“contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3 NKJV)

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11 NKJV)

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV)

William P. Young’s The Shack, a Christian fiction book, is a New York Times best seller with well over a million copies in print. Right now, The Shack is #8 on Amazon’s bestseller lists. The book is quickly becoming a hit especially among students and those who are part of the Emergent Church.

Eugene Peterson, author of The Message has predicted that The Shack “has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!” Patrick M. Roddy (Emmy Award Winning Producer of ABC) declares that “it is a one of a kind invitation to journey to the very heart of God. Through my tears and cheers, I have been indeed transformed by the tender mercy with which William Paul Young opened the veil that too often separated me from God and from myself.”

There are currently 102 Amazon reader reviews for The Shack and remarkably 93 of the reviewers have awarded it five stars. Many website and blog’s are turning up with a near-unanimous and enthusiastic praise for the book. Examine some of the customer reviews from Christian Book Distributor: (emphasis mine)

(5 out of 5 stars) if you don’t have time to read…a great book to listen to!! Especially if you love the Holy Trinity!!

(4.5 out of 5 stars) “The Shack”, well written and introspective, really speaks to the question….What is Love, and also answers the question….GOD is love.

(5 out of 5 stars) I cannot find the words to express what my spirit felt while reading this book. The anointing was extremely strong. I have always had a hard time trying to visualize what heaven must be like. This book gave me a glimpse that I will not ever forget. Also I have grown much closer to Papa (Abba Father).

(5 out of 5 stars) Great book and read wonderfully. I felt like I was Mack. I could not wait to finish the book. It answered many questions I had concerning the Trinity. I laughed, I cried, I have been changed. My heart is softening to God’s love.

(5 out of 5 stars) I had read the book and loved it. When I saw that it was available on audio I couldn’t wait to hear the passages from the book that I couldn’t quit thinking about. If you think the book is impacting the audio will blow you away. You feel like you are the one laying on the dock with Jesus or sitting on the porch with Papa. I think everyone who has ever had a questioned salvation should hear this book. You won’t have any questions when you are done.

The Shack relates a message from Young’s personal experience in an attempt to answer some of life’s biggest questions such as “Who is God?” and “What is salvation?”, since, according to Young, his seminary training just did not provide answers to many of his burning questions. In 2005, Young says that he felt God whisper in his ear that this year was going to be his year of Jubilee and restoration. Out of that experience he felt lead to write The Shack. According to Young, much of the book was formed around personal conversations he had with God, family, and friends (pages 258-259). He explains that the main character “Mack” is not a real person, but rather a fictional character used to communicate the message in the book. However, Young does admit that his children would “recognize that Mack is mostly me, that Nan is a lot like Kim, that Missy and Kate and the other characters often resemble our family members and friends” (page 259).

Basic Story of “The Shack”
Mackenzie Allen Philips’ 6 year old daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back for a weekend to the very shack where his daughter was killed. “I’ve missed you,” it says. “I’ll be at the shack next weekend if you want to get together. Papa. (who is supposed to be God the Father) (page 19)” Grieved with the death of his daughter and the possibility that the note might be from God, Mack packs his bags and heads for the shack.

When Mack arrives at the shack, the winter scene around it transforms into a mystical mountain paradise, perhaps meant to be heaven itself. Now dwelling in the shack are three mysterious figures— a “large beaming African-American woman”, a “Middle Eastern and was dressed like a laborer, complete with tool belt and gloves”, and a small Asian girl named Sarayu —who reveal themselves as God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (pages 80-87). The rest of the book is basically a discussion between Mack and the “supposed” three persons of the Trinity. After trying to reconcile his seminary training with this new encounter with God, he concludes that what he had learned was of no help.

Problems with “The Shack”
The main point of The Shack’s message is this: forget your preconceived notions about God and the Bible, and realize that God chooses to appear and communicate to us in whatever form we personally need.

