Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Shack by William P. Young


This book has had unexpected success. The author and friends self-published the first 10,000 copies and it has gone on to sell 5.5 million copies in English and has been translated into a dozen languages. There are many reviews and discussions of the book available on and offline, some of which criticize the book’s theology. The story is not a true story, although the event that prompts the protagonist’s encounter with God (in the shack) is compellingly “real”; as a tragedy we often witness today. The character, named Mack, had his 6 year old daughter abducted and murdered while the family was on a camping trip. The shack is the place where the authorities found the evidence of her murder. Several months later, God invites him back to the very same shack, to meet with him. Actually Mack meets with three persons there– the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Critics have taken issue with what they see as distortions and/or softening of Christian theology in The Shack. Young has God explain the Trinity as relational, not hierarchical, and emphatically refutes any idea that God generates negative events, even for our own good. What God does, according to Young, is redeem such events, and the persons acting them out. The church as an institution is downplayed, and characterized mostly by its shortcomings. Young, asked in interviews about his church-going, focuses more on his “community of believers” than institutional religion, which may explain why his book is so popular. In one sense, the book is about “entering a relationship”, which is not a new theme in evangelical Christianity. Young also insists that evil comes from freedom, which is what we are born into. The story realistically communicates Mack’s anguish and despair, and keeps us interested even as the conversations begin to sound like lectures from a course called “God101: Forgiveness”. While a particularly Protestant expression, Christians of all stripes can be counted among the book’s audience. A good book to check out if you’re wondering what resonates spiritually in today’s society.

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txcityreflib said...
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