My Response to "The Shack"

The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity, was published in 2007, and it has nothing to do with the basketball player, “The Shaq” Shaquille O’Neal.  Author, William P. (Paul) Young, originally wrote it for the members of his family, and once written it grew quickly into a New York Times bestseller.  At the time of the writing Young was a former office manager and hotel night clerk, with no theological training.  

Classified as a “Christian Novel” it has received wide support from various Christian personalities and institutions including singer Michael W. Smith; Eugene Peterson, author of the Bible version, The Message; Today Show host Kathie Lee Gifford; Man vs Wild star, Bear Grylls; nationally syndicated radio host, Delilah Rene; comedian, Jeff Foxworthy as well as many church leaders.

Plugged In, a ministry of Focus on the Family reviews The Shack  by saying: “The Shack delivers significant messages about God in a world desperately looking and longing for answers. Does this story provoke valid, even significant theological concerns? Clearly, it does. But just as Mack was led in the film to discover more about God in his Gideon Bible, hopefully movie goers will respond the same way to the big-screen adaptation of The Shack.”

In sharp contrast Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY says, “The theology of The Shack is not incidental to the story. Indeed, at most points the narrative seems mainly to serve as a structure for the dialogues. And the dialogues reveal a theology that is unconventional at best, and undoubtedly heretical in certain respects.”

Conservative theological apologists Norman Geisler and Bill Roach conclude, “The Shack may do well for many in engaging the current culture, but not without compromising Christian truth. The book may be psychologically helpful to many who read it, but it is doctrinally harmful to all who are exposed to it. It has a false understanding of God, the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, the nature of man, the institution of the family and marriage, and the nature of the Gospel. For those not trained in orthodox Christian doctrine, this book is very dangerous.” 

The novel begins, when Mackenzie Phillips, or “Mack”, supernaturally receives a note in his mailbox saying "Papa", wants to meet with him at “The Shack” on the weekend.  Mack suspects it may be from God because his wife Nan refers to God as "Papa".  Meeting at The Shack is significant because it is the place where his daughter was abused and murdered.

Mack, a married father of three children took his family on a camping trip. Two of his children are playing in a canoe on a lake when it flips and almost drowns his son. Mack rushes into the water and saves his son, but leaves his youngest daughter Missy alone at the campsite. 

When Mack returns, Missy is gone. The police later reveal Missy was abducted and murdered by a serial killer and her bloodied clothing was found in an abandoned shack (“The Shack”) in the woods, but her body was not located. Mack's life sinks into what he calls "The Great Sadness".

Mack arrives and initially finds nothing, but as he is leaving, the shack and its surroundings are supernaturally transformed. He enters and encounters manifestations of the Trinity. God the Father takes the form of an African American woman who calls herself Elousia and Papa; Jesus Christ is a Middle-Eastern carpenter; and the Holy Spirit is an Asian woman named Sarayu.

The bulk of the book records Mack's conversations with Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu as he comes to terms with Missy's death and his relationship with the three of them. Mack also has various experiences with these persons which causes him to rethink his understanding of God and life.

After spending the weekend at The Shack, Mack leaves and is nearly killed in an automobile accident. After his recovery, he realizes he did not, in fact, spend the weekend at a shack. From the information gained in his experience, Mack leads the police to the cave Papa revealed, and they find Missy's body. The forensic evidence, causes her killer to be arrested and put on trial.

So what does the Bible have to say on the subject?  The basis of our understanding must come from the warning found in 2Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 

Today, thousands of people are turning away from the truth of God’s Word and turning toward fables, made-up stories, like The Shack.  Fables are replacing Scripture in our seminaries, Bible colleges and even in our churches.  Many pastors are replacing expository sermons with heart-felt stories in defiance of preaching the word.  These fictitious, experience based stories lead people to a targeted emotional response while planting seeds of confusion and twisting the truth.

Didn’t Jesus use parables and stories?  Yes He did, and if we use the same stories the same way, we can too.  Jesus told those stories knowing what the people were thinking and knowing how they would respond to them.  He was both, fully God and fully man, not as The Shack claims, that Jesus was on earth only in His human power and human limitations.

Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Peter wrote, “Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Peter 1:15-16  

There are several areas where The Shack qualifies as a cunningly devised fable, but here are three related core issues:  First: The Shack, says Jesus is, “the best way any human can relate to Papa or Sarayu.” Did you catch the error?  What does “the best way” imply?  Right, “the best way” is not the same as the only way.  The “best way” means there are many ways people may choose to relate to God, but among all the various ways to relate to God, Jesus is the best.  

Is this what the real Jesus said?  “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  Does this sound like there is any other way?  How about Acts 4:12 which says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  So is Jesus the best way, or the only way?

Second: Almost any path leads to salvation.  In The Shack, the character playing Jesus says, “Those who love me come from every system that exists. They are Buddhists or Mormons, Baptist, or Muslims, ...and many who are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institution...  I have no desire to make them Christians, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa...” “Does that mean...that all roads will lead to you?” ... “Not at all.... Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.” 

This statement implies the first teaching, “most roads lead to God” and brings in a second, “Either a path leads to God or it doesn’t lead anywhere.”  This error is exposed when examined in the light of Matthew 7:13-14, where the real Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”   John 3:36 teaches, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” Telling people who are traveling a path leading to hell, “Most roads don’t lead anywhere” is lying in the worst possible way.

Now we arrive at a third false teaching: “Sin is not punished.”  The character playing God the Father, called “Papa” says, “I am not who you think I am, Mackenzie. I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It is not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.”  Clearly, God loves to cure sin, but The Shack was confused about the paths leading to God and what happens at the end of the wrong path (nothing), now The Shack teaches sin is only like a disease which devours from the inside.  It refuses to acknowledge Hell is an external reality.

In contrast Romans 6:23 warns, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  In Revelation 20:11-15 we are taught about the final judgment to come: “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Should you see the movie or read the book, The Shack? Or Young’s next book, Eve? Ephesians 5:6-7 says, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.” Don’t read their cunningly devised fables which allows their lies to take you from the truth of the Bible.