Inspiring Book - Makes You Think Outside of the BoxDecember 3, 2008 1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Shack is an inspiring novel based on core spiritual truths. It is hard to put down once you begin reading it. I found my self laughing and crying at the same time. It makes you think outside of the box regarding God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It shows how simple and beautiful real love is. You definitely will want to share it with friends and family. I did! I am waiting to get it back so I can re-read it.
Sloppily Sentimental, Theologically Shallow and Riddled with ClichesDecember 3, 2008 4 out of 6 found this review helpful
As a work of fiction and a theological narrative The Shack scores below average on both fronts. For book so highly touted by well-respected critics, this book was a huge disappointment.
The Fiction.
If grading just the book for the sake of it's fiction and Young's writing abilities I'd give it a C+.
To Young's credit the plot is provocative. A runaway teenager grows up, goes to seminary and gets married all while battling the demons of an abusive father and family he leaves behind at the age of 13. Mack Phillips moves to Oregon, finds some success and marries a down-to-earth Christian woman with sense and sensitivity. While in his early 50s, Mack undergoes the tragic abduction of his six-year-old girl at the hands of infamous serial killer. Four years later, Mack gets a mysterious note in his mail box during a fierce ice storm that sets in motion his return to the cabin, hundreds of miles away from his home, where his daughter was murdered and his faith was left behind after his initial visit with the local authorities. Mack discovers God at the cabin and has a long face-to-face with his Maker while being sent a few "neatly wrapped gifts" to help bring closure to his grief ravaged life.
Young has a good set up on the plot, but unfortunately, bad execution in conveying what could have been an excellent story.
The first two chapters read like a special presentation on The Hallmark Channel the last two read like a Left Behind novel. Dripping with sentimental goo and unnecessary adjectives, Young waxes eloquent (tries anyway) about ice storms in the Pacific Northwest and the majestic beauty of the Eagle Cap Wilderness area in Northeastern Oregon. Now don't get me wrong, as a native of these areas I can tell you first hand that our region is beautiful, but Young over-labors and belabors his imagery and works extra hard to pull you in. It's not until the chapter "The Great Sadness" where Young finally settles down and tells a good story and in doing so, he finally does pull you in - at least until he takes you back some years later. The rest of the book plods along with Mack's encounter with the Trinity, each a person themselves (never mind all that stuffy Old Testament imagery depicting God in a cloud, the wind or fire that's actually in the Bible) and to his amazement the love and relationship each of these persons have for one another. The end of the story is clumsy and predictable.
The Theology.
If I had to grade it I'd give it a D+. Many reviews deal with Young's defunct views on the Trinity as it relates to Scripture, but I have more subtle, yet deeper theological bones to pick with Mr. Young.
Ironically, Young tries hard to paint the picture that God is nothing like we can imagine, but then fails to accomplish this task by making God as ordinarily as human as possible. Jesus spills some sauce. Each of the members engage in ordinary household chores. Dinner conversation between the members of the Trinity is as normal as any family. The banter about the table is glib and irreverent - and yes, all very human. Each of these tell us how much Young wants us to see how God lovingly condescended for Mack, but Young takes it too far and kills any hope for awe. For what exactly is so awe-inspiring outwardly about an African American and Asian woman along with a Middle Eastern man lovingly speaking with each other and Mack? God is beautiful and amazing outwardly, not just inwardly no? Young does some quick covering for this in the book, but it leaves with you with the kind of grimace and headshaking that says you just can't buy it.
What is most probably the tragic part of this book - keeping in mind that it is a book of fiction engineered to promote the author's theological convictions - is how God (in all persons) is not just toleratant of Mack's self-absorption, but rather encourages it. Young quickly dances back-and-forth between Scripture that requires us to go to Jesus to find God and finding this path to Jesus through self-discovery apart from God. What the reader is left with is the kind of eastern mystic mumbo jumbo that has you wondering if the character Papa wasn't just a wholesale lift from the Oracle's persona found in the movie The Matrix. Seriously, I half expected at some the point for Papa to say: "Now Mack, take a cookie and go fishing on the lake. I promise you that once you go through that doorway, you'll feel as right as rain."
