“The Shack” by William P. Young, as over two-million readers now know, is an allegory which portrays the Godhead as three indivisible persons: an African American woman (think Ethel Waters in the movie and Broadway musical, “Cabin in the Sky”), an ethereal dancer (patterned after George MacDonald’s “grandmother” in “The Princess and the Goblin”) and a folksy carpenter. This tale of horror, guilt, pain, forgiveness and redemption is a blending of suspense and fantasy that mirrors C. S. Lewis’ “Screwtape Letters” from the view of Heaven and the Godhead rather than from the view of Satan and Hell.
The theology is Biblical and spot-on until the nitty meets the gritty and Mackenzie, the main character and father of a brutally slain six-year-old, is told that Christ’s death on the cross means that everyone is forgiven unconditionally and that those who refuse to accept Christ’s sacrifice and forgiveness are not sentenced to some final punishment but simply sentence themselves to a life without full relationship with God in the here and now. In other words the only “justice” doled to the man who raped and murdered his daughter will be whatever is administered here on earth—“God loves all of his children too much” to eternally banish any one of them. Justice is neither here (before death) nor there (after). According to Young's carpenter, Christianity is a man-made system irrelevant to relationship with God or man. Young’s gospel of forgiveness and grace does not include nor require the great commission.
The main message of the book, that it is not in man to judge God and that God’s love will explain it all some day, is valid, but “all things work together for good” only for “those who love Him and are called according to his purpose”. Romans 8:28
Just as an aside, Christian Publishers rejected this New York Times bestseller as too controversial and secular publishers rejected it as too religious. I find myself in the same predicament with my Grit and Grace book. I also take note that Young’s book went through four major revisions after its initial self-publication and limited sales.
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You might also remember that the authors had a business plan how they would sell the book outside of NY publishers. In a sense almost church by church. Today some estimate that 80% of books are being sold OUTSIDE of bookstores. I would also be interested in seeing at least outlines of the first three versions that they made. How did the story change and why?
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