BOOKS: The Shack by William B. Young

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I read it. I liked it at first, but I didn’t like the author’s ‘version’ of God and Jesus. I thought it was very out there, but my sister LOVED it. I recommended it to her, when I was halfway through, but as I bore through the book…it just lost me somewhere. I did not like the main character’s attitude. I mean, this is God talking to you, and you act like you’re hanging out with a pal at the bar or something? I thought the book was too flip. Written well, but not my cup of tea, in the end. It disappointed me, because it got rave reviews, and it was good…up to a point, you know?

But, I did not like the labyrinth of new age christianity…I agree, it really was an interpretative work on the author’s part, but so much of literature is. I think it was touching in some ways, made me think …but not at all what I had been expecting.:o
 
whatevergirl said:
I read it. I liked it at first, but I didn’t like the author’s ‘version’ of God and Jesus. I thought it was very out there, but my sister LOVED it. I recommended it to her, when I was halfway through, but as I bore through the book…it just lost me somewhere. I did not like the main character’s attitude. I mean, this is God talking to you, and you act like you’re hanging out with a pal at the bar or something? I thought the book was too flip. Written well, but not my cup of tea, in the end. It disappointed me, because it got rave reviews, and it was good…up to a point, you know?

But, I did not like the labyrinth of new age christianity…I agree, it really was an interpretative work on the author’s part, but so much of literature is. I think it was touching in some ways, made me think …but not at all what I had been expecting.:o
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i agree. i didn’t like the author’s version of God and Jesus either. i already know who God and Jesus are and that doesn’t go with my version. flip is a good word to use. i tried to find more information about the author to see if he is a christian, what church he belongs to, etc., but i wasn’t able to find a lot. he is canadian. i think it is popular with people who want to be able to think that christianity can be whatever they want it to be as far as a female God, etc. i didn’t get too far once the scenery started changing and the shack went from dilapidated to looking nice. then the 3 people began appearing and it lost me from that point on.
 
7_Sorrows said:
i agree. i didn’t like the author’s version of God and Jesus either. i already know who God and Jesus are and that doesn’t go with my version. flip is a good word to use. i tried to find more information about the author to see if he is a christian, what church he belongs to, etc., but i wasn’t able to find a lot. he is canadian. i think it is popular with people who want to be able to think that christianity can be whatever they want it to be as far as a female God, etc. i didn’t get too far once the scenery started changing and the shack went from dilapidated to looking nice. then the 3 people began appearing and it lost me from that point on.
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You didn’t miss much. lol:o
It went into scenes where the main character (spoiler for some, sorry!) sees his deceased daughter, and he makes peace with the ‘great sadness.’ Now,I did like that description of the Great Sadness. I think we all can attest to heavy crosses we have carried on our own, not allowing Jesus to help us. I think that was the gist of the book–that the main character sort of abandoned his faith in God, but when he went through the shack experience, he came to terms with his daughter’s death, and realized that he needed Christ to carry his cross. But, I don’t believe in making up versions of God/Jesus to appeal to the masses. There is absolute Truth, and I think the author wanted to just appeal to anyone, without becoming too ‘religious,’ you know? I think he is non demon…ugh, I can’t remember now if I checked him out, but I think I did. I thought of Oprah too while reading it! LOL That’s interesting.

Well…you know, I usually don’t read ‘religious’ books non fiction or fiction, that gets two thumbs up by the NY Times, because typically they only review non Catholic books. I’d give it a 5 on a scale from one to ten. 7 for the writing, but 5 for the plot.
 
yes, i could relate to “the great sadness” that someone would feel after experiencing heavy loss.

he did seem to be appealing to a universal audience and not someone who holds traditional truths about God and Jesus that is for sure.

i was surprised after i saw what this book was about that it was displayed at a catholic bookstore. it seems more protestant or non-denominational fiction to me.

thanks for sharing your thoughts about the book. now i am glad i didn’t finish it.
 
it looks like my thread was combined with another one which is okay. i figured there had to be a thread somewhere about this book.

i am glad to see that there are people who heard of this book and feel the same way i do about it - it is heretical. i just thought it was plain silly.

i am not sure what kind of a christian background the author has, but this book is not something i would recommend to anyone who takes his faith seriously.

i am glad i didn’t waste my time finishing the book, but i just could not bring myself to go further than chapter 5.

someone said they are making a movie about this book. i was afraid that was going to happen. i wonder who the director will be.

for those who want to define what they want christianity to be, i guess this is book is for them.
 
