“The Shack” by William P. Young
The main character Mack receives a letter from God. God asking Mack to meet him in the Shack, and here he has an encounter with God. More specifically…the trinity. In this book an African-American woman is God (known as Papa), Jesus is a young to middle-aged man of Middle-Eastern (i.e. Jewish) descent, Holy a small, delicate woman of Asian descent.
Some quotes from the book:
“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.”
–The Shack’s Jesus, p. 182
What the bible says:
“Jesus… said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Matthew 24:4-5
I am a book reviewer, and I try to bring books that will help you, entertain you and bring you closer to God. But I can not sit by and remain silent when I see a book gain so much popularity that leads people into false teaching.
I may be slammed for these opinions, but it is a chance I am willing to take. The Amazon reviews for this book are amazing; we even have churches recommending this book.
I am suggesting you STAY away from reading the book (knowing full well you have every right to read any book you wish =) this is a suggestion. This book is theological fiction. While it may be a good “story” it is difficult sometimes to separate what is real and what is not real when they are closely related. I suggest it bypasses the reader’s ability to discern what is true and what is not true. Also this book is not meant for the reader’s enjoyment, but for its teaching. This book tries to give readers an understanding of the trinity.
Let me suggest why I believe this is a dangerous book:
1.The bible states in the Ten Commandments (Exodus), “do not make a graven image of God.” This book portrays God as a man. God is not a man, he is Spirit. He does not have a physical body. If you take God and make him look like an old man-that is a graven image. The white dove is different because God does that in the bible himself.
2.This book portrays goddess worship. Jesus was man – God is spirit – neither are woman.
3.This book has hearsay in it. There is a quote that says, “I am truly human in Jesus.” This is NOT true. The Father, Son, & Holy Spirit are distinctly different but equal. . It was Jesus that died on the cross-not God. It was Jesus whose flesh became man – not God’s. There are many books out there that do a great job in explaining the trinity so I am not going into that.
You may ask, what is the harm? It is just a good book. It is because the author’s intent is to teach you spiritual truths, not just to write a “good” story.
We need to be on our toes and discern what is right, what is just, and what is good. And if you have read the book, do I think less of you? HECK NO, I just wanted to write this to keep you all on your toes. Spiritual discernment is so important today.
“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-36
If you would like to read further (and where I got some of my research) here are some links:
http://windowstomysoul.blogspot.com/2008/04/christian-or-christ-follower.html
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/08/shack.htm
http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/?p=363
http://www.squidoo.com/ShackHeresy
http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/the-shack-by-william-p-young.php
I would recommend this book instead:
All comments are welcomed, but know I am not as knowledgeable as the links above..just someone speaking what I know is TRUTH in Christ. Also ugly comments will not be posted. It is fine to disagree, but don’t be ugly about it. I love all my readers, even (especially) if you don’t agree with everything.
Laurel, I’ve read this book and I agree with you. In these times, too many want their ears tickled and their are many who are happy to oblige! Those who teach are in great need of being careful and must understand the higher account that they are held to as teachers. I think I will look into the book you recommended on discernment. The body needs those parts that sound the shofar of alert when there is potential danger. Thanks.
Laurel, I comment you for posting this. You are right – there are many books out there that want to come off as “spiritual”, but their are not Christ’s teachings.
The Bible is His Word and should teach us about who God, Jesus and the Spirit is.
Paul writes in his letter to Timothy: “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions…” 1 Timothy 6:3ff
There are some great books out there that help us to understand a little more, but most of those books always reference the Bible.
There are also some great fictional books out there – there are stories…but I think sometimes authors like to mix the teachings with fiction and that is dangerous.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts – I know that I will stay away from the book…(sorry my comment got so long)
Laurel,
You are like a voice in the wilderness. You have the courage to share what IS truth. Thank you for your courageous spirit and your desire to follow only Jesus… Jesus of the Bible. Love you girl…. keep it commin’.
Laurel,
Thanks for stopping by today. I agree with you here that we need to be able to discern what is false teaching. Some of it may sound good, look good, but is false. In response to so many blatant false teachings today, I wrote a piece last week on my blog called, “Nothing But the Truth.” It describes how to be aware of false teachings and how to test the spirits according to the Word of God. You have some very good points in this post today.
Blessings in Christ–
Amen and Amen; God has given you discernment…you have used it to tell others who have not been given this gift.
I agree discernment is vital and is too often quenched in the quest for entertainment. I commend you for speaking out about the problems with this book.
Good for you for speaking out Lauren!
Sheesh! My brain said Laurel and my fingers typed Lauren. Sorry about that.
That looks like a great book! Thank you so much for your honest review and warning and I will be looking for that book; Praying my library would carry it!
We live in a time and age, where everything isn’t always good for the soul and making excuses for the books, movies or t.v. shows doesn’t make it better.
The enemy is a hungry wolf that is always prowling.
Yep, I read The Shack out of sheer curiosity, wondering what all the ruckus and kudos were about; also to hopefully review it. Even though there is some truth in it, for the most part it really messed with my head. I prayed before reading it, that the Lord would show me Himself in it. But I had to put it down before finishing the last 3 chapters, and was told that I didn’t give the Holy Spirit a chance to enlighten me. Well, I tell you what – He enlightened me all right. The author’s book seems to express a low view of the authority of the Bible and instead lays a really good groundwork for a universal spirituality, even though the author will deny universalism. People say they’ve been greatly helped by this book, but my heart grieves that few have noticed the shift from the biblical Jesus. The book really plays on our emotions, making it difficult to discern error.
Thanks for posting this, Laurel. God bless you!!
Great review. I have never heard of this book, but it sounds terrible to me. I would not want to read it. I am glad you gave us a heads-up!
Wow. Ok, I’m not reading that book.
Great review! This book has made me somewhat nervous for a while. (I have even doubted myself after hearing so many wonderful reviews – I thought I missed something.) This book can really “mess with” someone’s head. Really. I so appreciate your review. Tell it like it is, Friend.