I have read The Shack 4 times since I bought it and once when it was loaned to me for my first reading. I find it an incredible book. It is not scripture and there are areas where Mr. Young is vague. I would guess he is vague because he doesn't know how to express certian theological concepts. I know in my life I too have had a hard time trying to encapsulate part of theology into something that makes sense from a strickly human viewpoint. Mr. Young however does have a great gift with words. The picture he paints of his pain over the loss of his precious child is astounding. The unwillingness of the main character to give up his own preconceptions of God, the trinity, faith vs religion, headship, greif and so on are incredible powerful.
There are things you will read that you will disagree with. Remember this isn't the bible. It is a story intended to share a man's walk back to Christ. There is so much I could tell you about this wonderful story but to do so would take some of the wonder from the reader so I will digress.
This was written in a earlier post:
The guy and his kids are camping. His little girl is kidnapped and assumed killed...never found. Dad stews for 3 years (or so) then goes back to the scene's location to meet with God. Only God is a woman named Papa, Jesus is clad in jeans and plays tricks on the dog and Holy Spirit is a fat black woman. It does have a redeeming virtue in that it does correctly portray the Character of God. But...Need I say more?
Maggie
There are some things I really see need discussing or correcting. Fist God is called Papa in this story though when the main charact meets Papa the first time she is called ElousiaSarayu. This is to show the intimate relationship we are supposed to have with the Father, Yes God The Father is portrayed as a woman, an overweight, content, black woman to be exact. Jesus is indeed shown in jeans and a flannel workshirt. This makes sense from the carpenter aspect. However Jesus is also seen as a worker, actively involved so work clothes would make sense. Maggie was wrong on the Holy Spirit though. The Holy Spirit is partrayed and an Asian woman named Sarayu.
Some think this is to change God from the traditional held view of a male God. This is not so and it is clearly explained in ths book. I do know that many study groups have been formed nationwide due to this book. Both to discuss the richness of our relationship with the Almighty but also to discuss the theology in the book. While Mr. Young did not capture perfectly the concept of all the theologies he used, he did lay a wonderful foundation for study. Some you will find are incorrect but not many. Some you will find hard to understand. That's to be expected. Some you will agree with no hesitation.
The idea of the book is to get the reader to read his/her bible and to talk with others about it. Also its to get it into the hands of unbelievers. Because its not the bible many unbelievers will agree to read it not realizing what's in store from them. The book grabs and holds the attention of the reader very well. For me I had a very hard time putting it down and read it all the way through the first time in 2 hours. Think of listening to a grandfotherly person telling a story. That's the way I see Mr. Young's writing style.
I will tell you so far the worse critisism has come from 2 main areas. Non=believers that don't like being sucked into a book about God and catholics. From my talks with catholics they see it as a protestant work and calling God Papa is an attack on their pope. I find it a very narrow viewpoint personally but we are all intitled to or opinion. So on that note, I have given you my opinion on the book and hope many will read it and that it will bring about great discussion.