Monday, April 06, 2009
"The Shack"--a review and other ramblings
Bottom line: “The Shack” provided a good reminder about relating to God through a relationship—not in terms of rules or institutions. The Shack is also a great book if you question why God allows suffering (my number one question for God!) It’s also a good book if you need to forgive someone or let something go. Reading “The Shack” will be an emotionally cathartic experience for many readers.
*****
So, I read “The Shack”. I’ve got a few thoughts. Let me start with a brief summary: The Shack is a story about a man named Mack whose young daughter is kidnapped and murdered. Her bloody dress is found in a shack in the forest. God, aka “Papa”, then invites Mack to meet Him in the shack by sending him a note in the mail. Mack goes to the shack and spends several days with the Trinity--who show up in various human forms (including Papa as a sassy black woman). Mack is able to talk freely with all three forms of the Trinity and to process through his pain and confusion about why God would allow so much evil and pain in his life and in the world. Through this process he learns about God’s desire for real relationship with his creation and he learns to forgive. The cover of the book advertises it as a story "where tragedy confronts eternity."
Immediately after starting the book it seemed clear to me that it was written by someone who has truly experienced deep pain and loss. A little research on the author William P. Young confirms this. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_P._Young
The story is a bit contrived--but emotionally powerful nonetheless.
Young has said in interviews he was trying to write a book for his children and wasn’t expecting the book to become such a phenomenon. I think Young is also speaking to himself and anyone like him who is familiar with theology and familiar with the institutional church. I would probably not give this book to someone new in their faith as it might just confuse them. I’ve read more scholarly books on the topic of suffering—such as books by Philip Yancey or CS Lewis. But keeping in mind the intended audience, I think the book is good for getting us out of our ruts of thinking and helps us be honest about our biases, frustrations, and pain.
I liked the following:
• Challenges thinking of God in terms of gender and age
• Reminds us to be real with God—pain, questions, and anger included
• Reinforced the image of God as a loving parent
• Affirms that evil exists only in relation to what is good
• Portrays the loving relationship within the Trinity and Jesus as human
• Promotes the idea that we must forgive to be free
• Bottom line: promotes the need for a real relationship with God.
A few things I didn’t like:
His use of several stereotypes to combat stereotypes about God is interesting. I mean, God as a big sassy black woman is funny but admittedly a little contrived.
I can see how the book might be shocking to someone invested in the “institutional church.” After years of tradition and acculturation we tend to think of God and church in terms of gender, hierarchy, and institutions. It’s hard to think outside that box. I don’t find Young’s criticism of the institutional church subversive or wrong. (See my note on “Pagan Christianity”.) That said, he does not clearly affirm the need for human community in the book. I worry that one could easily read “The Shack” or similar books and cross too far into individualism. We all need community and we need accountability. We need each other. The Bible is clear that we should ‘not forsake gathering together’ and that our gifts are given to us for the equipping and encouragement of God’s church (as in—the people).
Some final thoughts on themes that came up in the book:
Young’s portrayal of the Trinity really struck me in this book. Frankly, I’ve never thought much about the Trinity. He portrays the Godhead as in relationship and mutual submission with each other—a perfect circle of love. Some people argue that there is a hierarchy in the Trinity and that Young’s book is theologically wrong. I’ve done some research on that and, while none of us can claim to truly grasp the Trinity, I am inclined to believe that it is not a hierarchy—at least not as we think of hierarchy. In fact, I think that understanding the relationship of the Trinity is the right place to start when trying to understand God or our relationship with God or our relationship with each other. Here is a quote from “Reimagining Church” by Frank Viola that sums this up well:
“The biblical teaching of the Trinity is not an exposition about the abstract design of God. Instead, it teaches us about God’s nature and how it operates in Christian community. As such, it shouldn’t be relegated to an endnote to the gospel. Rather, it should shape the Christian life and inform the practice of the church…Within the triune God we discover mutual love, mutual fellowship, mutual dependence, mutual honor, mutual submission, mutual dwelling, and authentic community. In the Godhead there exists an eternal, complementary, and reciprocal interchange of the divine life, divine love, and divine fellowship.”