A. Rejection of Traditional Christianity
Beneath the surface of The Shack is a rejection of traditional Christianity (page 179). Mack claims that traditional Christianity did not solve his problem. Even his Seminary training didn’t help him (page 63). The Shack insists that Christianity has to be revised in order to be understood, reminiscent of McClaren’s Emergent Church book titled, Everything Must Change.

B. Experience Trumps Revelation
The Shack communicates that the solutions to life’s basic problems come from personal experience and not Divine revelation (Holy Scripture) (pages 80-100). While biblical truth is alluded to, it is not the authoritative basis of the message. In the final analysis of The Shack, it is experience that is used to interpret the Bible, instead of the Bible being used to interpret experience. This leads to a denial of a fundamental teaching of Protestantism.

C. Rejection of Sola Scriptura (The Bible Alone)
In determining matters of faith and practice, The Shack rejects the sole authority of the Bible. Rather than finding wisdom and comfort from the Word of God, Mack finds all he needs to cope with the tragedies of life from extra-biblical voices. Young rejects what “In seminary he had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture…. God’s voice had been reduced to paper…. It seemed that direct communication with God was something exclusively for the ancients…. Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that ‘guilt’ edges.” (page 63). The foundation of our faith is grounded on the firm foundation of God’s holy Word. “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:15-17 KJV).

D. Unbiblical View of the Nature and Triunity of God
The Shack has an unbiblical view of the Trinity. God appears as three separate persons (in three separate bodies) which seems to support Tritheism in spite of the fact that the author denies Tritheism (”We are not three gods”) and Modalism (”We are not talking about One God with three attitudes”-p. 100). According to Young, the unity of the triune God is not in one essence (nature), as the orthodox view holds, but rather it is a social union of three separate persons. Besides the false teaching that God the Father and the Holy Spirit have physical bodies (since “God is spirit”-John 4:24), the members of the Trinity are not separate persons (as The Shack portrays them); they are only distinct persons in one divine nature. Just as a triangle has three distinct corners, yet is one triangle. It is not three separate corners (for then it would not be a triangle if the corners were separated from it). The doctrine of the Trinity states that God is one in essence, but has three distinct (but inseparable) Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

E. Unbiblical View of Punishing Sin
The Shack claims that God does not need to punish sin. He states, “At that, Papa stopped her preparations and turned toward Mack. He could see a deep sadness in her eyes. ‘I am not who you think I am, Mackenzie. I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It is not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it’” This is a bad representation of the true God of the Bible, Who is not only loving and kind, but holy, just, and righteous. He will not let sin go unpunished. The Bible says of God that He is “…of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness.” (Habakkuk 1:13 NKJV) and that “God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies… Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him.” (Nahum 1:2, 6 NKJV). Scripture warns that everyone is guilty in His sight and that unless they are saved by the gospel God will justly judge them and cast them into the lake of fire (Romans 3:10; Hebrews 9:27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 21:8).

F. False View of the Incarnation of Christ
The Shack has a false view of the person and work of Christ. “When we three spoke ourself into human existence as the Son of God, we became fully human. We also chose to embrace all the limitations that this entailed. Even though we have always been present in this universe, we now became flesh and blood” (page 98). The Bible does not teach that the whole Trinity was incarnated. Only the Son was (John 1:14). Deity did not become humanity, but rather Jesus, the Second Person of the Godhead, assumed a human nature in addition to His divine nature. Neither the Father nor Holy Spirit (who are pure spirit–John 4:24) became human, only the Son did.

G. Wrong View of Salvation
The Shack has a false view of the doctrine of salvation. It promotes a wide-sweeping inclusivism whereby virtually anyone through virtually any religion can be saved apart from Christ. According to Young, “Jesus [said]…. ‘Those who love me come from every system that exists. They are Buddhists or Mormons, Baptist, or Muslims, …and many who are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institution…. Some are bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christians, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa….’ ‘Does that mean…that all roads will lead to you?’ ‘Not at all…. Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you’” (page 184).According to Young, Christ is only the “best” way to relate to the Father, not the only way (page 109). However, the Bible says “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 KJV), “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6 NKJV), and “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5 KJV). The real Jesus of the Bible is the only way to God and heaven because He is the perfect sinless sacrifice for sin. Through this He propitiated (calmed and satisfied) God’s righteous anger and wrath against sin and sinners. No other religious figure or philosophy is good enough to pay our fine.

