The Shack

The Shack by William P. Young

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Many people had recommended this book to me. Over the course of the last eight months of so I read it aloud to my wife (eight months only because we have little time for reading together - not because the content was disinteresting).



First, the content of this book is really about getting to know God on a personal level. The story - while interesting and funny at points - really revolves around God reaching out to the main character and the relationship that develops between them. It is easy and natural to place yourself in the shoes of Mack - which really turns this into a book of understanding God's attempt to reach out to you. That's not a bad thing - W.P. Young does a good job of making it feel like an entertaining and emotional novel even though it could have been packaged as a Christian "self-help" without drastically altering the content.



The Shack really shines as revealing the loving character of God. While it doesn't come right out and directly answer the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" it does demonstrate how bad events can be shaped into good experiences by God's will - and how despite what occurs to us God loves us anyway.



There were a few spots that troubled me from a theological standpoint. In a fiction novel issues like this wouldn't normally bother me but since a large portion of this book is focused on describing God there were a few points where it seemed like the author's opinion of God preempted God's own description of himself (from the Bible). In a few cases God is depicted almost a bit "hokey" or magical - these bits just didn't sit quite right with me. To be fair - were I to write a book about God's nature I'm not sure I'd capture every detail correctly either.



Overall however I think this book is a success at revealing God's loving nature (though perhaps to the detriment of other aspects of His nature). I would recommend it to anyone who has ever asked the question "If God is good, why do bad things happen?" - though take it with a grain of salt - the big picture view this book paints is superb, but the "devil is in the details" so to speak :)



View all my reviews

The Shack by William P. Young

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Many people had recommended this book to me. Over the course of the last eight months of so I read it aloud to my wife (eight months only because we have little time for reading together - not because the content was disinteresting).



First, the content of this book is really about getting to know God on a personal level. The story - while interesting and funny at points - really revolves around God reaching out to the main character and the relationship that develops between them. It is easy and natural to place yourself in the shoes of Mack - which really turns this into a book of understanding God's attempt to reach out to you. That's not a bad thing - W.P. Young does a good job of making it feel like an entertaining and emotional novel even though it could have been packaged as a Christian "self-help" without drastically altering the content.



The Shack really shines as revealing the loving character of God. While it doesn't come right out and directly answer the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?" it does demonstrate how bad events can be shaped into good experiences by God's will - and how despite what occurs to us God loves us anyway.



There were a few spots that troubled me from a theological standpoint. In a fiction novel issues like this wouldn't normally bother me but since a large portion of this book is focused on describing God there were a few points where it seemed like the author's opinion of God preempted God's own description of himself (from the Bible). In a few cases God is depicted almost a bit "hokey" or magical - these bits just didn't sit quite right with me. To be fair - were I to write a book about God's nature I'm not sure I'd capture every detail correctly either.



Overall however I think this book is a success at revealing God's loving nature (though perhaps to the detriment of other aspects of His nature). I would recommend it to anyone who has ever asked the question "If God is good, why do bad things happen?" - though take it with a grain of salt - the big picture view this book paints is superb, but the "devil is in the details" so to speak :)



View all my reviews

The Shack

Costly Grace

On the one hand, the church had become marked by formalism. That meant going to church and hearing that God just loves and forgives everyone, so it doesn't really matter much how you live. Bonhoeffer called this cheap grace. On the other hand, there was legalism, or salvation by law and good works. Legalism meant that God loves you because you have pulled yourself together and are trying to live a good, disciplined life.

Both of these impulses made it possible for Hitler to come to power. The formalists in Germany may have seen things that bothered them but saw no need to sacrifice their safety to stand up to them. Legalists responded by having pharisaical attitudes toward other nations and races that approved of Hitler's policies. But as one, Germany lost hold of the brilliant balance of the gospel that Luther so persistently expounded -- "We are saved by faith alone, but not by faith which is alone." That is, we are saved, not by anything we do, but by grace. Yet if we have truly understood and believed the gospel, it will change what we do and how we live.

- Timothy J. Keller (in the forward to Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile Vs. The Third Reich - by Eric Metaxes)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

- James 2:14-17 (NIV)

I'm currently participating in a summer seminar on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, moderated by my pastor Darrin Crow. If you are interested in joining in the conversation check out the website/blog

On the one hand, the church had become marked by formalism. That meant going to church and hearing that God just loves and forgives everyone, so it doesn't really matter much how you live. Bonhoeffer called this cheap grace. On the other hand, there was legalism, or salvation by law and good works. Legalism meant that God loves you because you have pulled yourself together and are trying to live a good, disciplined life.

Both of these impulses made it possible for Hitler to come to power. The formalists in Germany may have seen things that bothered them but saw no need to sacrifice their safety to stand up to them. Legalists responded by having pharisaical attitudes toward other nations and races that approved of Hitler's policies. But as one, Germany lost hold of the brilliant balance of the gospel that Luther so persistently expounded -- "We are saved by faith alone, but not by faith which is alone." That is, we are saved, not by anything we do, but by grace. Yet if we have truly understood and believed the gospel, it will change what we do and how we live.

- Timothy J. Keller (in the forward to Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile Vs. The Third Reich - by Eric Metaxes)

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

- James 2:14-17 (NIV)

I'm currently participating in a summer seminar on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, moderated by my pastor Darrin Crow. If you are interested in joining in the conversation check out the website/blog

Costly Grace