The Shack in Christian Readers

Sep 12, 2008 Fenixbird SandS marked it as to-read

Shelves: wanna-buys, fiction

quotation excerpts from book....".........Forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive. But should they finally confess and repent, you will discover a miracle in your own heart that allows you to reach out and begin to build between you a bridge of reconciliation.........Forgiveness does not excuse anything.........You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times.." ...more

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Nov 18, 2009 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

This was an amazing book-truly answered many questions for me. Although the accuracy to the Bible should be taken very lightly, this is a read everyone should check out!

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Dec 31, 2009 Katherine Coble rated it did not like it

I'm reading this on sort of a bet. I told my mother I would read it if she would read one book in the Harry Potter series. She lived up to her end of the bargain, so now I must do mine. I really don't like much religious fiction, but I'm trying to go into this as open-mindedly as possible.
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I'm done now. This was the most singularly awful reading experience I've had in the last decade.

It reads like an extended raunchy joke ("A Mammy, a Rabbi and an Asian Gardener walk into a shack..."), but I'm reading this on sort of a bet. I told my mother I would read it if she would read one book in the Harry Potter series. She lived up to her end of the bargain, so now I must do mine. I really don't like much religious fiction, but I'm trying to go into this as open-mindedly as possible.
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I'm done now. This was the most singularly awful reading experience I've had in the last decade.

It reads like an extended raunchy joke ("A Mammy, a Rabbi and an Asian Gardener walk into a shack..."), but this time the laugh is on the reader.

Theoretically this book is to open your eyes at a new way to have a relationship with God. But all it does is replace the old stereotypes--a man in a white beard and long robe--with new ones. Magic Negro, anyone?!? Instead of truly examining actual mysticism it merely suggests you shuffle the deck to come up with a new hand to describe God.

The first quarter of the book was passable and read with easy familiarity for anyone who has seen two or three Law & Order:SVU episodes. But when Mackenzie Phillips (I kid you not, that is the man's name) goes to have a deep relationship with his Papa (again, I kid you not) in the Shack it becomes this dreadfully mawkish combination of a minstrel show combined with a really long episode of Harold And The Purple Crayon. William P. Young, the author who considers himself to be now so enlightened that he goes by his middle name, Paul, has managed to cram all the usual bits of fantastical lore long familiar to readers of L'Engle, Dickens, Lewis as his New Century Vaudeville Trinity flies through the imagination in an attempt to gain spiritual understanding.

My mother is in love with this book now that Eugene "The Message" Peterson claimed it was this generation's Pilgrim's Progress--vomit, I shall. She would have a heart attack if she knew how closely it resembles many New Age teachings and how much of a debt it owes to the LSD culture.

Of course, as a devout Christian mystic myself, I had many of my own issues with the book beyond its sloppy Godhead. True mysticism is the attempt to know the Divine through communication and study. In the journey of mysticism one learns that the truth is always more remarkable than our mind could have dreamed. Somehow William P'aul' Young has found a lesser truth peopled with insulting jokes and parlayed that into a new and bastardised form of communion.

I found the book grotesque and disturbing, facile and mocking. I'm just so very sorry that so many people think this feeble thing is remarkable. Then again I suppose God is bigger than even one lousy book and if God can talk through Balaam's ass then perhaps God can work through this piece of crap book.

Nevertheless I plan to beg everyone I meet to read something else instead.
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Jun 24, 2008 Wanda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Oh my goodnesss! What a book! I had been wanting to read this, and fianlly got the chance yesterday and would have finished it last night if my eyes would have held up! They go so blurry I had to go to bed and finish it this morning. If you have not had a chance to read this book, find the time and do it! Every one of us have lost somebody very close to us at some point in our life. The past few years I have lost several. This year alone, I lost a nephew, 25 years old suddenly and very unexpecte ...more

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Mar 29, 2009 Kathie rated it it was amazing

Brilliant book and filled with healing. We were going through our own grief in losing a daughter at the time I was given this and was hesitant to read it but so glad I did. I truly believe this book has helped me through my own personal grief and taught me a great deal. Loved it and highly recommend it.

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Jan 11, 2010 Ted Rohe rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

I have not read all the theological, philosophical and literature reviews on this book. I have only read a few. I knew some of the issues. From reading it I can understand some of the concerns. There are some views or ways of stating things that I do not agree with, but I think overall this book does a great job of introducing some of the difficult and basic doctrines and theological issues into understandable teachings. The story is captivating. I don't think it is the greatest fiction righting ...more

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Oct 24, 2008 Shane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: religion

If you only read one book in 2009, make sure it is The Shack. I know that is a very strong statement, but I promise it is one you will quickly understand once you start reading it. This book has stretched me in ways I'm not able to describe yet. It has given me an entirely new perspective on my relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit that has already had a very deep effect on my life and will continue to for the rest of it as well.

If you like C.S. Lewis's writing style then you will def ...more

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Apr 03, 2010 Marliss Bombardier rated it did not like it

Shelves: christian-fiction

I read this because I wanted to be able to talk intelligently about it when I told people exactly what is wrong with the theology of this book. The most egregious error is that there are not four entities in the Godhead. I am afraid this book has seriously mislead immature Christians.

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Apr 20, 2009 Sue rated it it was ok

This was a very disconcerting book. In some ways I appreciated viewing God in a way I had never thought about before, however, ultimately I found the portrayals a bit too much....

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Nov 20, 2008 James rated it liked it

This was an interesting story/parable about a man in a emotional and spiritual crisis following the kidnapping and murder of his daughter. Mack meets the Trinity and learns of the care and concern that God has for him and his family.

Some people have quibbled about whether or not this booked envisions God accurately and certainly it does not do it perfectly. But it does produce a vision which is challenging and comforting(even if there are points where I would disagree). This book isn't the bibl ...more

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Oct 10, 2008 Kaye rated it did not like it

Shelves: never-finished, religious_fiction

I wanted to like this book, truly I did, but the horrible and unrealistic writing killed it for me. Supposedly, it has a great message and is revolutionary in its depiction of God, but I barely got to the shack itself before I just gave up on the whole thing. If you liked books such as "Way of the Peaceful Warrior", you may enjoy being pushed to a certain idea, absent of any realistic characters. ...more

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Oct 26, 2008 Caroline Hogan rated it it was amazing

This book is going to cause you to see the Trinity in a new and glorious way. It is difficult to read at times and I had to suppress my sobs more than a few times! But I found peace and joy as well. I would give anything to be in that shack, even for a little while.

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