H. The Father Suffering?
The Shack also contains a classic heresy called Patripassionism (Literally: Father Suffering). Young claims that God the Father suffered along with the Son, saying, “Haven’t you seen the wounds on Papa [God the Father] too?’ I didn’t understand them. ‘How could he…’ ‘For love. He chose the way of the cross… because of love’” (page 165). Scripture makes it very clear that it was Jesus alone who “suffered” for us on the Cross. Speaking of the Father’s role at the cross, the Bible says “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him” (Isaiah 53:10 NASB). It was the Father who was pouring His wrath on His Son for us. It pleased Him because this was the only way in which God could lovingly save us and not compromise His justice. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NASB). The Father treated Jesus as if He was sin itself in our place, though He knew no sin, so that He may give us Christ’s righteousness.

Conclusion
The Shack may seem fictional fun to many but it is clearly harmful to all who are exposed to it due to its compromising of Christian truth and doctrine. For anyone lacking a good knowledge of the Scriptures this book is very dangerous. It unmistakably undermines the gospel. Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Seminary, calls it “undiluted heresy.”

Former “New Ager” Warren Smith says, “The Shack is being described as a Christian novel and is currently ranked number one on the New York Times best-seller list for paperback fiction… The book conveys postmodern spiritual ideas and teachings that challenge biblical Christianity…Author William P. Young’s alternative presentation of traditional Christianity has both inspired and outraged his many readers. All the while his book continues to fly off the shelves of local bookstores…I was drawn into the ‘New Age Movement’ years ago by books and lectures containing parabolic stories that were not unlike The Shack. They felt spiritually uplifting as they tackled tough issues and talked about God’s love and forgiveness. They seemed to provide me with what I spiritually needed as they gave me much-needed hope and promise. Building on the credibility they achieved through their inspirational and emotive writings, my ‘New Age’ authors and teachers would then go on to tell me that God was in everyone and everything.”

Not surprising, The Shack by William P. Young has been widely accepted in postmodern churches. The Shack offers no standard for right or wrong, so there’s no real need for Biblical repentance. It fits right into the popular vision of an all-inclusive, non-judgmental, unbiblical lukewarm church. “So how do I become part of that church?” asks Mack. “It’s simple,” answers the counterfeit “Jesus.” “It’s all about relationships and simply sharing life… being open and available to others around us. My church is all about people, and life is all about relationships.” (page 178).

The Shack offers a heretical view of the Trinity, a false view of God, a bogus way of salvation, and a totally counterfeit Jesus. It also promotes a unbiblical view of authority and truth: “Authority, as you usually think of it, is merely the excuse the strong use to make others conform to what they want…. We carefully respect your choices….” (page 103).
“‘Are you saying I don’t have to follow the rules?’…”‘Yes. In Jesus you are not under any law. All things are lawful.’ “‘You can’t be serious! You’re messing with me again,’ moaned Mack. “‘Child,’ interrupted papa, ‘you ain’t heard nuthin’ yet.’… “‘…enforcing rules [says Sarayu] …is a vain attempt to create certainty out of uncertainty. And contrary to what you might think, I have a great fondness for uncertainty. Rules cannot bring freedom; they only have the power to accuse.’”(page 203)

“Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims…. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters.”
  –The Shack’s “Jesus.” (page 182)
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Resources: All Material is Based on the Following
1. The Shack: Helpful or Heretical? A Critical Review by Norman L. Geisler and Bill Roach
2. The Seductive and Subversive “Shack” By Jan Markell
3. Deceived by a counterfeit “Jesus” By Berit Kjos
4. Thirteen Heresies in The Shack-By Dr. Michael Youssef
5. Dr. Mohler on The Shack
6. www.christianbook.com
7. www.theshackbook.com

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