The Shack: Firm Foundation or Shaky Ground?

Although my readership is by no means large, I have had several ask my opinion regarding the bestseller, The Shack by William P. Young. A well-written review would include more than can be boiled down into an easy-reading blog entry, so I may be compelled to revisit this topic in more detail here or in another forum at a later time. For now, having read the book and a theologically conservative review of it by Tim Challies of challies.com, I offer this short opinion for your consideration.

This book is a rare mix of fiction, fact, and falsehood, making it both an engaging and fascinating read, and an instructive vessel of both truth and error. It is fiction by definition, as it is not a true story. It is a made-up story of a man who experiences disaster, and then works through his heartbreak via a supernatural encounter with God at the site of the tragedy, namely The Shack.

Clearly millions are reading the book, and many are coming to a new understanding of the living triune God and His desire for people to enjoy a loving relationship with Him, rather than to endure a lifeless religion apart from Him. For this reason, I must conclude that there is Kingdom value in the work. If one life is saved for eternity, even in the midst of some faulty teaching, I rejoice. Why? Because Paul did. “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice” (Phil 1:18).

Tim Challies, recognized Christian blogger and editor of Discerning Reader, writes:

“The Shack is a fictional tale. Yet though The Shack is fiction, it is clearly intended to communicate theological truths. It is meant to impact the way the reader thinks about God, about love and about life. It is not a book that was written only to share a story, but to share theology.”

Therein lays the controversy. Even biblical scholars disagree on some aspects of Christian theology, aspects covered in detail in this book. Because The Shack addresses the only true theology – the Christian theology of one God as the Father, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit - within the framework of fiction storytelling, the responsibility of the author is to present such truth both clearly and accurately. Two difficulties arise. One, to reach a wider audience beyond the Christian community with a message of God’s love, a Christian author must write in such a way that it crosses over to the desired audience. The greatest challenge in such “crossover works” is to cross over without turning the cross over.

The second difficulty lies in the issue of theology. While one theologian may vehemently disagree with elements of the book’s content, as I do, others may argue that the author’s points are not necessarily inaccurate or misleading. As with any Christian debate, Scripture can be used (or misused) to support more than one view. While there are definite nonnegotiables in Christianity, only God has a complete and unhindered picture of truth. This is one reason I believe He has set eternity in the hearts of man (Eccl 3:11), so that we will continue to seek His truth until we see Him face to face on the other side. Our human-sized brains can never fully comprehend the mysteries of God in this lifetime, nor were we made to. We were only made to seek it continually and fervently. As the author of The Shack writes in the words of the main character, “I can only follow (a certain) line of thought so far, and then I get lost and my brain turns to mush.”

If you choose to read it for yourself, I encourage you to pray before reading, and remind yourself as you turn each page that it is a work of fiction, written by one who likely has the right motive at heart but who misrepresents some basic biblical principles in his human effort. After all, he is human. As such, you should not view this book as a reliable source of truth. Consequently, you should guard your mind to deception, which begs the question “Is it worth the read?” But if Young’s creative work causes you to embrace God’s love, experience forgiveness or explore Scripture for truth at a deeper level, then may God bless it for His eternal and glorious purposes, despite the many misgivings.