The end result of Young's portrayal of God is a low view of the sinfulness of humanity despite it being the root cause of Mack's inability to submit himself to God and therefore place his trust in Jesus. Mack gets to judge God, and finds him guilty, but Mack isn't really asked to consider his sin nature as the true reason he is unable to see God. Instead, Mack is asked to shun authority, individuality and modern thinking as the true evils and he is then urged to join a relationship with God in spite of them. He is taught that all humans are God's children and that none will likely see hell in the end. This seemingly subtle, yet massive shift in Young' portrayal of the Gospel, unveils a gospel presentation that removes the Gospel itself, that is to say that it removes Mack's essential need for a Savior. This is what Mack came to the cabin looking for afterall: Reconcilation and release from his guilts and all his doubts about God, yes?
In one instance Jesus says, "Papa, I loved watching you today as you made yourself fully available to take Mack's pain into yourself and then give him space to choose his own timing. You honored him and you honored me." But beyond the immediate Scriptural problems this presents it also reveals Mack's whole problem. He has been choosing his timing and wanting his own space his whole life and he's just as spiritually miserable and lost now after the death of his little girl as he was before.
It's obvious that Young is using The Shack to vent his own theological frustrations (even before you get to the end which has him saying as much) with the church, and I for one, applaud him for using this kind of medium to express it. But what's disappointing and disturbing is that Young tosses his ideas about hell (his universalism?) and God's sovereign will (his open theism?) by putting them as consolations from God to Mack (Papa) and then leaving God to contradict himself.
In one example, Mack is judging the killer of his little girl by condemning him to hell and then is asked to decide which two of his five children would go to hell a few moments later. Young makes a good emotional appeal here, but he never resolves the contradiction between his views through Mack's dilemma and Jesus' constant warnings of hell that are found repeatedly in the Gospel. On another occasion, we have Mack and Papa talking about his little girl's death that leads Papa to say that he doesn't orchestrate evil to accomplish his purposes. Again, this is another wonderful emotional appeal, but it doesn't align with Scripture. The greatest evils ever committed on earth were orchestrated, and foretold by prophets hundreds of years earlier, so that the death and resurrection of God's Son could take place as meticulously planned. So if God planned the greatest of all evils in order to rescue those who would believe in him, wouldn't he use "lesser evils" to accomplish his purposes in bringing his children to him?
Young's characters go mute on tensions they create.
Young writes as part of his conclusion: "Our dream is to sell enough copies of this book to open the door for a feature film that the world would want to see and that will present an accurate understanding of God's character and nature to a world that longs in the deepest places of their hearts for such a God."
Uh, shouldn't that medium be the Bible and why Mr. Young do you seem to be suggesting that The Shack is a better vehicle than Scripture to accomplish this? This is an old trap with success, and no matter how well you tug the heart strings, a half-truth is still a lie and a contradiction is still a contradiction.
There are a few redeeming qualities about the book, but only a few. For instance, individuality needs to be left behind in the Christian life. God seeks relationship with us, though in a far different manner than Young suggests.
Sadly, I envision this spiritually shallow book will find a place on many shelves right next to their copy of the Prayer of Jabez, The Purpose Driven Life, and the complete set of the Left Behind series. And given the reviews here, many think it's accurate parable portraying the God of Scripture when it just isn't.
AwesomeDecember 3, 2008 1 out of 3 found this review helpful
What a book! Keeps you on the edge of your seat, and is thought-provoking! I loved it!
A surprisingly touching readDecember 3, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Let me start by saying, I picked up this book with no expectations, no summary and without reading any reviews. I was looking for a fictional story--or, a light read. I have been reading more serious topics in nonfiction concerning spirituality, enlightenment, and soul-purpose lately, and I thought I was reaching for a break when I picked up this best-seller.
Behind a gripping story-line (the murder of a child), there is a Christian-based teaching with a spiritual feel to it. This type of story always upsets rigid church-goers who have been using fear-based teachings all their life and hold onto those teachings for dear life (literally). This type of book about a free-and-adoring God really upsets fear-based thinkers (hence the low-star ratings and rantings here on Amazon).
Overall, it is a sweet read about how truly adored we are in every light and it is much more thought-provoking and deep than I had anticipated. It offers a tangible approach to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, so if that is not your cup of tea, you should save yourself the stress and upset this genuinely loving novel will offer.
If you are seeking peace, if you love learning about how loved you are in this universe, then this book will bring you tears of sorrow and joy--in a really good way. All the best.
Loved the Book!December 3, 2008 1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read this book with an open mind.
I loved it and I will highly recommend it to my friends.
This book is about love it is sure to be a classic.
It may shatter your preconceived beliefs/thoughts about God, Jesus, & the Holy Spirit.
