Review of The Shack by William P Young

A novel that is creating a lot of excitement, especially among Christians, "The Shack" by William P. Young provides probably some of the most powerful pictures of God that I have ever experienced. The Shack has been compared to Pilgrim's Progress by Eugene Peterson - author of 'The Message' Bible, but I think that it has the potential to be every bit as powerful as Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ". In fact, I'd love to see Mel do the movie exactly as it has been written. We all thought we understood the story of the Crucifixion from the Bible until we saw the movie; putting The Shack on the big screen would bring God from some distant dimension in space directly into our circumstances.

No doubt there are those in the ministry who would criticize, even demonize the book, claiming that it focuses on God's love and ignores His justice. It's not true. Some claim that Jesus says in The Shack that many roads lead to God - and neither is that true. You have to read the context to properly understand the statements the characters make. Christians take scripture out of context all the time to justify their positions.

I have started re-reading The Shack, this time highlighting passages that speak to me where I am in my spiritual journey. If nothing else, I have developed a better understanding of God's love and can better understand the answer to the question, "Where is God when it hurts?" Of all the books written to explain how God is relevant in our generation, The Shack does the best job.

Because we're all at different stages on our spiritual journey, I won't ruin the story for you here. Read the book and come back and tell us what you think. It's a winner in my book! I will say that this is a work of fiction; it was written for the author's children. Each reader must decide for themselves. For me, I felt like God was speaking to me directly.


(If Mel does the movie, he should star as Mackinzie. Morgan Freeman did a wonderful job as God in Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty, so he should play Papa.)