Rev 19:13 “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.' God's Word is so intricately tied to His being that Jesus is actually called “The Word.' Many false religions and cults have sought to redefine God according to their own imagining, apart from what He says in His Word. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thought' (Also read Psalm 119 and 1 Cor 2:12-14.)īut The Shack reduces God's unfathomable attributes down to human levels without scriptural backup. Is 55:8 9 “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. That is a hallmark of church movements today that view God's Word as secondary to experiential, subjective truth.Īs human beings, we have no capacity to comprehend our infinite God apart from what He reveals to us through the Holy Spirit and His written Word. So what could possibly be wrong with that?įirst of all, Young almost totally dismisses any relevance of Scripture, referring to the Bible as “words on piece of paper.' Really? God's Word just words? (John 1:1) Careful.

He shows us a view of a loving God who heals every hurt and rights all wrongs. Plagued by the brutal death of his young daughter, Mack finds himself struggling with dejection, disillusionment, and universal questions that cause him to doubt everything-including God.Īnd Young does a masterful job of framing the ageless questions, and crafting heartfelt responses on God's part that have tremendous emotional appeal. The strong appeal of the The Shack is that it presents a loving, caring God personally intervening in the life of the main character, Mack, in order to address and heal “the great sadness in his life. But deception that is subtle is all the more dangerous.Ģ Cor 11:14 “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.' The problems in The Shack are no doubt subtle. the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.' Deception is a hallmark of the last days:ġ Tim 4:1 “. . . When the disciples asked Jesus specifically about the last days, the very first thing He said to them was, “See to it that no one misleads you.' Mark 13:4-5.

But on closer examination, we find The Shack presents a very subjective, incomplete, and distorted view of God and His relationship with man. At first glance many find it to be a masterfully written Christian book. Young, is a book we do not recommend reading.

We believe that the measure of a good book is not the results it brings, but its scriptural accuracy.

The shack william p young