Anyway, I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on the book.
A few links:
www.theshackbook.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_P._Young
www.reimaginingchurch.org ¶ 11:20 AM
*****
So, I read “The Shack”. I’ve got a few thoughts. Let me start with a brief summary: The Shack is a story about a man named Mack whose young daughter is kidnapped and murdered. Her bloody dress is found in a shack in the forest. God, aka “Papa”, then invites Mack to meet Him in the shack by sending him a note in the mail. Mack goes to the shack and spends several days with the Trinity--who show up in various human forms (including Papa as a sassy black woman). Mack is able to talk freely with all three forms of the Trinity and to process through his pain and confusion about why God would allow so much evil and pain in his life and in the world. Through this process he learns about God’s desire for real relationship with his creation and he learns to forgive. The cover of the book advertises it as a story "where tragedy confronts eternity."
Immediately after starting the book it seemed clear to me that it was written by someone who has truly experienced deep pain and loss. A little research on the author William P. Young confirms this. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_P._Young
The story is a bit contrived--but emotionally powerful nonetheless.
Young has said in interviews he was trying to write a book for his children and wasn’t expecting the book to become such a phenomenon. I think Young is also speaking to himself and anyone like him who is familiar with theology and familiar with the institutional church. I would probably not give this book to someone new in their faith as it might just confuse them. I’ve read more scholarly books on the topic of suffering—such as books by Philip Yancey or CS Lewis. But keeping in mind the intended audience, I think the book is good for getting us out of our ruts of thinking and helps us be honest about our biases, frustrations, and pain.
I liked the following:
• Challenges thinking of God in terms of gender and age
• Reminds us to be real with God—pain, questions, and anger included
• Reinforced the image of God as a loving parent
• Affirms that evil exists only in relation to what is good
• Portrays the loving relationship within the Trinity and Jesus as human
• Promotes the idea that we must forgive to be free
• Bottom line: promotes the need for a real relationship with God.
A few things I didn’t like:
His use of several stereotypes to combat stereotypes about God is interesting. I mean, God as a big sassy black woman is funny but admittedly a little contrived.
I can see how the book might be shocking to someone invested in the “institutional church.” After years of tradition and acculturation we tend to think of God and church in terms of gender, hierarchy, and institutions. It’s hard to think outside that box. I don’t find Young’s criticism of the institutional church subversive or wrong. (See my note on “Pagan Christianity”.) That said, he does not clearly affirm the need for human community in the book. I worry that one could easily read “The Shack” or similar books and cross too far into individualism. We all need community and we need accountability. We need each other. The Bible is clear that we should ‘not forsake gathering together’ and that our gifts are given to us for the equipping and encouragement of God’s church (as in—the people).
Some final thoughts on themes that came up in the book:
Young’s portrayal of the Trinity really struck me in this book. Frankly, I’ve never thought much about the Trinity. He portrays the Godhead as in relationship and mutual submission with each other—a perfect circle of love. Some people argue that there is a hierarchy in the Trinity and that Young’s book is theologically wrong. I’ve done some research on that and, while none of us can claim to truly grasp the Trinity, I am inclined to believe that it is not a hierarchy—at least not as we think of hierarchy. In fact, I think that understanding the relationship of the Trinity is the right place to start when trying to understand God or our relationship with God or our relationship with each other. Here is a quote from “Reimagining Church” by Frank Viola that sums this up well:
“The biblical teaching of the Trinity is not an exposition about the abstract design of God. Instead, it teaches us about God’s nature and how it operates in Christian community. As such, it shouldn’t be relegated to an endnote to the gospel. Rather, it should shape the Christian life and inform the practice of the church…Within the triune God we discover mutual love, mutual fellowship, mutual dependence, mutual honor, mutual submission, mutual dwelling, and authentic community. In the Godhead there exists an eternal, complementary, and reciprocal interchange of the divine life, divine love, and divine fellowship.”
Anyway, I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on the book.
A few links:
www.theshackbook.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_P._Young
www.reimaginingchurch.org ¶ 11:20 AM
