Why ‘The Shack’ Is So Deceptive

If you haven’t yet heard about the book The Shack, you will. Written by a man named William Young, the book is making all sorts of waves, both in Christian and non-Christian circles. For the last several months it’s been hanging around the best seller charts, and it has people talking about how it has transformed their relationship with God. This weekend I decided to grab a copy of The Shack and see what all the hype was about. After reading the book I came away with two conclusions. I believe that William Young was a well intentioned guy who was trying to help people understand God better, and I don’t doubt that some people have been affected by the book. However, the book is full of blatant heresy and really does misrepresent the God of the Bible.

I’m not going to do a full review of the book here. That has already been done very well by Tim Challies. Read Tim’s review. It’s very helpful. I do want to highlight just a few reasons why The Shack is so deceptive. My hope is that when you read the book you’ll be able to think biblically about what’s written.

Intimacy vs. Holiness

Young depicts God the Father as a large, bubbly, Africa-American woman named ‘Papa’ who is always eager to give you a hug and a freshly baked scone, and who wants nothing other than to be in a loving relationship with you. Portraying God the Father at all, let alone as a woman, presents massive theological problems. But there’s something else wrong with Young’s picture of God: it’s all intimacy and no holiness. The theme that runs throughout both the Old and New Testament is that God is completely and totally holy. When Isaiah caught a glimpse of God in the temple he fell on his face and called curses down upon himself. When the apostle John saw the risen Jesus he fell on the ground as though he was dead. Because he is holy and just, God must punish sin. And yet at one point in the book ‘Papa’ says:

I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.

The picture of an intimate, loving God who never punishes sin is an appealing one. But the glory of the gospel is that God is both intimate and holy. On the cross God did punish sin, so that he could show mercy to wicked sinners like me. Now I can call God, the holy one, ‘Father’. That’s the beauty of the gospel, and it’s clearly lacking in The Shack.

Rules vs. Relationship

Throughout the book Young creates a false dilemma between the rules of God and a relationship with God. For example, Sarayu, who represents the Holy Spirit, says at one point:

The Bible doesn’t teach you to follow rules. It is a picture of Jesus.

Well, yes and no. The Bible is all about Jesus, that much is true. But part of following Jesus is making every effort to obey him, empowered by the Spirit and in light of the gospel. 1 John 5:2-3 says:

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

The Bible never drives a wedge between obedience to Jesus and a relationship with Jesus. Psalm 119 is a beautiful testimony to the freedom that comes from obeying the laws of God. Yet the theme of freedom versus rules is repeated over and over again in The Shack.

TO BE CONTINUED…