Movie The Shack

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Anglewannabe

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First, I will admit, I did not see anything about it. One woman told me it was a movie where God is being portrayed as a black woman. And I am wondering if that is a sacrilidge.

There is something that makes me uncomfortable about God being portrayed as anything but a Jewish man.

Just curious, but is there an official church teacing about this?

Angie
 
Did Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty make you uncomfortable?
 
The movie is based on a book. The book was very popular, but it did have heretical ideas in it.

Dcn. Steven Greydanus of Decent Films reviewed
the movie here: decentfilms.com/reviews/shack

I have a lot of respect for him; he’s very knowledgeable about film, he’s not prone to panic, but is upfront about morally and theologically questionable elements in movies. Maybe you’ll find his review helpful.
 
Anglewannabe said:
One woman told me it was a movie where God is being portrayed as a black woman.
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Well, that woman didn’t know what she was talking about. Don’t rely on second hand sources for inforatmion.

The Holy Spirit is being portrayed by Octavia Spencer. God the Father is portrayed by Graham Greene. And Jesus by Aviv Alush.
Anglewannabe said:
And I am wondering if that is a sacrilidge.
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No. A black woman portraying God is not “sacrilege”.
Anglewannabe said:
There is something that makes me uncomfortable about God being portrayed as anything but a Jewish man.
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But of course, God is not a Jewish man.

Jesus, in his incarnation was a Jewish man. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit are not a man or woman or any other material thing. They are pure spirit. But of course we cannot represent pure spirit so in art they have many representations.
Anglewannabe said:
Just curious, but is there an official church teacing about this?
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No. The Church doesn’t issue doctrinal teachings on who can and cannot play god in a play, movie, book, artwork, etc.

This is a fiction novel, Angie, not a work of theology.

That being said, many attributes of the Holy Spirit are traditionally portrayed as female, wisdom is portrayed as a female for example. So yeah, I can see Octavia Spencer as the Holy Spirit.
 
m.youtube.com/watch?v=tsvwsT8ZY2w

Above is a clip of the Protestant Pastor Ravi Zacharias on The Shack and a conversation he had with the author. One point he (Ravi) brings up is that when allegory is used, it is often used with greatest result when the subjects are far enough apart that no mistake could happen; such as C.S. Lewis using a Lion as allegory for Jesus.

When using something so close, such as the Holy Spirit (sometimes known as Wisdom Biblically) as a female when Wisdom has had feminine reference in scripture is too close. We know that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, as such it is masculine in nature.

Those of less Biblical literacy, or those wanting to promote a certain theology to some who don’t know better might misuse the lack of understanding to their benefit.

So, if someone is knowledgable enough to understand the theological hurdles which are present throughout it is most likely not an issue to read it. Though if someone is not theologically cognizant to the degree which they do understand the differences, it might be wise to approach with caution.

Reading it as a warm story, not a problem. Reading it for theological clarity, probably better choices.

Pax.
 
First, to the 2 posters that provided links. Thank you.
1ke said:
Well, that woman didn’t know what she was talking about. Don’t rely on second hand sources for inforatmion.
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Agreed, that is why I am asking the question here 😉
1ke said:
No. A black woman portraying God is not “sacrilege”.
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Thank you for explaning that
1ke said:
But of course, God is not a Jewish man.
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Yeah, I misworded that. I meant to say Jesus being portrayed as a Jewish man
1ke said:
No. The Church doesn’t issue doctrinal teachings on who can and cannot play god in a play, movie, book, artwork, etc.
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Again, thank you for explaning that
1ke said:
This is a fiction novel, Angie, not a work of theology.
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That is a good point I did not consider
 
1ke said:
Well, that woman didn’t know what she was talking about. Don’t rely on second hand sources for inforatmion.

The Holy Spirit is being portrayed by Octavia Spencer. God the Father is portrayed by Graham Greene. And Jesus by Aviv Alush.

That being said, many attributes of the Holy Spirit are traditionally portrayed as female, wisdom is portrayed as a female for example. So yeah, I can see Octavia Spencer as the Holy Spirit.
Click to expand...
The Holy Spirit is played by an Asian actress.

Both Octavia Spencer and Graham Greene play God the Father.

So the OP heard correctly.
 
KevinAK said:
The Holy Spirit is played by an Asian actress.

Both Octavia Spencer and Graham Greene play God the Father.

So the OP heard correctly.
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I stand corrected, I thought Spencer played the HS.

I still don’t see a problem with it,
 
The book was good to start off with, then it got real bad real fast. I ended up throwing it in the trash. I would personally wait it to come out on CD if I were you.:twocents:
 
I recently saw the movie and thought it was fantastic. As we ALL know God is neither male nor female! God has both masculine and feminine qualities. From what I’ve heard most Catholics have no problem with the movie but I’ve heard that the Baptist’s are very upset about a black woman representing God, the Father. In the process of making the film they got advice from the Daughter’s of St. Paul (a conservative Catholic women’s religious order).
 
esieffe said:
The book was good to start off with, then it got real bad real fast. I ended up throwing it in the trash. I would personally wait it to come out on CD if I were you.:twocents:
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Did it get bad from a fiction point of view it was no longer interesting? Or a moral point of view?
 
ChurchSoldier said:
We know that Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, as such it is masculine in nature.
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I disagree with this assessment. Mary was overshadowed by the HS, not “impregnated”. The HS doesn’t have sperm. Indeed no material body at all. The HS is neither male nor female. Let’s be careful with the term “nature” because the HS does not have “masculine nature” nor any human nature. The HS is pure spirit, divine in nature.
 
1ke said:
I disagree with this assessment. Mary was overshadowed by the HS, not “impregnated”. The HS doesn’t have sperm. Indeed no material body at all. The HS is neither male nor female. Let’s be careful with the term “nature” because the HS does not have “masculine nature” nor any human nature. The HS is pure spirit, divine in nature.
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Dear 1ke,

You are absolutely right.

To use terms like “impregnated” is borderline blasphemous, because it implies a carnality of action that is repugnant to our understanding of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin. It reduces them to the level of Greek myths such as Zeus’ many amatory escapades. 😦

It is customary and traditional to refer to God as male, and to avoid such dubious expressions as “God Our Father and Mother” (horribile dictu!), but we cannot over-simplify and say “The Holy Spirit was masculine”. There is a good section in the Catechism on this subject.
 
Was given to me by a friend…after reading it for a bit…set it aside. Far aside. I do not recommend it (That was years ago so I do not recall much now…I imagine one can find various sound Catholic articles noting the various problems).
 
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