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Careful – Critical – Available
By Janelle Hoyt March 9, 2012
After an academic year of primarily depressing, hopeless, all-too-true-to-life
novels, reading The Shack by WM. Paul Young was a relief! As a post-exam activity,
my teacher decided that we would read and discuss The Shack in my Advance
Placement English class, my senior year of high school. While addressing some very
deep and sobering issues, The Shack strives to offer a stem of hope in the midst of
brutal reality. Literarily speaking, the novel is captivating and artistic. I enjoyed it
thoroughly.
Since my introduction to The Shack I have begun to learn more of the profuse
controversy surrounding it. Since many of the issues being discussed were not
addressed in my class, I have been puzzled. There are extremes on both ends of loving
and hating this book. There must, instead be a balance of appreciation with caution.
The objections levied against The Shack are primarily doctrinal and carry some
serious weight. Mark Driscoll discusses an apparently incorrect portrait of the Trinity
given by Young. Driscoll says, “The book is about the Trinity.” His subsequent
exhortation concerning the book highlights four main issues. First, Driscoll says that
Young, through his portrayal of physical representations of the God-head is guilty of
idolatry, creating a graven image of God. Second, Driscoll accuses The Shack of
promoting goddess worship, since God the Father is portrayed as a woman for the
greater part of the novel. Third, he quotes the Father character, Papa, saying “I am truly
human in Jesus”, and catches the insinuation saying that the Father became Jesus.
This is “modalism” and is a rejected heresy of orthodox doctrine. Finally, Driscoll refutes
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Young’s claim that the Trinity has no internal authority with Himself. He points out that
God the Father “sent” Jesus the Son, and Jesus also “sent” the Holy Spirit. There are
clear indications in scripture that the Trinity is equal, but hierarchical. The accusations
are well founded, but are they truly valid?
More accusations thrown at The Shack include saying it is irreverent. Also, that
the author gives little credit to the Bible and does not care for the orthodoxy of the
contemporary church (Geraci). Gino Geraci, a pastor in Denver attacks the sympathetic
tone of the book saying, “Somehow the god of The Shack is more sympathetic and
understanding than the God of the Bible. The concern here has been that the emotional
and loving aspect of God was glorified at the expense of His justice and wrath. Tim
Challies fears that The Shack is undermining proper study of theology.
The conclusion of those who discuss only the possible doctrine of the book is
that it really should not be read and, in extreme cases, that it is pure heresy that should
be expelled from the church. These drastic measures are extreme to the side of not
appreciating the finer points of this novel.
On the other side of the argument, the books admirers focus on the emotive
spiritual quality of the book. Sue Bohlin is more compelled and inspired by “Papa”’s
reasoning for appearing as a woman, than she is by the apparent conflict with scripture.
Instead of focusing on the systematic error, she is moved by the profound truth that God
will stop at nothing to meet His child as His child needs to be met. Concerning the
accusations of “goddess worship”, Bohlin aptly notes, “The Papa/Father persona is
never compromised with any sort of ‘God is our Mother’ garbage.” Bohlin has spent
some extensive time in ministry with people who, like Mack, have had relationships that
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make it difficult to love and trust God; she has seen this book speak truth to them about
God’s love and the relationship they could have with Him. However, a view that
considers only the relational, emotional aspect of this book, will also find the viewer in a
dangerous place.
To help understand this book, I would like to consider what Young has to say
about his own book. Bohlin gives a concise summary of how the book came to be,
… Paul Young has always written as gifts for people. He wrote the book [The
Shack] in response to his wife's urging, "You think outside the box. Write
something for our kids that will help them understand how you got to this place of
your relationship with God." He had come through an eleven-year journey of
counseling, prayer, and wrestling with God and with himself; he emerged with a
very different, intimate relationship with God.
So, The Shack is “not a novelized systematic theology”; it is an imaginative testimony
about one man’s experience with God. Young presents the novel as if it was a true
story, but in his blog he explains it. He had written as a something that his family would
enjoy; they would know the story was not true, but they would also know that the
conflicts, the turmoil, and the pain being dealt with were just as true as life. Young is not
trying to make all inclusive statements about life and explaining the Trinity, so much as
he is trying to show that God is relational within Himself. In a sense, the story was not
even written to be factually true, but emotively true.
The narrative allows Young to show parts of his story that could not simply be
told. In chapter 9 of The Shack, the character Mack experiences a profoundly intimate
relationship with the Holy Spirit character, Sarayu. The format of the story, being so
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different, is uncomfortable, but that discomfort is part of the point. While being
uncomfortable, the reader is more able to critique what is being read. The picture that
author gives of God’s intricate, creative, beautiful work in our lives, and His divine
pleasure in it could not have been given any other way. A reader who is not willing to
see any value in anything Young says will miss out on some transformational insights
(Young, The Shack., pgs. 130-140). Again in chapter 11, Mack encounters the
personification of wisdom. In this chapter Young shows that when a man begins to
make himself judge, he must logically conclude with making himself judge of everything;
he cannot pick and choose. When he becomes judge of everything, he must judge all of
mankind and even God Himself. This is, of course, absurd, and injustice in itself, and
Mack is forced to conclude that he must relinquish the gavel on all matters to God.
Deeply convicting, this chapter would have made no impact without the story
surrounding it.
One must be intelligent, informed, critical and open when he or she approaches
The Shack. Matthew 22:37 commands us to “love the Lord you God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.” God instructs us to love Him in all
occasions with our mind, thinking rationally over all things, and also with our soul and
heart, allowing ourselves to feel and give God room to move and speak as He wishes.
There are problems in The Shack which must be taken seriously, prayed over, and
considered; the book is not inspired Scripture after all. The Bible must take precedence
over and above it. However, neither should a Christian be afraid to read such a book.
He or she should be willing to consider what an emotional relational experience with
God might look like. Consider what misconceptions might be hindering his or her own
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view of God. What systems might have imposed themselves upon the Bible and upon
the reader’s eyes in how he or she views God? Concerning The Shack, be careful, be
critical, and be available.
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Bibliography
Bohlin, Sue. "Response to 'The Shack'" Probe Ministries (2008). Web. 7 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4217953/k.5B5D/Response_to_Th
e_Shack.htm>.
Challies, Tim. "A Reader's Review of The Shack." Rev. of The Shack.
Www.challies.com. Challies.com...Informing the Reforming. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.challies.com/sites/all/files/files/The_Shack.pdf>.
Driscoll, Mark. Doctrine Part 1: The Shack. Doctrine Part 1: Trinity: God Is. Online.
Marshill.com. March 30, 2008, March 7, 2012.
Geraci, Gino. "Discernment and The Shack." Rev. of The Shack.
Http://www.calvarycsd.org/. Calvary South Denver. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.calvarycsd.org/mediafiles/discernmentandtheshack.pdf>.
Holy Bible English Standard Version. China: Crossway, 2007.
Young, WM. Paul. "Is the Story of THE SHACK True...is Mack a 'real' Person?" Web log
post. Windrumors.com. WM. Paul Young, 15 Aug. 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2012.
<http://windrumors.com/2007/08/is-the-story-of-the-shack-trueis-mack-a-realperson/>.
Young, WM. Paul. The Shack: A Novel. Newbury Park, CA: Windblown Media, 2007.
Print.