Finding God in The Shack examines the controversy behind a bestseller
“If you have ever had a conversation on The Shack, whether with an enthusiast or a critic, you will want to invite this skilled and accessible theologian (Rauser) into the conversation. Before you have read a dozen pages you will know why we need to keep company with theologians. They help us keep our conversations on God intelligent, informed, and irenic.” ~Eugene H. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX—A child is brutally murdered. Her father receives an invitation from “Papa” (God) to meet him at the very shack where this horrific event took place. Upon arrival, he is swept up in the embrace of Papa—a large, motherly, African-American woman. This most unlikely of stories, as told in William Young’s The Shack, has become a runaway bestseller, and it is easy to see why. The book brings us on a redemptive journey through the shacks of deepest pain and suffering in our lives, guided by the triune God of Christian faith. But even as lives have been transformed through this book, other readers have sternly denounced it as a hodgepodge of serious theological error, even heresy. With one pastor urging his congregation to read it and another forbidding his congregation to do so, many Christians have simply been left confused.
In his new book, Finding God in The Shack, theologian and author Randal Rauser takes readers on a fascinating journey through the pages of the story that has ignited the church’s interest in the Trinity, a doctrine that has long been locked away in seminary classrooms. “As a theologian, it is wonderful—if a bit humbling—to witness the Trinity now emerging as a topic of lively conversations at the local coffee shop, and all because of a novel,” Rauser says. “But while those conversations have not typically lacked for enthusiasm and conviction, many of them would benefit from some deeper background as to the theological issues at stake.”
As Rauser explores the intricacies of the plot, he addresses many of the book’s complex and controversial issues. In the process, he explains why God the Father is revealed as an African-American woman, defends the book’s theology of the Trinity against charges of heresy, and considers its provocative denial of a Trinitarian hierarchy. At its heart The Shack is a response to evil, and Rauser offers an honest and illuminating discussion of the book’s explanation for why God allows evil, how the atoning work of Christ offers new hope to a suffering world, and ultimately how this hope extends to all of creation.
Whether they have been inspired, challenged, or even threatened by Young’s novel, Finding God in The Shack is an essential tool for readers who want to better understand the Scriptural truths contained in the book’s message and to apply those truths to their own lives. Each chapter concludes with a set of provocative discussion questions, making Finding God in The Shack an ideal vehicle for small group discussion.
“It is true that The Shack asks some hard questions and occasionally takes positions with which we might well disagree. But surely the answer is not found in shielding people from the conversation, but rather in leading them through it,” Rauser states. “After all, it is through wrestling with new ideas that one learns to deal with the nuance and complexity that characterize an intellectually mature faith. The Shack will not answer all our questions, nor does it aspire to. But we can be thankful that it has started a great conversation.”
My Thoughts:
It's interesting how circumstances in one's life can lead us to look at books differently depending on when we read them. When I first read The Shack, I was reading it with an eye toward our church library and the fairly conservative bent our staff has for choosing books. So I struggled with some of the more "interesting" choices in the book with regards to the Trinity, etc. I just reread The Shack last week, only this time I read it for myself. A very good friend of mine had brought up the book and how much she loved it and I received an email inviting me to read this book which examines The Shack and so I felt led to give it another chance. I'm really glad I did!
What changed for me was the chance to read the book with an open mind, remembering that it is fiction and not a theological discussion. It gave me a chance to hear God (Papa) speak of his love for us. It gave me a chance to drop my guard a bit. And this book, Finding God in the Shack, gave me a chance to look deeper at the issues that had concerned me in the first reading.
The author looks carefully at the issues that have been controversial about this book and, while it is clear that Rauser is a fan of the book, he speaks to the criticism respectfully. I think my favorite statement in the book comes early on as he challenges readers of The Shack to not dwell in the controversy, but to be glad for the conversations that have come about because of it. I know I have had some interesting conversations with my friends about faith and God's love all because they had picked up copies of the book.
If you want to be able to address the issues of The Shack, pick up a copy of Rauser's Finding God in the Shack.
