Pastor Earl's Blogs
Friday, March 20th
The Shack
I just read a book called ‘The Shack’. I am wondering if anyone reading this blog has read it, email if you have.
The Shack is a fictional story of a man who experiences an enormous tragedy, how it affects him and how an encounter with God helps him deal with that tragedy. I am sure it is written to help people try to understand how God can know about really bad things and not do anything to stop them from happening. The book has become a best seller.
The author did an excellent job of catching and keeping my attention. In fact, there were portrayals of the persons of the Trinity, the unity of God, prayer, heaven and the state of the human heart which were fascinating.
Unfortunately, fascinating description should not be accepted as reality. I am disturbed with the way the author develops who God is.
One huge problem with this book is that it describes God as ONLY love. The work completely lacks any description of the holiness, righteousness, justice or sovereignty of God. It is a comment on the lack of Biblical knowledge when I read recently that a pastor was leading a ‘Bible study’, using only The Shack.
A full knowledge of who God is very important, for individuals and the church. The Bible is the specific way God has given us the fullest way to know Him in this life time. Yes, we can learn about God through nature, humanity, etc, but, all that we learn from these must be understood alongside what the Bible shows us about God.
I do not suggest you read The Shack, unless you do so with a mature Christian friend who you can go to the Bible with. The two of you will undoubtedly be as challenged as I was to better understand God and how he deals with us, especially in times of tragedy.
Pastor Earl
Reader Comment: Instead of not reading this book at all, would it be applicable to read this book with the outlook that it is showing the love side of God? Just because the book doesn’t look at all aspects of who God is doesn’t mean that we may not be able to learn about one of the attributes of God’s many sides.
Pastor Earl: Good point for those secure in their faith already. Sometimes I am too much of a didactic thinker, not ‘story and experience.'
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