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The Shack By William P. Young ( Windblown Media )
Release Date: 2007-05-01
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List Price: $14.99
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Product Description
Mackenzie Allen Philips' 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 the 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 a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
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 Hard to finish ( mlbpatblue )
Theology aside, the book was poorly written, and at points quite tedious. There was the rare interesting passage or two, but I had to make myself finish it. I am Presbyterian and my pastor asked me to read it in order to be prepared to comment if asked about it. My comment to those who have asked has been: "Don't waste your time." It boggles my mind that Eugene Peterson, a theologian/writer that I greatly admire, gave it such a glowing review. What was he thinking?! I was very puzzled that he compared it in any way to Pilgrim's Progress.
For a Christian who doesn't know their Bible well, I think it could even be a harmful book to read. On another note, I could almost feel the author anticipating the screenplay $$$ as he hammered out some of the worst dialogue I have ever slogged through.
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 The Shack - Audiobook ( dwesleys )
A wonderful book with a powerful message about the human condition in relationship to the Trinity. In many ways, reminiscent of the writtings of CS Lewis. For convenience sake, I downloaded the audiobook to my iPod so that I could listen during my commute to the office. The narration brought the story to life and synergistically complimented the storyline and the listening experience. Perhaps better appreciated by members of the chior rather than the skeptics. The audiobook contained almost nine hours of material.
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God can use anything to encourage us, including a fictional book
One thing I learned a long time ago: Never let a book (or Bible teacher, or preacher, or friend, or long-held belief about a thing) ever replace God in your life. When the Holy Spirit abides in us, we have access to the discernment that will say to us, "yes, this is right," or "no, don't be so quick to weave that into the fabric of your soul." I have a relationship with God. Relationship. Which means as I have read this book, I have given room to the Holy Spirit to speak to me about what I am reading. This book is not the Bible. But neither is Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest, and yet God has used both of these books (in addition to Bible study) to lift veils from my eyes, encourage me, convict me, give me vision and hope . . .
I don't know this author, but I'm awfully glad he wrote this book. Oswald often points out scripture that details a really simple walk with Christ: "Do you find your walk with Jesus simpler than it ever has been in your life?" The Shack has pointed me more in this direction.
I suppose I could take the time to pick apart the book out of context, attempting to highlight what could be considered "unbiblical." Or, I can simply ask God to show me what He wants me to learn from it and enjoy it for what it is: One man's best attempt to express the trinity as he sees and experiences it.
Whether fiction (as it is categorized), or not (as the foward somewhat suggests), it is wonderfully encouaraging and thought-provoking. I'm considering purchasing extra copies to give away - which is exactly how I came to read it!
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 Too much dogma and doctrine ( will20005 )
It would be a better book if the author had left out the vast amount of doctrine. For example, trying to explain the trinity while telling a story fails to to both.
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No Cookie Cutter Theology Here ( bgeach )
This is not my normal reading genre and I'm often uncomfortable reading "Christian" books but I was pleasantly surprised with The Shack. Whether or not you're open to the anthropomorphism that casts God as a black woman or the Holy Spirit as an ethereal Asian nymph like creature you should take the time to listen to their dialogue as written by William P Young.
It is an easy call to say that folks who buy into the Laws and Letters of Theology as presented by many mainstream churches today will squirm in their britches at the loose cannon approach taken here. Young writes from his heart and is brave enough to admit that most of us have railed at the Lord for the perceived injustices we see in the world today. Many of us have gone so far as to hate him (her, it) for taking loved ones in horrible ways before we're ready to let go. We question wars and why they're allowed if indeed God has the power to "just say no".
The courageous thing that Young's done in this book is not just to ask the hard questions but to attempt to offer answers that actually make a little sense.
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