Product Description Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
"Astounded" in a different sense than I had hopedOctober 12, 2008 I was given this book with glowing recommendation, and my interest was further aroused by the description on the cover: a book that "wrestles with the timeless question: Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him."
I love fictional works that WRESTLE with important issues rather than giving cookie-cutter answers like some cheap self-help book. Isn't that the mark of a great novelist? Nathanial Hawthorne, Victor Hugo, Herman Hesse, Mark Twain -- they all WRESTLED with the big questions of life. So I was excited that I was to read a modern book that wrestled with what is perhaps the biggest issue of all for those who believe -- or hope -- in the existence of a God who cares for us.
It started off well enough. Wm. P. Young tried to show the pain of a man who had been abused by a Bible-thumping father and then lost his youngest daughter to a serial killer. Though popular authors like Stephen King do a better job at depicting human pain and tragedy, the story succeeded in pulling me in. I felt for Mack and his "Great Sadness," as the book puts it, and was looking forward to how the author would skillfully weave his thoughts into the storyline.
It didn't happen. Instead, Mack literally gets a letter from God in the mail, goes off to the shack where his daughter had been murdered, and spends a weekend with the Trinity in the form of an African-American Mama, a not-so-handsome Middle-Eastern Jew, and an Asian woman. They talk. The book ceases to be a novel and turns into chapters of Christian teaching packaged creatively, with the Holy Spirit saying things like, "Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions."
This is not to say that it is all bad. There are many worthwhile lessons about living in the present, the power of forgiveness, and being freed from legalism. There are also several humorous and delightful moments, but overall I felt that the author bit off more than he could chew. A weekend in direct conversation with the Trinity? Hanging out with God for chapter after chapter? For the best of authors, this would be too much of a challenge to pull off convincingly. There is a reason Aslan says very little in the Chronicles of Narnia -- we would not be convinced by him if he chatted his way through the stories. But this is exactly what we get in "The Shack": God the chatterbox.
Now to the content of the chat with God. I just said that there are many valuable lessons in it, but when it comes to the main theme -- why an all-powerful God who loves us still lords over a chaotic planet filled with unspeakable pain -- the answer did not "astound" me as it did the main character Mack.
What astounded me was that the answer seems to appeal to so many millions of believers. If I did not know about the immense popularity of the book, I'd say that it would appeal neither to strong biblicists who are wary of anything that is not directly mentioned in the Bible, nor to more open-minded Christians who, for example, follow scientific developments and therefore have many questions that the writers of the Bible did not share.
The core of the answer is exactly what we find through a more literal reading of the Bible:
1. The world was absolutely perfect, but a few thousand years ago, Adam and Eve used their God-given freedom for ill and therefore brought all (yes, ALL--Mack is told not to underestimate the power given to humans) the suffering into this world.
2. God respects our freedom too much to prevent all the negative consequences of Adam's choice, but He does turn this earth into a training ground for eternity. "It's only preparation" we read in "The Shack."
3. As for questions of why individual tragedies are or are not prevented by God, the picture is too big for us to understand. What we see as chaos, God sees as fractal, and He is in the process of redemption. All will be well one day. After death.
But how does No. 1 help unless you are a six-day creationist? Even Evangelical Christians who believe in Intelligent Design think that tsunamis, earthquakes, disease, pain, and mutual annihilation preceded human life by several million years. The only way "The Shack" addresses this is to say that, well, Genesis 1-11 is not a myth but did literally happen. I'm not sure open-minded Christians will throw their science overboard as easily as that.
And No. 2 and 3 only help if you have virtually no doubt that the Christian claims are indeed true and that one day, when you're dead, it'll all make sense. But where is the God of the living? What do you do if you're not entirely sure of it? In that case, the reality of suffering weighs more than the unsure comfort that "it is all preparation" and the present suffering will be redeemed.
But not only the open-minded Christian should have a hard time relating to "The Shack," but also the biblicists. The simple-minded doctrines are packaged in a picture of the Trinity that doesn't exactly dominate the Bible. Many biblical depictions of various aspects of God are left out, and what remains is a modern, very American buddy who loves to hang out with us and crack jokes. Culturally relevant? Yes. And I personally even see the value of tailoring the Christian message to a modern audience, especially in a work of fiction. The Christian God did, after all, become a human being, so why not once more step down on the level of people today? But I doubt that it will please the biblicist.
