Yesterday I received my fifth request for an assessment of the novel, The Shack. But I'm at semester's end (getting grades turned in) and gearing up to teach an intensive class daily during the month of May. So it'll be June before I can think about reading fiction again.
So it's up to you to tell me.
If you've read it, what did you think?
And why?
Sunday, May 04, 2008
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11 comments:
Mary, you're not alone.
I did have a few minor quibbles with theology (unclear about Jesus' divinity, as Mary mentioned--although to his credit, often in the gospels, Jesus does speak about His power coming from the Father, appears to be at least mildly inclusivist--follows C.S. Lewis here, and downplays God's transcendence in favor of the relational aspect--but you see people in the Bible interacting with God both ways, so I don't have a problem here). He used a lot of allegory that you can't pin down, so the theology I gave some room.
My main problem was that I felt the writing was bad for about the first half of the book. If not reading it for a friend, I would've put it down about five pages in. My problem with this: it sends the message that good art doesn't matter as long as it conveys the message.
You can read more at my blog post about it.
Thank you both for the info. Very interesting.
I so wanted to like the book. But the view of God is tritheism (God is portrayed as three people, not one God in three persons), the view of Christ is Nestorian (Jesus is a human empowered by the Holy Spirit), the view of salvation tends toward pluralism, and the view of theology is dismissive and pejorative. The story is emotionally compelling and engaging, albeit pretty uncreative (the reader knows from the very beginning how things will turn out).
I wonder if the endorsers read the book before giving their support. How could anyone seriously compare this to the work of John Bunyan?
My extended family got me a copy and tells me that this book changed their lives.
I have yet to read it, but I am disappointed in Peterson's comparisons to Pilgrim's Progress after reading some reviews.
The most thorough review I have read is Tim Challies', and I tend to trust most of what he says (and he has problems with theology of it).
Link to that review: http://www.challies.com/archives/
book-reviews/the-shack-by-
william-p-young.php
Mark Driscoll also has some interesting comments:
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=pK65Jfny70Y
You and I are just way too busy. I miss talking to you.
I had a close girlfriend recommend this book. I really wasn't too intrigued by it, until it started becoming something that I heard others wanted to do "Bible study" about - which I thought was rather interesting. I'm about halfway through the book (which isn't really the best written book I've ever read), and I agree with Mary - there are some theological issues that bug me just a bit (especially the one she mentioned). However, there are a few other "explanations" of God, that I did like and thought were succinct. It would be a book that I would hesitantly recommend. As far as Bible study, I would like to actually point others to the Scripture so that they can see what God says about Himself - not man's interpretation.
Miss you too, Rhon.
Thanks, everybody, for some great comments. Thanks especially to Kreider, who teaches grad-level theology classes and knows a thing or two on the subject.
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