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"Mack" Philips took his three children on a family camping trip while his wife visited her sister. Just as they were about to leave the campsite, the two older kids decided to take a last canoe ride before heading home. As their canoe overturned, and Mack went to help them, his back was turned and the unspeakable happened. Mack's youngest daughter,Missy, was abducted by a known child predator. After a massive search, evidence of Missy showed up at an abandoned cabin. Although they never found her body, everyone knew the worst had happened. For the next four years "a great sadness" fell over Mack and his family, until a note from God showed up in his mailbox. What happens next will move you to a greater understanding of God's unfailing love for us all.

Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in this midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change his life forever.

Wm. Paul Young was born a Canadian and raised among a Stone Age tribe by his missionary parents in the highlands of former New Guinea. He suffered great loss as a child and young adult and now enjoys the "wastefulness of grace" with his family in the Pacific Northwest.

Eugene Peterson says this book is as good and as important as The Pilgrim’s Progress. Well, it really is not. It is neither as good nor as original a story and it lacks the theological precision of Bunyan’s work. But really, this is a bit of a facile comparison. The Pilgrim’s Progress, after all, is allegory—a story that has a second distinct meaning that is partially hidden behind its literal meaning. The Shack is not meant to be allegory. Nor can The Shack quite be equated with a story like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe where C.S. Lewis simply asked (and answered) this kind of question: “What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?” The Shack is in a different category than these more notable Christian works. It seeks to represent the members of the Trinity as they are (or as they could be) and to suggest through them what they might teach were they to appear to us in a similar situation. There is a sense of attempted or perceived reality in this story that is missing in the others. This story is meant to teach theology that Young really believes to be true. The story is a wrapper for the theology. In theory this is well and good; in practice the book is only as good as its theology. And in this case, the theology just is not good enough.

Because of the sheer volume of error and because of the importance of the doctrines reinvented by the author, I would encourage Christians, and especially young Christians, to decline this invitation to meet with God in The Shack. It is not worth reading for the story and certainly not worth reading for the theology. -- Tim Challies

Average Rating:

8 of 2012 Reviews Showing:(View All Reviews)

Reviewed by George L. (Walla Walla, WA), March 18, 2010

What is amazing is how Satan can blind the eyes of so many Christians. No matter how appealing the story, and no matter how much it can touch hearts, the fact remains that "The Shack" is so full of unbiblical statements that it MUST be exposed if we are to obey Jude 3, “…that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” The fact that so many will swallow everything in this book from a blatant denial that God will judge sin to universal salvation is evidence of a lack of biblical discernment among believers today. "The Shack" is not inspired of God. It is not Scripture. It is just the opposite, because God does not give someone a message that contradicts his already revealed, infallible Word.

Reviewed by CDyer (Houston, TX), March 17, 2010

It is amazing how Satan can use supposedly "religious" people to hinder others from being able to better understand, and grow relationship with God. Frankly, I prefer God being willing to reach me in the way He knows I will be able to relate. I prefer knowing that God wants to live in and through me. I prefer knowing he wants to redeem me from my sin and its punishment. I prefer KNOWING that God LOVES ME, even when I stumble. What he looks like?...none of us will know until we see Him face to face in Heaven. AND, as Jesus says in the book, "Anyway, once you really get to know me, it won't matter to you." I'm REALLY sorry that some of you are missing out on knowing what it REALLY means to get to know the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I pray that God will open your eyes to one of the most insightful uses of fiction I've ever seen in order to help a broken creation learn how to have relationship with Him. Thank you, God!!! and thank you for giving Paul Young the words to say!!

Reviewed by Donna (Methuen, MA), March 17, 2010

This is one of the best books I have ever read and have bought several of them to give away as gifts. William Young does an excellent job explaining many Christian issues. You either love or hate this book. But you must read it yourself and form your own opinion. Take it for what it is, a metaphor. I can see why some people may not like it but I have found 9 out of 10 people love the book and that many have tried to write bad reviews to drag it down. Yes, it does start slow, but stick with it and pay close attention to all the details.

Reviewed by Jacob (Mobile, AL), March 15, 2010

Non biblical, total rubbish. Fiction...yea, but dont stamp this garbage as "Christian" because it most certainly is NOT. Turning God into whatever we want to view him as is called idolatry. Anyway, I wont get into what a thousand others have already said...but stay away from this book!

Reviewed by Beverly R. Baggett (Baton Rouge, LA), March 15, 2010

GREAT READ, BUT CHALLENGING TO ONE'S VIEWS OF GOD THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY INDWELLER. Our church made this book available to all for $5 as an incentive to read it. It was amazing, challenging and eye opening for so many of us. Lively discussions ensued and we all felt or thought our view of GOD had been challenged and in many cases, changed. Mr. Young later was invited to speak at our church. Wonderful--and again eye opening to hear his journey as the child of missionaries in Borneo where he was sexually assaulted by the native males as they did to their own children. When sent to a school for missionary children at age 6, he was then continually sexual abused by the older missionary kids. NOT THE VIEW MOST OF US HAVE! Probably because no one talks about it. GOD was very real to him in his loneliness and abandonment by the adults in his life. The native women were the ones to treat him well; hence his view of GOD.

Reviewed by Barbara Burgess-page (Converse, TX), March 13, 2010

This book is very slow reading for me and I truly am surprised about this since it came so highly recommended. I am not blown away by the way the message is presented.

Reviewed by Ron Livesay (Hemet, CA), March 11, 2010

A previous reviewer said, "For those who feel that the book is full of false doctrine, I'd like some examples of what the falsehoods are." The false teacings of "The Shack" are far too numerous to even list in a brief review like this. Over a year ago, I wrote a review of "The Shack" and posted it on my blog. It deals with many of the false teachings found in the book.

Reviewed by Sue Fortner (Shelton Wa), March 10, 2010

If entertainment is what your looking for than this is the book for you. It seem like a good book at first but unless you are a strong person in Christ don't read this book. It is way out there. At one point I thought I had a "flash back to the 80's" on acid. It got to the point I found myself skiping through the book thinking he would wake up and the whole thing would have a punch line like it was a joke. If you are a Christian you will know this is not of Christ in fact save yourself this read it is a waste of time.

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