Issues With ‘The Shack’

I have recently finished reading the latest so-called Christian phenomenon, The Shack. This is precisely the sort of material that one expects to find on the Christian Reading shelf at your local Borders book store. And, is precisely the sort of material that is falsely representing true Christianity in fiction literature.

Right away the author of The Shack, William P. Young, sets the tone of the book, giving the reader a clue concerning what is to come: muddied Christianity disgustingly distorted so as to make way for universalistic hogwash. Young presents Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as equal to that of a Native American legend where a tribal princess sacrifice’s herself to save the men of her tribe. The light in which he compares these two events belittles the real, historic event of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, placing it in the realm of legend and pagan myth, thereby cleverly removing the value of God’s method of reconciliation.

It only gets worse as the book continues! The main character finds himself face-to-face with the Trinity, only, God the Father is a mother. This boldly stands in opposition to how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. Young alludes that this is to break down presuppositions on the part of believers. He mentions that God appears this way to help the main character get around an obstacle that is hindering his relationship with God. Perhaps his intentions were good, but this begs the question, why did God choose to describe Himself in fatherly terms in the Bible? Is the inspired word of God hindering our ability to believe in its very subject? This creates the image of a god that acts willy-nilly, changing rules in mid-game just because he can. It also stimulates distrust in scripture and generates doubt in the heart of Christians reading the “Pilgrim’s Progress of our generation”.

Young also seems to have a thing against traditional church practices. Throughout the book there are drive-by shootings on seminary training, church attendance, and old fashioned Christian thinking in general. In fact, at one point Jesus actually says that He did not come to make anyone a Christian, because He was not a Christian, but rather Jewish. Well, yes Jesus was Jewish, so I suppose He would not refer to Himself as a Christian. But we who bear the name of Christ are Christians. Perhaps it is merely semantics at this point, but if you believe that there is one way to the Father, through the Son, Jesus Christ, who died for the forgiveness of your sins, then you are a Christian, not a Muslim, Buddhist, or Jew.

This sort of fiction is dangerous to anyone who reads it. Although it is only fiction, it is fiction that purports to have a message, and in this case a Christian message. Unfortunately there is very little real Christianity in this book. Instead, the reader gets Universalism wrapped in colorful imagery.

For more thoughts concerning The Shack and the heresy within it, visit Fighting for the Faith. There you will find an excellent review on an interview of the author, William P. Young, that illuminates some of the false teaching within the book.

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© T. Emmett Bramwell, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this article without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to T. Emmett Bramwell with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.