Comments on "The Shack"

I have not used this blog for general comments before, but after someone recommending "The Shack" by Wm Paul Young I felt compelled to comment.

First let me make some positive observations about the book:

- God's love is seen throughout the pages and is movingly portrayed.
- Jesus is seen as the central figure in redemption and rightfully so.
- Our need to respond to God's love in a personal way is mentioned.
- The way that God's love can be seen in tragedy is moving.
- The concept of evil being the absence of good is interesting if incomplete.

Now a some issues I had listed more by the order I remember them from the book than importance:

- God the Father is displayed as a woman until the end of the book. While God is spirit and beyond our understanding He has always portrayed Himself as Father, not mother. It seems rather presumptuous to think that He would change His appearance to a specific individual for the reasons given in the book. If God presents Himself as Father shouldn't we recognize and worship Him as such?
- "Institutional Religion" is strongly rejected by Jesus Himself in the book. That is a HUGE issue with me, not because I pastor a church but because of what God has revealed about His love for the church. God worked through the Nation of Israel as a people. He organized them, wrote whole books of the Old Testament to give them direction for their religious and social associations, and organized their worship in a very particular way. Jesus organized the Disciples and gave them specific commandments and commissions. The majority of the New Testament aside from the Gospels are written to and for the church. Ephesians 5:25 tells us that Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it. The church is not a meeting place, it is the people who are called to meet together to worship God. There are many admonitions in Scripture to gather in corporate worship.
- In my estimation, the book does a terrible job of expressing the need for us to come to Christ personally. If you read the last chapters the author points out the fact that God had done His part in restoring our relationships and that man need to do his, but how? The author has Jesus Himself declare that peoples of all faith systems are His, but how does someone come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ without being told of our sin and the need for a Savior? Again, the Bible speaks very clearly on this, but the author overlooks it.
- The book seems to completely overlook the consequence of our sin and the righteousness of God. It seems as if God smiles and completely understands when we willfully sin against Him. Young needs to take another look at the Old Testament as well as the cross to see how our sin impacts God.
- Satan is a non-factor in the book. Evil is only the absence of good and there is no adversary to be seen.
- Hell is never mentioned. When He was on the earth Jesus spoke more about hell than heaven.

I could mention quite a few other things but I will quit here for now.

I was moved on several occasions and reminded again of God's love for me. I thought it necessary to be honest with my concerns about the book because I do believe they matter and dishonor God.

The link below has a 17 page review of the book that expounds on some other areas of concern if you are interested.
http://www.challies.com/archives/book-reviews/a-review-of-the-shack-download-it-here.php