A couple weeks ago I finished reading the Shack by William Young. Before too much time passes, I decided I should write up a quick review and share my own two cents about the book and what I took away from it.

I’ll try not to give away the plot or story-line and just share my views of the authors message. I am well aware that this book has caused a great deal of controversy in many denominational churches due to its nontraditional views of God and Christianity. I think that its important to remember that this is a work of fiction. Much of the content is simply a reflection of the authors beliefs (Which may or may not be contextually accurate with specific denominational teachings). This is likely the reason why many churches are condemning the book.  Many people do not like change.  Many churches are not open to hearing viewpoints and opinions that are outside of their comfort zone.  This has always been a major hangup with “religion”.  For decades, churches of have fought over beliefs and theology because they are unwilling to accept the fact that some groups have differing viewpoints.  Many church leaders are extremely stubborn and think their version of Christianity is God’s spoken word.  In many cases its not!  With that being said, lets continue with the review : )

Once again, I”m not going to get too deep into the theology of The Shack.  There are literally hundreds of groups who have voiced their opinions on the so-called “hidden message” of the book.  I don’t even want to begin to break it down and pick out what I believe to be right or wrong.  I’m going to choose two specific points (good & bad)  in the book that stood out to me:

Number One: I found the image of God to be extremely refreshing. For those of you who have not read the book, lets just say that God is not portrayed to be “angel-like” or “heavenly”.  Throughout the book the lead character calls God “Papa” and views him as more of a parental figure.  This certainly tones down the secular view of God as an staunch fisted dictator.

Number Two: One of the lines in the book that really jumped out to me was on page 182 when Jesus says:

” Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims….I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters.”

I found this to be a little bit of a stretch from the beliefs of mainstream Christianity.  I have never studied the religions of the world, so I am in no position to judge what others believe.  I just found this to be a peculiar thing for Jesus to be saying.  I’m sure this topic could go really deep, but I’ll just leave it at that.

Although I hardly ever read fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It kept my attention and got me thinking about religion in general.  I would recommend it as a good read.  It will certainly shake up your view of church and religion.

Enjoy!