The Shack

I just finished The Shack by William P. Young.

I actually did like the book but I read it from the standpoint that it was basically pure fiction. I wouldn't call it Christian fiction either.

The book did have some good discussion on forgiveness and there were a few other passages that I thought were pretty good as well.

On page 97 "God" is talking with the main character of the book. He tells him that living unloved is like clipping a bird's wings and removing its ability to fly. That isn't something that He wants for us. The main character doesn't feel very loved though. "God" says that pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly and that if left unresolved for long enough you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place.

On page 147 they are talking about fears. The main character asks why he has so much fear in his life. "God" says to him because you do not believe. You don't know that I love you. The person that lives by their fears will not find freedom in my love. I am not talking about rational fears but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe that I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it, you talk about it, but you don't know it.

I like those two passages and I do think there is some truth there.

The author does take a LOT of liberties in the book and said some things that I totally do not agree with at all. I don't know that this book would be good for a new Christian as it could be very confusing.