There is a book that is number nine on USA Today's Top 50 list with over 500,000 copies sold in less than one year. The author, William Young, tells the fictional story of Mackenzie Phillips, a father whose child Missy was abducted and brutally murdered while they were together on a camping trip. In his grief and guilt journey, he receives a letter from God (a real letter in his mailbox mind you). In that letter "Mack" is invited by God to meet Him at the very cabin where his little girl was murdered. Mack, who struggles with a grief called "the Deep Sadness," is angry with God and is seriously wavering in his already weak faith. Thinking he was about to meet the sick killer, whom he thought was luring him to the cabin, he takes his gun but in the back of his mind truly hopes the letter is from God.

More than likely the success of this book is largely attributable to the vast American Christian market where fictional books that attempt to make a theological impact abound (a la "This Present Darkness" and "The Prayer of Jabez"). The problem with such material is that (sadly) we believers lack the maturity to sift through the error and, yes, even heresy such books teach. Oh sure, it is a fictional novel. But out of such things emerge doctrinal positions that are skewed away from the clear teachings of the Bible. This is the case with "The Shack."

In the cabin Mack meets God the Father played by an African-American woman named "Papa" who is quick witted, playful, and a great cook. He meets the Holy Spirit, played by Sarayu, an ethereal like being who runs around with an aura about her (or is it him?). He meets Jesus, played by an Al Borland-like carpenter (sic) who wears a flannel shirt and works in the wood shed. The rest of the book is about the theological journey these three take Mack on to explain to him the problem of pain and the hope that is to come.

The book is rife with error and full of sacrilege. I highly recommend that you do not waste your money. It is a very corny effort at humanizing the trinity and in so doing maximizes the heresy. The character and nature of God as revealed in the Word is tossed out with reckless abandon. It is a violation of the first and second commandments as it portrays God in such ridiculous ways. It is a clear cut effort to redact Biblical revelation to serve the emotional fetishes of "Mack." My advice? Don't waste your time on such immaturity.

Thoughts?

In His Grip,
Dr. Chuck Betters