Jun

20

‘The Shack’ - Q&A

June 20, 2008 |

Posted by ben hind · Filed Under Books 

Does the book promote universalism?
No. Jesus explains this very clearly that although people ‘come into a relationship with Him’ from every different religion, there isn’t many roads to God. As He says, ‘most roads lead nowhere’. But then again it’s a bit confusing as He says that He doesn’t want anyone to become Christians… but surely coming into a relationship with Him is what Christianity is about?

Does the book devalue Scripture?
The book doesn’t seem to devalue scripture, but put a different emphasis on how to read scripture. It shows contempt for reading the bible to try and follow a list of rules, regulations and principles it contains. But rather that we should be reading the bible to see how God relates to people and show us how we can better relate to Him. I think this is a false dilemma as I wouldn’t pick one over the other.

Does the book have a very negative view of Seminaries and the Church?
From my impression, yes. The main character, Mack, was said to have been to Seminary, but it didn’t seem to do much for him (if anything at all). I did sense that all the topics discussed in the book between God and Mack would have been brought up in Seminary with counsiderable more depth… but it seems Mack didn’t learn anything about God in Seminary. Odd. The church is mainly depicted as another religious institution which the author doesn’t seem to like one bit. Jesus says He didn’t come to setup a religion or an institution, but to get people back into relationship with God. I agree up to a point… but surely we shouldn’t be throwing the baby out with the bath water as what seems to be happening in the book.

Does the book distort or redefine the Trinity?
The book does a good job as explaining the Trinity as one God in three persons, and God has two natures human and divine. Very orthodox. But the hangup people have with it is where God the Father is an african-american woman, not an old white-skinned long-bearded man. The book explains that God is spirit and so does not have a gender, but that God chooses to use the term ‘he’ because it helps people relate to Him better. In this case, God the Father chooses to reveal Himself as a woman because Mack can’t relate to God as the ‘Father’ because of his bad past experience with his own father. It’s merely God personifying Himself to Mack, later He changes into an old man with a pony tail though. I can understand why, but I don’t think the bible gives us licence to relate to God in feminine terms.

Does the book have a very negative view of hierarchy, authority and political systems?
Yes! It cannot be stated more bluntly than that. God is shown to have a very negative view of any hierarchy, political system, or anything to do with someone having authority over someone else. Though God seems to be understanding as to why we have systems in place to ’survive’, He doesn’t like it. It doesn’t say God wants these systems to be over-thrown, but that through our relationship with God things will eventually change (?). In the system but not of the system. It seems to be promoting some sort of Christian-anarchy. I don’t whole-heartedly disagree with that, but I don’t think things are that simple.

Does the book deny sin and following Gods law?
It has firmly in place the fact that Jesus died for our sins, and so we do not face condemnation, or the need to feel guilty or ashamed. Which I’d agree with. But it doesn’t seem to give a very clear picture on how we go about avoiding sin in the first place. The major emphasis is on being in a loving relationship with God, without having to follow rules, laws, or even principles. I don’t know where I stand with this, it’s a bit of a grey area for me.

Is the book heresy, which could damage peoples faith?
I don’t think it is. At the end, it’s a novel… fiction. It is clear that the book contains the authors opinions on what God thinks about certain issues and how He wants to deal with problems people have. I don’t think you can take it as theology, but rather read it like you’d read any fiction. It may contain elements of truth, but in the end it is only the authors opinions. If you want to take issue with it to the point where you don’t think anyone should read it, then you should be consistent and not read anything apart from the bible. As everything has elements to it that can be false, whether we know it yet or not.

Did it change your life as many have claimed it might?
Actually, it didn’t. I found it very touchy-feely and already knew a lot of what the book talked about. This is probably because I don’t like fiction, but would rather like a good book on theology. I can see how it would help people who need to see God in a more intimate way who can identify with the guys problems. But it didn’t do a lot for me unfortunately.


Comments

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

FireStats icon Powered by FireStats