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 The Shack is just a metaphor November 6, 2009
Mary P. Anthony
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Because I have long since stopped jumping on any Christian bandwagon, I waited a year or so before reading "The Shack" by William Paul Young. It had been recommended by my daughter's Pastor who said it was a book about Grace and Forgiveness. That sounded safe enough. But I could tell it had really dug deeply into his soul. So, I bought copies and handed them around, maybe to get some feed back?? John commented on this, and often asked why I hadn't read it yet. Maybe I let myself get distracted by a gypsy time away from home, a disquieted restlessness of spirit that drove me to the brink of exhaustion, or just time spent as a hovering mother, and an ever solicitous grandmother. So much to learn, look at, try my hand at, and understand in this technology-driven matrix we live in.
I couldn't stop reading "The Shack" once I started, and have been rereading it since. Not that it's become like a bible textbook. Oh no. It's an outside-the-box book for an inquiring Christian like myself, who once devoured Philip Yancey's book, "The Jesus I Never Knew". I'm not devouring this one. It's too dense, and too simplistic. But it has uncovered old wounds once delivered by members of Christ's own Body, the Church. The whips were in the hands of performance-driven addicts in His Name, and the lashes were publicly shown to compound our shame and guilt, the dark fruit of living in the Old Testament.
Then, to further aid my understanding, I was given a copy of the author's testimony on CD. That will also take many hearings. He began by reassuring his audience that this story was only a metaphor. This Greek word means "to transfer", to carry. Writers use symbolic transference of meaning from one thing to represent another. (CS Lewis used the figure of Aslan to represent Jesus.) Suddenly it became clear to me that the real story behind the story was far more compelling, and it definitely filled in the blanks. The author needed to hide his pulsating pain under metaphorical wraps after he had stumbled out of his shack to be healed.
William Young was a church kid, an MK, and a PK. He was raised by dedicated parents on the Mission field in New Guinea, but that was also where he was unwittingly initiated into the sexual rituals of a primeval cannibalistic culture. These stone age people became his surrogate family, guardians and teachers, and he often overheard them talking about killing his parents. He didn't know he was a WASP, and thought he was black like them for many years. He had in fact, been raped, his childhood innocence ripped from him like Missy's torn dress, and he had to lead a double life, hidden beneath the slick veneer of a Christian superstar, for many years in the church world. His marriage survived, his kids thrived and he has been revived. Those can only be called miracles of God's grace, and underscore the powerful lessons of the book.
The Shack isn't a theology rewrite, but a cross-cultural testament for wounded Christians, of which I am one, and there are many more like me. The shack is a symbolic place where the author runs headlong into God, and is transformed from an angry, judgmental doubter into a loving, forgiving believer. The story line isn't important here, neither is the literary style. What is transferred to us from the metaphor are imaginative conversations with God, in three distinct Persons, and that is where the trouble begins. This is not a new teaching on how to understand the Trinity. That is too great a mystery for us to take on. Augustine has handed that one down for us in excellent form. But Young approaches God on a very personal, earthy level, which may seem disrespectful to many Christians. However this must all be translated back into the realm of the author's imagination, as it became for him, and for some of us, a denouement, and the catharsis of his struggle to "keep the faith".
Well Worth the Effort to Read November 5, 2009
V. B. Sizemore
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I almost bypassed this book as its genre is Christian fiction, much of which I find insipid and boring. However, I'm glad I took my friend's advice and read this book. Some will find it affirming, others inspiring, and still others deeply disturbing or completely irrelevant. What this book gave me were some interesting ideas to ponder about the nature of our relationships with God and with each other. The theme of forgiveness is very prominent and caused me to question my own motivation and how successful (or not) I've been in forgiving others. This book was of average craft, but if you can get past that, it puts forth some thought-provoking ideas. Don't read it until you've got time to really analyse what Young suggests about our relationship with God, and this, for me, was a 10-tissue book. Highly emotional on many levels.
the shack...great book November 5, 2009
Dina Carrigan (new jersey)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is one of the best books I've read. It has mystery, faith and love. I could see this as a blockbuster movie.
Great read! November 4, 2009
Jason Bertran Blackmon (Newport, RI USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you want something fun and interesting that will keep you interested, pick up this book!
A surprise in many ways November 3, 2009
Just Maggie (Tampa, FL USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was a pleasant surprise. I don't know what I was expecting when I first started reading it, but it touched me on many levels. I am a theology student, and although I wouldn't call it a theological masterpiece, I do think that it explained the Holy Trinity in a way that will help a lot of people to get a better grasp of what it truly means. This is not a small achievement! At times the story was heart-renching, yet it also showed a healing that can only come through God. God is all-loving and all-powerful and if we let Him, He is to each of us what we really need Him to be. He never forces Himself on anyone, but is always inviting us into relationship with Him. He is always there for us...all we have to do is ask. The book was a very simple read and it may never be listed with great works of literature, but I think that it is a book that would benefit most people who take the time to read it. It is one that I have recommended/given to others and will continue to do so, but if you are like me, keep a copy for yourself because it is one of those books you will want to reread.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 3849
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