Is 'The Shack' Heresy?

Have you read William P. Young’s 'The Shack'? If not, don’t. If so, how did you walk away from the book? Did it make you feel good about God? (Too often, in this postmodern world, people are lured by what makes them 'feel good', and often, these are the traps of something other than God.) I think that is the aim of Young when he tells the story of a man who is angry with God for the death of his daughter. Young goes on to describe an encounter with “God” at a shack where all the main character’s notions of God are shattered.

And, quite frankly, following Young’s theology will leave you shattered as well. There is no gel, no glue that holds his theories up, for the Bible clearly calls each of the book’s theological points into question. The Bible is the clear authority in our lives, and no believer should go outside the Bible to find any revelation of God. He revealed Himself to us through His Word, not the fanciful notions of the postmodern’s desire to see “God” in the songs and writings of a confused generation(s).

If you catch my tone, you’re right, this book makes me upset. It hinges on the edge of heresy, and many people applaud it for its freshness. I hope you will take a minute to read Tim Challies’s review as he dives deeper into the theological mistakes of Young. And, I hope you don’t fall for this book’s design to plunge its readers into a false relationship with the Almighty God.