Tim Challies read the book himself.

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Tim Phillips
Pastor, Midlane Park Presbyterian Church (ARP)
Louisville, KY
Husband of Scottish Lass
My Blog: Gairney Bridge
My Facebook/My Avatar

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

"Wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God Himself came into the midst of us." ~ John Calvin

Tim, when you do finish reading it, I would be very interested to know your thoughts. I did look it up on amazon, and read some reviews, but it was difficult to glean much from those. I probably won't read it myself -too little time - but I am curious about its content and implications.

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Kathleen M
nondenominational
Montana

Kathleen, I am think of posting my thoughts about the book on my blog. I'll PM you and possibly post on this thread once I get the first one up and running.

My recommendations to you, however, will be the same as I would recommend to my own congregation: don't waste your time on such garbage. There's plenty of good stuff out there that gets neglected by Christians. Pick up a Puritan Paperback and read that!

I met William Young a few days ago. I heard, out of his own mouth, that he considers his book to be "orthodox" (he declined to explain what he meant by that word) and that he felt it was valuable to explain the relational aspects of the Trinity in particular.

When the question was raised to him how he responds to those within the Church that have criticized his book or his theology, he responded (roughly paraphrasing) that he never intended his book to be authoritative (thank goodness!) nor a theological manual, but simply another perspective and part of the "conversation".

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Mark Geoffriau
Redeemer PCA
Jackson, MS

Mark, IMO "Conversation" is a very emergent phrase for you do your faith your own way, not considering propositional truth. Those in the emergent movement, and Paul Williams seems to be, reject doctrine altogether. Their story is the truth.

Gary Zustiak in an article about the emergent movement points out “There is a heavy emphasis upon narrative, or story, as the chief means of communicating the message of God over doctrine or exegetical approaches.” Christian Standard

D. A. Carson in Becoming Conversant With the Emerging Church writes, "Post-moderns [ name adopted for many in movement] are likely to be happy with personal narratives—i.e., with individuals telling their own stories and explaining how they view things. They are likely to be suspicious of metanarrative—i.e., of a big story that claims to explain all of life, or that claims to be true for everyone."

The Shack fits right in with this trend, don't you think!

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Carol
Plant City, Florida


That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
Philippians 3:8,9

http://gettingoffthenicenesstreadmill.blogspot.com/

Certainly does, which explains its popularity among those who also liked "Blue Like Jazz" and other such tripe. The hard thing is that this kind of 'personal take' on theology is very attractive not just to those who consciously identify themselves as postmoderns, but it also seems to be attracting a following among those who truly are postmodern in their thinking, but who don't know that they are, or if confronted with the fact, don't think that they are following the ideals of postmodern thought. It's this second category of people that form a large segment of many of our churches, I fear.

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Todd K. Pedlar
member, First Congregational Church, (CCCC) Cresco, IA
http://inprincipiodeus.solideogloria.com
http://puritanwisdom.blogspot.com

"As God did not at first choose you because you were high, He will not now forsake you because you are low."
John Flavel in Keeping the Heart



Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

When we read Velvet Elvis (it was Rob Bell's ego trip in all honesty and a lot of "look how COOL I am!) it was a lot of babble and self promotion and a poorly written novella. Unfortunately, to Mr. Bell it is as good as Grudem. Now if we are asked, we can say we read the book, point to areas we disagree with and explain why rather than retreat to what Dr. Michael Horton calls "the holy huddle" while howling "heresy! That is Evil" with no idea why the book is evil. And the latter approach not only shuts off discussion but it is a really poor witness.

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How does Phil 4:8 apply: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

If one knows quite well the book they plan to read is not God honoring and deliberately reads it anyway is this sin or not?

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Nancy L./ www.foundersbaptist.org
Spring, TX

Your will, Lord Jesus Christ! Nothing more... nothing less... nothing else.

The answer is not so simple as "yes" or "no". Sorry.

Christiana I think it is for the same reason one would, for instance, sit on a jury or study to become a lawyer or a judge, when details of crimes and sins will be the order of business. In a sinful and fallen world, sometimes delighting in truth and virtue and justice takes the form of having to deal with knowledge of very unlovely things.

Certainly I hope no one would push for everyone to read the book; but it's good that we have some 'juries' and 'lawyers' and 'judges' to deal with the world's literary and theological crimes, and bring the errors to light in the interests of truth and beauty and justice!

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Heidi
Indianapolis, Indiana

Patience must dwell with Love, for Love and Sorrow
Have pitched their tent together here:
Love all alone will build a house tomorrow,
And sorrow not be near. -Christina Rossetti

I haven't read this book, but it has come highly recommended to me by an unbelieving friend. I was wondering what it was about and think that I made the right decision to pass on reading it.

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Jennifer Flummerfelt
layman, P.C.A.
Wichita, KS

"Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

Happily Married to KS_Presby as of September 12, 2009

I landed up getting in a brief exchange about "The Shack" with one of my wife's relatives recently. It wasn't the first time. People absolutely love this book.

Two of the most frequent response I get are:

1) But, it's fiction!
2) But, do you know this man's history?
3) Have you read it?

I hate number one. Any book that discusses God, His essence (probably not the right word) and his character is theology, regardless of whether it is presented to the reader as non-fiction, a novel, or poetry. The fact that it is fiction makes it more dangerous, since more people will read a well-marketed book sitting in Walmart (beside Joel Olsteen's latest best seller)than any explicitly theological and serious book.