I have heard that there has been a lot of controversy in this book by William Young “The Shack”. I would like everyone to know that I grew up and both my husband and I have continued in our Catholic faith all our lives. I LOVE this book so much that I would like for everyone I love to read it. I have told several people about the book hoping that they too will read it. Remember…this is a book…it is not real…it is a story. It’s not intended to take things out of context with the Bible. I have read the whole Bible from front to back and I’m reading it again for the second time. That within itself changed my life. If you want to know God read the Old Testement…then read the new one to get to know Jesus and the holy spirit. What “The Shack” does is try to explain to people the true meaning of the Father, Son and Holy spirit which the Catholic church has been trying to teach for years with readings, sermons etc. The Shack puts it more in a simple form by a story to grasp the meaning of that more. So as not to spoil it for anyone that has NOT read this book. I’m telling you, it will make you a better person by reading it and you will realize that the holy trinity is with us ALWAYS just as everything written in the Bible. God’ s promise is that he will never leave or forsake us…but we have to BELILEVE it…not just say it. It’s that SIMPLE !! I also want to remind people of the book “Joshua” that was written by Joseph P. Girzone ( a retired Catholic Priest) . The Shack is on the same wave length as that particular book. And…if you have never read his books…you need to read all of them too !!! Enjoy the book (The Shack) for what it is…to teach us all about GOD’s LOVE, forgiveness, relationships, loving one another and above all…trust in our Lord. May God Bless each and everyone who reads this book. …Skithy
 
I just read “The Shack” for next month’s book club at our Parish…supposedly a very popular book among Christians. I did NOT LIKE IT AT ALL. Is it just me??? :o
 
Does anyone recommend a Catholic book to read instead of The Shack? Thanks
 
First off I would like to point out that the above named author of The Shack is by William Young.

What I don’t understand is why someone that has read the book can be the judge that it’s not right for anyone else to read.

I belong to the Crossings book club and pick books that spark my interest enough to read that particular book. I don’t like violence, dirty language or explicit sex in any of my books. I like books that give me encourage, hope, love and make me feel good about the story behind it.

Joshua by Joseph P Girzone ( a retired priest) was an incredible book along with all the other ones he’s written and I have recommended them to many people that felt the same way as I did. I have been a Catholic since birth and I love that I am Catholic and continue to practice my faith…but I don’t believe that I’m better than anyone else who beleives in God…and I will let God be the Judge.

May God Bless !!
 
Geremia said:
Does anyone recommend a Catholic book to read instead of The Shack? Thanks
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I just finished The Shack, and enjoyed some parts (one man’s attempt to visualize the Trinity, the emphasis on forgiveness) but found many parts misguided at best (aversion to any rules or hierarchy, lack of Satan despite a screaming need for it storywise, wishy washy watered down make-your-own-morality). I agree that those not solid in their Catholic learning should avoid it given its one-sided view of religion.

To answer the question above, though, The Shack has inspired me to pick up two favorites by C.S. Lewis (who wasn’t Catholic but was very, very close): The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce. Both use imaginitive fiction to make profound, orthodox points more clear–rather than using imagination to avoid confronting those points, as is the case in The Shack.
 
Rubicon said:
To answer the question above, though, The Shack has inspired me to pick up two favorites by C.S. Lewis (who wasn’t Catholic but was very, very close): The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce. Both use imaginitive fiction to make profound, orthodox points more clear–rather than using imagination to avoid confronting those points, as is the case in The Shack.
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Excellent recommendations, both! And I would add to that Lewis’s novel Till We Have Faces, which taught me a couple of major spiritual truths and helped to get me through a very rough time in my life.

No need to water down theology when we can have perfectly sound doctrine and good literature at the same time! 👍
 
I am reading the book, and I find it ironic that the author bashes organized religion when (perhaps without knowing it) he has clearly drawn so heavily upon Catholic Tradition to understand and explain the Trinity. How does he think doctrines like the Trinity were developed in the first place? The author’s inclination toward New Age beliefs about morality, and his impoverished view of the Church and history are reminiscent of the views of Dan Brown as expressed in the DaVinci Code. Christ established His Church with leaders to whom He gave His own authority. The Church is hierarchical by the will of God. A personal relationship with Christ does not eliminate the demands of the eternal moral law; God’s grace simply makes it possible to live a holy life in imitation of Jesus (“Take up your cross daily and follow me”). I hope this book does not deceive too many people.
 
