Posted by Helen on: 08.19.2008 /
I’m fascinated by how popular The Shack by William P. (”Paul”) Young has become.
I read and reviewed it back in April when my friend Pam Hogeweide kindly gave me a copy. As I mentioned in my review, I didn’t think it’s especially well-written. However I can see that Christians might find some of the concepts in it powerful and encouraging.
Is it possible that this book, written by a father who is not a trained Christian leader for his kids, is able to achieve something that isn’t being achieved by churches and sermons and other Christian messages by professional Christians? Or is the controversy selling the book? A number of conservative Christians have criticized the underlying theology and imagery in it. Or maybe both?
I was interested to hear a recent radio interview with Paul which also featured Pam Hogeweide and Bob Hyatt. I love hearing the background behind a book - what the author’s life has been like and why he wrote it. In this case it’s fairly straightforward: Paul wanted his children to understand that God passionately pursues them and wants to heal them from the inside, which is what his experience with God has been. And he doesn’t want them to think of God as an ‘old white guy’. And the book is all about relationship.
What Paul seeks to convey in his book seems to have struck a chord with a great many people. I’d love to see Christians, especially those whose role is sharing Christian concepts with others, asking “What can we learn from the popularity of The Shack?” I’ve seen a lot of analysis of the book, especially whether it’s theology is ‘correct’, but I don’t recall seeing that question.
Comment by: Wes Roberts
1 08/19/08 8:42 AM | Comment Link |…thanks for this post
…one of my thoughts has long been that because “it’s not especially well written” becomes some of it’s appeal
…no slick crafting here, which IS good some times…but not all the time
…thus, a tale/story is produced that more people can relate to
…all the fuss of the theology and writing has amused me
…it’s a story, for crying out loud, not a rewriting of the Bible
…one I think Abba/Papa/Father (..whatever one may call our Creator God…) enjoyed in helping spread the mystery of all God’s possibilities
…in our circles, the Spirit of our God, has used this tome in some startling and life-giving ways that have me asking the critics to relax and ask the Trinity “What do You want me to learn of You as Father, Son, and Spirit?” A good daily exercise for us all…and we may just be surprised how and where the Triune shows up in our own lives…should we all that. :-)
Comment by: Wes Roberts
2 08/19/08 8:43 AM | Comment Link |…oops…….
…mean to say “…should we allow that.”
Comment by: Helen
3 08/19/08 10:41 AM | Comment Link |Thanks for your comment, Wes. I also have wondered why people take so much issue with the theology in a novel. But in the radio interview Paul said in a sense everything is theological - we’re always dealing with theology as we live our lives and ask questions and think about things - so, yes, the book is theological, since everything is.
I’m glad you’ve found The Shack helpful.
Comment by: benjamin ady
4 08/19/08 3:19 PM | Comment Link |I’m rather convinced the Shack is so popular because it’s message is somehow very freeing to a lot of Christians, perhaps especially in America.
I think a *lot* of people in this country grow up/spend their whole lives immersed in a … culture that subtly cements a very very … boring, patriarchal, and “correct” version of God. By “correct” here I mean that the culture subtly *shouts* that this is the only correct/proper/orthodox blah blah blah view of God.
I think Young has managed to create a … readable … counterforce to that whole mess. It’s like there was this door that existed in all these people’s lives with a title something like “The possibility that God is altogether different than the dominant culture insists”. The door was more or less locked by the culture within which they grew up. Young has mass produced a key, and sold it at a relatively low cost. Of course a lot of people are getting pissed off/freaked out by that. They think it’s dangerous or evil or some other negative word for people to open that door.
So let ‘em sound off. But that’s not why it’s selling. It’s selling because humans *like* to unlock doors which have been closed to them. It’s in our nature.
BICBW.
Comment by: Helen
5 08/19/08 4:56 PM | Comment Link |Benjamin, I love the wonderful word picture you used to describe what Paul Young’s book does for people.
I think you could well be right.
My sense about the book is not that it’s heinously unorthodox but that it emphasizes aspects of orthodoxy that have tended to be underemphasized within much of Christianity.
Whenever someone finds and highlights something that has been missing there tends to be a big response from those who see and and realize “That’s what was missing all along!”
Maybe what was missing was behind the locked door you referred to all along. The God who is fun to be around, who makes you feel good about yourself and happier to be alive, who is sensitive enough to what you’ve been through to avoid pushing your individual buttons.
Who is shockingly non-white and non-male, horrifying some and delighting others.
Comment by: Peter Walker
6 08/21/08 9:19 PM | Comment Link |I’m fascinated by the general success of crappy writing. Like The Da Vinci Code before it, The Shack reminds me of how meaningless the term “Bestseller” is when it comes to picking literature.
I do like the idea of a black, female God but c’mon… can’t we do better than this? Another example of what easy-sells the Evangelical audience is (just like our “Positive, Encouraging” music on Christian radio).
Sorry, that sounds awfully cynical and maybe a little too judgmental. If a non-Christian wrote it, I’d probably be more gracious, but I lose patience with my “fold.”
Comment by: Helen
7 08/22/08 6:39 AM | Comment Link |Peter it bothers me when people set the bar too low and claim someone is a great novelist or composer when in fact there’s much better out there.
However in the case of this book I haven’t come across anyone claiming it’s awesome from a literary point of view. The author is clear that he just wrote it to convey something to his children; I’ve never heard him claim to be a gifted writer. And I think Pam mentioned the writing as an issue when she gave it to me so I was forewarned.
Exactly.
I would have thought so, but if the church was doing better I don’t think this book would be selling like it has been.
In spite of the writing quality, I’m impressed with the way Paul Young depicts God. The black female God is superficially shocking, but there’s a depth and power to his wordpicture of the Trinity - the way they interact with each other and with humans. Few people have depicted God as so likeable. His gift isn’t writing but I think he does have gifts that came into play as he sought to create a wordpicture of God that conveyed what he wanted to convey.