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| Pixlr edited photo from trekearth.com: Cambridge |
Wikipedia: The Shack (Book)
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'The Shack is a novel by Canadian author William P. Young, a former office manager and hotel night clerk, with no theological experience; published in 2007.[1]'
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'The title of the book is a metaphor for "the house you build out of your own pain", as Young explained in a telephone interview.[5]'
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'The main character is Mackenzie Allen Phillips...'
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'Two of his children are playing in a canoe when it flips and almost drowns Mack's son. Mack is able to save his son by rushing to the water and freeing him from the canoe's webbing, but unintentionally leaves his youngest daughter Missy alone at their campsite. After Mack returns, he sees that Missy is missing. The police are called, and the family discovers that Missy has been abducted and murdered by a serial killer known as the "Little Ladykiller". The police find an abandoned shack in the woods where Missy was taken. Her bloodied clothing is found, but her body is not located. Mack's life sinks into what he calls "The Great Sadness".'
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'Mack's family leaves to visit relatives and he goes alone to the shack, unsure of what he will see there. He arrives and initially finds nothing, but as he is leaving, the shack and its surroundings are supernaturally transformed into a lush and inviting scene. He enters the shack and encounters manifestations of the three persons of the Trinity. God the Father takes the form of an African American woman who calls herself Elousia and Papa (Papa is also the name of the mother goddess in Polynesian mythology); Jesus Christ is a Middle-Eastern carpenter; and the Holy Spirit physically manifests as an Asian woman named Sarayu.'
'The bulk of the book narrates 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 each of them. Mack walks across a lake with Jesus, sees an image of his father in Heaven with Sarayu, and has a conversation with Sophia, the personification of God's wisdom. At the end of his visit, Mack goes on a hike with Papa, now appearing as an older white male, who shows him where Missy's body was left in a cave.'
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'Mars Hill Church pastor Mark Driscoll criticized The Shack, saying "it misrepresents God"[12] and called William P. Young "a heretic".[13] Evangelical author Chuck Colson wrote a review called "Stay Out of The Shack," in which he criticizes the attribution of "silly lines" to characters representing the three Persons of the Trinity, and the author's "low view of scripture".[14] R. Albert Mohler, Jr. called The Shack "deeply troubling" on his radio show, saying that it "includes undiluted heresy".[15] Apologists author Norman Geisler and William C. Roach published a critique in 2012 detailing their 14 points of theological disagreement with the book (including "unorthodox", "false", "classic heresy", "non-rational", "psychologically helpful ... doctrinally harmful", and "very dangerous").[16]'
'Theologian Randal Rauser has written a generally sympathetic guide to The Shack in his companion volume Finding God in the Shack (Paternoster, 2009). In the book Rauser responds to many of the objections raised by critics like Colson and Mohler.'
Wikipedia: The Shack (Film)
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'The tragedy shatters Mack's faith and life until he receives a mysterious telegram signed by "Papa" (which is Nan's name for God) inviting him to come to the cabin. Reluctantly accepting, Mack travels there and is overcome with rage and suicidal thoughts, until he meets a mysterious trio of strangers who seek to help him understand, heal and forgive. In the book, Missy's kidnapper is caught. In the movie, he is not. There also is a opening scene showing the father's horrid abuse of the family when Mack is a boy, thus giving us an idea of how the story started.'
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I have discussed online fictional themes and the problem of evil in other entries. However, it is not an academic focus and in the case of The Shack, the unorthodox Trinity, will confuse many persons. This is more troubling than for example, the problem of evil discussion from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice where there is no attempt at Christian theology.
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BOICE, JAMES, MONTGOMERY (1981) Foundations of the Christian Faith, Downers Grove, IVP Press.
ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
FEINBERG, JOHN S. (1994) The Many Faces of Evil, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
