The Shack. Duh. :)
Other Shack-haters might include independant fundamentalist Baptists who believe that being a Christian is comprised of saying the sinner's prayer and then embarking upon a performance-oriented list of righteous duties for the rest of one's life. Any group similar would also find the book highly offensive.
But the rest of us? Let's just say that for me, one person who has been on a exodus out of fundamentalism, this book was That Good. I am not even sure how to describe it in words. Reading it was as if a clean Spring breeze came blowing into my heart and was gently breathing Life in all sorts of dark and dusty places.
Is the writing excellent? Well, it's not like reading Tolkien or Lewis, but it's not bad, either. I admit, at first I was a little bored---I didn't realize it was going to be a novel---but after the third chapter, I was fully engaged.
In my opinion, the BEST part of the book was the second half. WOW. It flat out blew me away, it was that good. The Shack has drawn me to Scripture and to a re-looking at what Scripture actually says versus what my religous upbringing "said" it said, if you know what I mean.
My mother and my grandmother and my aunt all read the book before me. These are strong evangelical women, very devout, very orthodox in their faith, one a missionary, all three very active women in almost all areas of the church. They all bought the book at the same time, unaware that the others were reading it too. And get this: upon reading The Shack, they ALL went back to the bookstore and bought more copies to hand out to friends and called eachother to ravinginly recommend it! :) It's that kind of book.
Reading it was so good. It was like meeting God in a whole new way. I actually feel like my concept of God has been blown wide, expanded, in the kind of way that makes me want to run towards Him with my arms open wide.
I went to Bible College and have always had a deep love for theology, for searching the Scriptures to know God through them. In reading through the reviews here, I notice that there are negative reviews claiming that The Shack version of God is unbiblical. As a student of the Bible, these reviews couldn't be more wrong.
The Shack's presentation of God *is* absolutely Biblical---it's just that most religous institutions tend to focus on *some* Scriptural definitions of God to the exclusion of others. The Shack brings out many other DEEPLY Scriptural aspects of God----these aspects just happen to be the ones that our current established religous paradigm seems to ignore---or, perhaps, has never really understood.
I am not normally a big book gusher. I've read a lot of great books and raaaarely take the time to write a review. This book, though, is different. I am SO thankful for this book and can't recommend it highly enough, with the one caveat I mentioned above: that if you are deeply comitted to a theological paradigm that is performance-based or has concluded that the work of the Cross only extends to a small percentage of predestined humans, then this book is not for you.
Or, then again, maybe it is...