I just finished reading this book. I want to first address that there is a ton of stuff on this book already online. Some say that this is not in line with the word. Please keep in mind this book is fiction. Now on to the review. The writing is pretty good. It is written very simply and I think that the style fits well with the almost letter type quality it has. The story is simply bout a man who loses his daughter due to her being murdered and he is called to go back to the scene by God himself. It takes you on a wild ride of internal struggle, grappling of faith, and mystery in the whole of the trinity. Please make sure you don’t take everything in the book as literal. There are times where the author sounds almost universal in regards to religion, but I assure you something in this book will grip your soul and twist it. Something in this book will make you rethink your walk and evaluate your faith.
You have to read this book. go buy it…
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Paul’s coming to have dinner with our staff, elders and spouses in April. That is going to be an awesome night.
Dude that’s wild. I just got hit up on Facebook by a friend of mine wondering if I’d read it. I hadn’t even heard of it and thus began this messaging we’ve had all week and here you go popping it up on your blog.
I suppose I will have to check it out.
Hey Joel,
Thanks for the book recommendation. I did see where Eugene Peterson & Micheal W.Smith endorsed it, too…
“This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ did for his. It’s that good!” Eugene Peterson
“The Shack is the most absorbing work of fiction I’ve read in many years. My wife and I laughed, cried and repented of our own lack of faith along the way. The Shack will leave you craving for the presence of God.” Michael W. Smith
Pretty weighty endorsements, if you asked me.
Anyhow, thanks again and have a great weekend.
David Guion
http://www.one24worship.com/
Could not put it down. I lost a son and went through asking all the same things and the same three brought me through. Different names I just called them, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The best friends a person has in this life.
The novel, The Shack, is getting tremendous amount of play nationally. The book is currently ranked number eight in sales on Amazon.com. The story is a fictionalized account of a man, Mack Phillips, who is emotionally dealing with the brutal murder of his young daughter. Mack is overwhelmed with questions about the suffering of the innocent, and as a result, has an unusual encounter with the Holy Trinity in a shack. Yes, I said a shack. In the novel, the Trinity is an African-American woman (the Father), a Middle Eastern man (the Son), and the Holy Spirit is an Asian songstress named Sarayu. The book has major theological problems: modalism, rejection of Biblical hierarchy, overemphasis on free-will to the neglect of God’s sovereignty, and a misunderstanding of the concept of submission, feminism, etc.
If your folks have gotten fascinated by this book, I would suggest addressing these theological problems on May 18, Trinity Sunday. Get a good simple systematic theology like Wayne Grudem’s. For the everyday layperson, Grudem does an excellent job of explaining the key issues surrounding the doctrine of the Trinity. Read again the church’s classic understanding of the Trinity. In the simplest manner possible, explain the main points concerning the Trinity using basic scripture texts. Your congregation will not be bored. Your folks will be excited about being equipped to defend the Historic Christian faith. You do not need to mention the book, The Shack. However, you may want to show the cultural relevance of your sermon by pointing to the current controversy.
As Article One of The Thirty-Nine Article states:
Faith in the Holy Trinity:
There is only one living and true God, who is eternal and without body, indivisible and invulnerable. He is of infinite power, wisdom and goodness. He is the maker and preserver of all things both visible and invisible. Within the unity of the Godhead there are three persons who are of one substance, power and eternity - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These dangerous theologies must always be countered, not debated or considered but countered. In our 2000yr history these things have come and gone; an important thing to remember is that we need to take our time, not just years but centuries, and see how these things play out… we have all the time we need to figure out these problems… yes it may appear that the end is near but it has always been so. This teaching (Modalism) has of course no grounding, and it is refuted at length by Tertullian as Heresy.
It’s FICTION!!! and i felt warm and fuzzy after it…and it’s FICTION!!!
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