Yes, the author had a tragic history. That might make one sympathetic to the man, and understand why he may have fell into error, but that doesn't excuse the error itself.

Number three is so often repeated, that I am going to read it. I've read enough reviews to know what I'm going to find, and I would rather not waste my time, but so many of the people I talk to consider an answer of "no" to number three to be the end of the conversation. Being able to answer "yes" to whether I've actually read the book will make refuting it that much easier.

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Eric
Woodgreen Presbyterian (PCA)
Calgary, Alberta CANADA

Add me to that PM if you would, especially since it's so prominent a book.

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Scott - Dallas, Texas - Faith OPC

"It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do." - Edmund Burke

Will do!

Thanks so much Heidi, for that thought provoking response!
Blessings!

I struggle with the same sort of questions often, as well.

I have a preliminary post concerning The Shack posted on my blog here. This is not a review (I am waiting until I finish the book), but I comment on the feminine aspects of the book a bit.

The real purpose of the post, however, is to recommend to you Mary Kassian's excellent review of the book, found here.

THE SHACK IS NOT TO BE USED AS A DIURETIC, OR AN EMETIC..READ THE SHACK WARNING LABEL:


DOSAGE: take two Shacks every six hours for overly rigid orthodoxy.

SIDE EFFECTS: This Shack may cause joint pain, nausea, headache, or shortness of breath. You may also experience muscle aches, rapid heartbeat, and ringing in the ears. If you feel faint, call your doctor. Do not consume alcohol while taking this pill; likewise, avoid red meat, shellfish, and vegetables. O.K. foods: flounder. Under no circumstances eat yak. Men can expect painful urination. Projectile vomiting is common in thirty per cent of users—sorry, fifty per cent. If you undergo disorienting nausea accompanied by migraine and raspy breathing, double the dosage. Leg cramps are to be expected; one knee-buckler per day is normal. Bowel movements may become frequent—in fact, every ten minutes. If bowel movements become greater than twelve per hour, consult your doctor, or any doctor, or just anyone who will speak to you. You may find yourself becoming lost or vague; this would be a good time to write a screenplay. Do not pilot a plane, unless you are among the ten per cent of users who experience "spontaneous test-pilot knowledge." If your hair begins to smell like burning tires, move away from any buildings or populated areas, and apply tincture of iodine to the head until you no longer hear what could be taken for a "countdown." May cause stigmata in Mexicans. If a fungus starts to grow between your eyebrows, call the Guinness Book of World Records. May induce a tendency to compulsively repeat the phrase "no can do." This drug may cause visions of the Virgin Mary to appear in treetops. If this happens, open a souvenir shop. There may be an overwhelming impulse to shout out during a Catholic Mass, "I'm gonna wop you wid da ugly stick!" You may feel a powerful sense of impending doom; this is because you are about to die. Do not take this product if you are uneasy with lockjaw. Do not be near a ringing telephone that works at 900 MHz or you will be very dead, very fast. We are- assuming you have had chicken pox. You also may experience a growing dissatisfaction with life along with a deep sense of melancholy—join the club! Do not be concerned if you arouse a few ticks from a Geiger counter. You might want to get a one-month trial subscription to Extreme Fidgeting. The hook shape of the pill will often cause it to become caught in the larynx. To remove, jam a finger down your throat while a friend holds your nose to prevent the pill from lodging in a nasal passage. Then throw yourself stomach first on the back portion of a chair. The expulsion of air should eject the pill out of the mouth, unless it goes into a sinus cavity, or the brain.

WARNING: This drug may shorten your intestines by twenty-one feet. Has been known to cause birth defects in the user retroactively. Passing in front of TV may cause the screen to move. Women often feel a loss of libido, including a two-octave lowering of the voice, an increase in ankle hair, and perhaps the lowering of a testicle. Discontinue use immediately if you feel that your teeth are receiving radio broadcasts. You may experience "lumpy back" syndrome, but we are actively seeking a cure. Bloated fingertips on the heart-side hand are common. When finished with the dosage, be sure to allow plenty of "quiet time" in order to retrain the eye to move off stationary objects. Flotation devices at sea will become pointless, as the user of this drug will develop a stone-like body density; therefore, if thrown overboard, contact your doctor. (This product may contain one or more of the following: bungee cord, plankton, rubber, crack cocaine, pork bladders, aromatic oils, gunpowder, corn husk, glue, bee pollen, dung, English muffin, poached eggs, ham, Hollandaise sauce, crushed saxophone reeds.) Sensations of levitation are illusory, as is the sensation of having a "phantom" third arm. User may experience certain inversions of language. Acceptable: "Hi, are how you?" Unacceptable: "The rain in Sprain slays blainly on the phsssst." Twenty minutes after taking the pills, you will feel an insatiable craving to take another dose. AVOID THIS WITH ALL YOUR POWER. It is advisable to have a friend handcuff you to a large kitchen appliance, ESPECIALLY ONE THAT WILL NOT FIT THROUGH THE DOORWAY TO WHERE THE PILLS ARE. You should also be out of reach of any weapon-like utensil with which you could threaten friends or family, who should also be briefed to not give you the pills, no matter how much you sweet-talk them.

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Pergamum


"If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"
-- David Livingstone