So who are all the millions that find the book not only deeply touching but also completely convincing? The logical part of me says that it must all be six-day creationists who are nevertheless no biblicists.
But maybe most people simply appreciate the book's portrayal of love, forgiveness, and healed relationships. And that, I find appealing, too -- not to mention important to apply in my personal life. Three stars for that.
- Jacob Schriftman, Author of The Crack Beneath the Worlds
Great ReadingOctober 12, 2008 The Shack is a must read in my opinion. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down until I finished. It helped me to understand functions of the Trinity much better.
I highly recommend this book.
Book Group Read and ReviewedOctober 12, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Wow, is this book hot or what? It seems everywhere I go, people are reading this book. I feel blessed that my book group chose to read this book at this time and have such a stirring discussion; with so many people reading this book, I feel better equipped to discuss this book with Christians and non-Christians alike. This is what came of 15 or so of us talking about what we read.
The book opens with the story of Mack and his Great Sadness, which we quickly learn is related to his daughter's disappearance from a family camping trip three years previous. His daughter, Missy, was never found and presumed murdered based on her bloody clothes found on the floor of a shack in the Oregon wilderness. Then the Great Sadness set in for Mack. His wife and family, including his other daughter Kate, all struggle to return to living life. It is a broken family. One winter day, a note arrives inviting Mack to visit "the" shack, signed Papa, his wife's name for God. Mack, after deciding he wasn't completely crazy, shuttled his family off for the weekend, borrowed a friend's car, and headed for the shack.
It would take many paragraphs to fully describe Mack's time at the shack, so please realize I am going to gloss over so many fabulous parts of the book here.
At the shack, Mack meets Papa (God), who appears as a black woman; Jesus, a Middle-Eastern man with a typically large nose; and the Holy Spirit, who appears as an ethereal Asian lady named Sarayu. Mack shares meals with all three, and he has many one-on-one conversations with Papa, Jesus and Sarayu as he struggles to understand the Trinity and the tragedy of Missy's disappearance and death.
A favorite scene is Mack's meeting with Sophia, the judge. Mack meets Sophia in a cave and there he learns about how he judged God and held onto his pain and anger instead of giving them to God. Mack wasn't consciously trying to judge God but did so by blaming God for not stopping what happened and for not loving Missy perfectly. Haven't we all done that to some degree? Forgiveness was a big theme throughout Mack's weekend as he was reunited with his alcoholic and abusive father (who had been dead for several years) and as Papa helped Mack start on the path of forgiveness for the killer.
By the end of the weekend, Mack finds peace with God and lets go of the Great Sadness. As he leaves the shack he is involved in a serious car accident that hospitalizes him for a month. As he wakes up, he shares his story and experiences with Nan his wife and repairs his relationship with his daughter.
All in attendance at the meeting thoroughly enjoyed this book. The discussion centered around the question, "would you give this book to a non-Christian or new Christian?" There was a split decision there. Many felt the book was a great tool to help people learn more about God and His love and forgiveness and to get people to church and to the Bible. So many of the scenes emotionally resonated with most of our book club readers, which can be a good place to begin in sorting through what one really believes. Others felt, while a good read, it had a very theological tone to it that could mislead people on issues that are often debated (free-will vs. predestination, the Trinity, salvation, the nature of forgiveness, etc). We all agreed that it would be dangerous to read this book as if it is true biblical doctrine and accurate portrayal of some very hard to understand concepts of Christian faith.
Touching, but Far Short of Biblical TruthOctober 12, 2008 This book is touching in its message, but is far short of Biblical truth. The author with great talent weaves a compelling tale about loss, pain, forgiveness and renewal, but in the process departs radically from other Scriptural principles. I was touched by the theme of the book which is experiencing forgiveness. I was saddened however, by the absence of other Biblical concepts, including God's transcendence and majesty. God in three persons has been reduced to two common women and a man.
I'm fully supportive of going "outside the box" to communicate Biblical truth. This title however, goes outside of Biblical truth to communicate a message of sentiment rather than Scripture. I don't recommend it -- new believers should especially be encouraged to avoid it.
Amazing bookOctober 12, 2008 One of the most amazing books I've ever read (and I rarely read fiction). When my wife and I finished the book, we ordered 12 more (to give away to people)....WOW!!
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