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This book is a wonderful piece of literature to help bring you closer to God and spirituality. I wouldn't characterize it as a "Christian" book, but rather a book for all who believe (or want to believe) in God. I noticed that almost all of the negative reviews included the statement that they didn't finish the book. How on earth do you review a book that you haven't finished??? That is not fair to the author. Yes, the beginning is tough to read, but if you continue to the end, you will see the genius of the author. Please, read this book if you are looking for a refreshing view of God and religion.
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i read "the shack" after several requests from my sister to do so. she is reading it for the third time.
first let me say that i am overwhelmed by all the religious folks who have condemned the "harry potter" books. i am a fan of harry. i am a christian. i understand a work of fiction.
i have read "the shack". it is a work of fiction. mack has a dream and awakes with healing of his pain and sorrow. hey, whatever works for you.
my problem:
i am a member of a book club of which "the shack" is our subject. we are taking 3 months to totally discuss every "revolutionary" (they say) statement in the book. they are using it as a guide to reinventing their religious life.
wow, there is too much wrong in the book to go there.
Rating:  -
The Shack (2007). Wm. Paul Young. Los Angeles, CA: Windblown Media, 248 pp.
Reviewed by Dr. Em Cummins, retired Professor of Counseling and practicing Student of Life.
This novel is a page-turner that I read in a single evening. The story line is compelling, and the author played my emotions as a concert violinist might, moving me to tears at several points throughout the book. Indeed, it was reminiscent of Robert James Waller's The Bridges of Madison County, one of the most popular books in the 20th century that swept the country in the early 1990s. Slim in substance, its appeal to the romantic imagination was surprisingly widespread as more than 50 million copies were purchased around the world. The Shack has already sold more than two million copies.
Despite the book's lack of literary merit, I applaud Mr. Young's attempt to expand the parameters of our own limited imagination regarding the nature of God and the mystery of the Trinity. It brought to light just how hidebound our narrow conception of the Divine has become, and how we have both masculinized and regimented the entire Godhead, taming it to fit our purposes. The use of masculine pronouns permeates prayers and sermons to the point where the feminine nature of our Creator is virtually nonexistent. The author invites his readers to set aside their preconceived notions about the traditional patriarchal God and imagine a God who transcends our stunted view of the Divine. Since "God is spirit" (John 4:24), we may imagine God in multifarious ways, even as the writers of scripture did, i.e., as a watchful eagle, a roaring lion, or a mother hen. God is not circumscribed by gender, and Mr. Young has expanded our appreciation for the Divine presence by presenting God as a loving black woman.
A major subtext of the novel is its focus on forgiveness as an essential ingredient to wholeness. Indeed, this emphasis alone makes the book a potential source for healing broken relationships, which was one of the author's intentions in writing it.
I commend The Shack to serious Christian readers everywhere who seek to escape the fixed boundaries of their acculturated imaginations and consider a God who transcends the finitude of human imagining.
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Just finished The Shack...LOVED IT!! Thank you Mr. Young for your courage, boldness and servant's heart to create such a gift!! Want to grow your faith...read this book!! Will spread the word!!
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The Shack
This book is strictly for devout christian believers. You would have to believe in all the Grimm's Fairy Tales to believe this fable. If you're near death and desperately need something to believe in, this is the book for you.
The explanation for why the little girl died is unsatisfactory and totally confusing, especially when "Papa" says they could have prevented her death. This author lives in la-la land.
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