The Shack

William P. Young

Edition	Paperback
List Price	$14.99
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Published by	Windblown Media
Release date	2008-07-01
ISBN	0964729237
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Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

Customer Reviews - courtesy of Amazon.com ( Marked4Sale.com is not responsible for review content )

Unbelievable.

You will pick up this book in the store and wonder whether it might be a murder mystery, supernatural thriller, or other faithful genre of popular literature.

You will flip through it to sample dialog, perhaps an ordinary paragraph. You might do this when you pick up a book to get a taste, sort of sneak up on the author in some corner of the book he might not have spent as much time crafting as he did the first or last pages.

Then you will be shocked. You will see that Jesus, that is, Jesus Christ, is a fictional character in a piece of pulp fiction. It might be blasphemous; it is probably profane; it is certainly a dubious literary idea. Whatever else it is, it is a very tasteless way to kick American prose around while it's down.

It is also incredible, unbelievable. Also, preposterous, hilarious, and bathetic.

An Open Invitation To Walk With God

I have loved the works of C. S. Lewis for most of my life. I consider his THE GREAT DIVORCE and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA to be among the most important books ever written. But until I read THE SHACK, I would have had a hard time explaining "why" I feel so strongly about Lewis. W. P. Young's brilliant novel answers that question for me: its all about relationship with God.

Lewis strips away the "churchy-ness," the "religiosity," the "stained-glass pietism" and leaves a pristine encounter with God. Is God present in the Church? in the Gospels? of course, but he is often hard to see there, through the ages of accumulated baggage which humanity has hung on faith. KNOWING God, not just knowing about him, but coming into and growing in relationship with God is what faith is all about. That is what Jesus came to give us -- and that is what W. P. Young presents for a new, world-weary generation of seekers. Although he never once quotes the Scriptures, every page of Young's book is alive with the Word of God and sings their praise.

I find it marvelous that Mr. Young presents with such simplicity and ease that God is relationship of persons, seeking to draw us into relationship with himself. That is all God wants -- and that is all that the human heart could ever hope for or endure! If religion brings you to God, that is a marvelous thing. If Scripture brings you to God, that is certainly as he would have wished. But the point of faith -- and the point of living! -- is to somehow sometime finally come to that depth of relationship with God that God has in himself. Christians believe that we enter into that triune relationship through Christ, and I certainly agree with that: but the heart of all religion is that God invites us, God prods us, God entices us -- in short, God will do anything / everything necessary or possible (short of forcing us) to love him. And then the choice of love belongs to us. All this is conveyed magnificently in THE SHACK.

After many years in ministry, I find nothing here offensive or theologically questionable. Call it a parable, call it a vision, call it a dream -- call it an invitation to walk more deeply with the God who walks with you. I am deeply moved by this book and grateful that God moved its author to write it.The Great DivorceThe Chronicles of Narnia Movie Tie-in Box Set Prince Caspian (rack) (Narnia)

Enlightening at times; misleading at other times

As an aspiring novelist, I will only say one thing about Mr. Young's writing: Any author who can capture the hearts of this many readers deserves my full respect. He's obviously doing something right.

But this book is not intended to be a literary masterpiece. It's really about the theology. And don't be fooled into thinking that Mr. Young dispenses with theology. The Shack represents his own interpretation of the Scriptures--his theology. Much of his theology is biblical, refreshing, and thought-provoking. But some of it is at the very least misleading, if not downright false.

And why does theological precision matter? 2 Peter 1:19-21 says: "So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."

The Word of God is like a lamp--our only lamp--in a dark world. Some day the fog of this world will lift and all will see the truth. Now we walk in faith, with only the Word of God to light our path. Close your eyes for a moment and picture yourself alone before the judgment seat of God, having watered down the Word of God. When Jesus addressed false doctrine in the church of Pergamum, He said, "Therefore repent, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth." Rev. 2:16. The Shack refers to the Bible as a box that we put God into. God refers to it as His inspired Word that is able to save our souls if we receive it with humility. James 1:21.

First, I want to applaud Mr. Young for tackling the problem of evil in a moving and thought-provoking way. His phrase "The Great Sadness" really resonated with me, and obviously with many other readers. I have known my own Great Sadness, so I know that when we are caught in the throes of evil no amount of philosophizing will take away the pain. He is right to say that God doesn't will evil, even though He can use evil for our good. The Bible says that Jesus went around doing good and healing people. He did this by the power of the Holy Spirit, and He calls us, his followers, to do the same. But the paradox of free will versus divine sovereignty is so complex that nobody has been able to explain it to everyone's satisfaction. Suffice it to say that the Bible is full of paradoxes because God's ways are so much higher than ours, and only by the Holy Spirit can we begin to reconcile them. To use an example: When you watch a 3-D movie, you need the glasses; otherwise you'll just get a headache. The Holy Spirit is like the glasses--you'll get a headache if you try to understand the Bible without Him.

But there were problems with the Shack, in addition to Mr. Young's purported dismissal of theology. It flirts with Universalism and it discourages people from going to church. Universalism means that all people will be saved. Mr. Young doesn't actually say that, but he implies it and fudges the issue enough to let people interpret his words however they please. Now, he is right in saying that God has in Christ reconciled the world to Himself. 2 Cor. 5:18. God has removed the barrier between Himself and us--namely sin. Anyone can accept His offer of fellowship and salvation. However, we need to respond by accepting the offer of reconciliation. 2 Cor. 5:20. This means turning away from sin, or repenting, and allowing God to set our feet on the narrow path that leads to life. If we decide not to accept the offer of reconciliation, we will spend eternity apart from God. Although God will pursue us in love, He will never strip us of our freedom to choose.

Mr. Young's criticism of the church is in many ways justified. However, let's not forget that we (Christians) are the church. Most of the time it's not the organizational structure that is the problem--it's sin and lukewarmness among the people. I don't have to go to church to find hypocrisy, complacency, and self-righteousness. All I have to do is look in the mirror. We need to function as the Body of Christ, which means we have to meet regularly with other believers. Instead of rejecting the church, let's pray that God will bring her back to life.

Finally, if you are reading the Shack for the theology, I would recommend two other books for perspective: The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

Anette Acker

Clam shack

Such clap trap. I don't mind out of the box thinking, but pleeeeeeeeease this book is full of bologna. And to compare it to Pilgrim's Progress - whew - such the stretch. I really didn't want to give this book any stars!

Can be enlightening if it doesn't confuse you first....

I almost put the book down and wasn't going to look back, I really feel that some of of the Theology is disgraceful and if I wasn't already a Christian, I might get the wrong message from the book entirely. However, I decided to keep reading and did glean some really valuable lessons. It is really really good at explaining God's love for us and the relationship he desires with us. I was confused by how accepting of sin and false religions that the book seemed to be open to? Maybe I didn't understand these areas though...