I have read the book two times then went and listened the the author speak about his tesimony. He is a true inspiration to me. this is a Fictional book people. It is his way of telling a story how he has come though a difficult time in his life and found God back in his life. This book was never written to be a “thology” book.
I will say reading it ,was book challeging and inspired some beautiful thoughts about how God loves His people. I also found myself relating to some of the profound thought’s about what we do as people…that help in self presevation but keep us from truly seeking God’s will for our life.
So In the respect this book was met to be… a fictional account of how this man worked though tough times and allowed forgiveness in his life is good.
This book is not to ever take the place of the Bible…it is FICTION…so in that it is a great book and makes your redefine one’s thoughts how how we relate to the Almighty…It is A111111 in my book!
 
I have recently read this book, on a recommendaton from a Priest. Keeping in mind that it was FICTION, I read it like I read most novels, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I also heard this past weekend at a church retreat that one of our Priests spoke positively about this book in one of his recent homilies. I am disappointed that I wasn’t at that Mass.
 
coranewf said:
I have recently read this book, on a recommendaton from a Priest. Keeping in mind that it was FICTION, I read it like I read most novels, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I also heard this past weekend at a church retreat that one of our Priests spoke positively about this book in one of his recent homilies. I am disappointed that I wasn’t at that Mass.
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I would just like to point out that two extremely anti-Catholic books, The Davinci Code and The Golden Compass, are also fiction. Something’s being fiction does not necessarily make it innocuous. Many authors use fiction to teach principles, including two of my favorites, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. It’s another way we learn, and whether we realize it or not, it shapes our world view. I appreciate that many of the members here have posted the major doctrinal problems with the book, which are dangerous (even presented in fiction) to those who do not know their faith.

So for those Catholics who were able to read this work of fiction guardedly, having a firm foundation in good Catholic theology, and take from it something meaningful, that’s wonderful. But that does not mean this is not a work that remains threatening to the core doctrines of the Faith. Being fiction does not make a work neutral.
 
For anyone who is interested I have copied a link to a forum…an entire large forum dedicated to this book. I have tried to copy a link to one of the sub forums but it will not let me, so all I can say, is click on this, go to the bottom of the page. Click on ‘interactive’, and then click on ‘Shack Forum’. Then look for a sub forum that discusses the ‘theology’ of the book. Yes…theology.

search.isp.netscape.com/nsisp/boomframe.jsp?query=The+Shack&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Dfaa2218b917f0631%26clickedItemRank%3D2%26userQuery%3DThe%2BShack%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Ftheshackbook.com%252Fwillie.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSISPResultsT%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheshackbook.com%2Fwillie.html

I do hope this works for anyone who wants to check it out.
 
😉
Geremia said:
Does anyone recommend a Catholic book to read instead of The Shack? Thanks
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Another good Christian trilogy by C.S Lewis is Perelandra, Out of the Silent Planet, and That Hideous Strength.
I also enjoy Michael O’Brien’s book Father Elijah, a thriller about a priest who is given the mission by the Pope to confront the Antichrist and try to convert him.
I read the Shack and didn’t think much of it, but it does offer a fresh take on religious matters - maybe it will move some readers to look into Christianity. The author seems to be saying that evil is simply a lack of education, and if we just love the child molesters enough they will convert and end up in heaven. There are certainly no sins that God does not forgive, but Jesus was pretty hard on those who harm children.
The character of Jesus in the novel was embarrassing - not the man in the gospels. And the book Jesus said he never set himself up as a model to follow – but we are to be imitators of Him.
 
deeder33 said:
A Protestant friend gave it to me to read and says that it is true to the Bible’s teaching.
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That should have raised a red flag. I know your friend is your friend, but Protestants tend to give Catholics and other non-Protestant folks books filled with heresies and false doctrines. They LOVE to try to do this. I don’t know why.
For the most part, I see nothing wrong with the book. I have noticed a few things that seem a little shady to me being a Catholic (hierarchy/papacy, once-saved-always-saved mentality, confession of sins between you and God alone, implying there are no ‘rules’ to follow).
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Well if it includes Protestant ideologies, I’m not going to even pick it up.

Old Catholic proverb: Satan mixes truth with lies in order to confuse men.
The book really stresses how limited humans are and that if every one has a relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit you wouldn’t need rules, hierarchy, etc…which to me makes sense–but because we have these human limitations, rules are in place for our own good.
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Rules, laws, and commandments exist to teach man how to have a relationship with God and with one another, not becuase of human limitations. This is why Jesus commanded us to love one another, to do unto others as we would have others do to us, to be holy just as God is holy, etc.

A book stressing human limitations sounds like a book trying to discredit authority and knowledge. If it works for Protestants…
 
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