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The Shack
Josh Crain | Blog

Book Review: The Shack

07/30/2008 07:59 PM Filed in: Book Review
the-shack
I recently finished reading William P. Young’s The Shack. I don’t read a lot of fiction and, to be honest, I find much Christian fiction in particular to be painfully bad in many cases. But after the recommendation of a few friends and some glowing reviews on Amazon.com, I decided to give it a shot.

For those who don’t want to read on, here’s my one line review: I can’t recommend The Shack highly enough. Buy it and read it.

It basically felt like I was reading my theology in narrative form (which is rare). I don’t want to give too much away, but The Shack centers on a man named Mackenzie who’s daughter is abducted and murdered by a serial pedophile killer. Young pulls zero punches in his portrayal of raw evil and the paralyzing affects it has on us. Mackenzie is an empty shell of the man he once was and what he calls the Great Sadness has almost completely enveloped him as a human being. It is in the depths of this deep pain that Mackenzie is invited by God to spend time together in the very shack where his daughter was murdered.

The vast majority of the novel covers the three days that Mackenzie is engaged in healing conversation with the Triune God: the Father (who appears as a large African American woman with a hearty laugh and a motherly sense about her), the Son (appearing as a 30-something middle eastern man), and the Holy Spirit (appearing as an Asian woman with a hilarious sense of humor).

The portrayal of the triune God in The Shack is both beautiful and scripturally faithful. As Mackenzie sits around the dinner table with the three persons of God, he is astounded at the love they have for one another and the peaceful and respectful conversation that is common. The love that is contained within God is put on full display in The Shack, at least insofar as a human author can portray an all-loving and all-powerful God.

As many of you know, rectifying God’s goodness with the evil in this world is an extreme passion of mine. I worked for years to understand a providential model of God that was both biblically faithful and philosophically satisfying. While Young doesn’t share every facet of my own beliefs, we are very close on most of our theodicy. For instance, here is an excerpt from a dialogue between God the Father and Mackenzie on page 185:

Mack, just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn’t mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don’t ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn’t depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.

It is excerpts like this that lead me to give this book my highest possible recommendation. If you struggle with finding God in the middle of your pain, pick it up. If you don’t struggle with that, but you enjoy a fantastic novel that will inspire, pick it up. The Shack is phenomenal.

Finally, I want to make a brief note. I’m a self-admitted softy, but I teared up many, many times while reading this book. It might be best to read in the privacy of your home and not in a public place. Unless, that is, you want people pointing and laughing at you. Of course, some of us don’t mind that.

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