Comments on: I dare you to read "The Shack" book

By: Jule'e Olson

Jule'e Olson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:49:47 +0000

I loved this book!!!!!!!!!!!!! For me it brought me closer to God. Is it not the point, to not judge each other? I feel the book made me a better person. I read it in 1 day. A few days later I read it to my 21 year old daughter. The book brought tears and laughter but, we both feel better for it. I think everyone will get something good out of reading this book…..Something totally spiritual. I plan on purchasing a book for all of my family members. I hope they make a movie. I’m not giving up my church, my devotions or what I believe in, I just feel this book will open anyone’s heart to a new beginning in CHRIST. Thankyou William for a wonderful book.

Jule’e

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:39:41 +0000

After further consideration I have modified my opinion. If you had extensive resources to research my parents in order to write a book about them and your resulting book misrepresented them so badly that their own children found the characters unrecognizable, I would not be content with any defense of the book that cowered under the classification of “fiction”. If you used my parents names and wrote an imaginative story misrepresenting what I know to be true about them, I would be incensed. So, while the book is well written, captures the imagination, and achieves many other noteworthy markers, it is in the end a misrepresentation of persons and for that, it deserves much of the scathing criticism it garners.

By: tony

tony — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:36:45 +0000

To Vicki and Sam,

I am almost done with the book (two chapters to go) and Vicki, you have said it best. This is just one person’s thoughts and beliefs about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Yes, it has different ideas and thoughts than what the Word says……but the main thing here is if this book can reach people who are struggling through this crazy world and don’t have a personal relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, than it has served it’s purpose well. Sam, you remind me of Nicodemus. Don’t be too caught up in man’s doctrine. It’s about having a personal relationship with Him. God bless all who read this book. Faith, Hope and Love!

Tony

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:37:24 +0000

I was encouraged to read the book by a relatively non-’believer’friend of mine, & when she raved about it, I didn’t honestly give it much credence. Then, I heard about it from someone at church (insert groan here), & I decided I needed to read it. SO glad I did. It’s up there with the 5 top books I’ve ever read! I purchased 2 more copies for family, & they’re being recycled- couldn’t wait for the family members to finish reading so we could all discuss it without giving anything away!
I ‘get’the negative comments directed at the presentation of the trinity, questions regarding biblical accuracy, but if a fiction book such as this is getting secular folks to read/question/explore faith, then I find validity in the work.
With all the garbage in the media, the negative impact from this book is nominal, in my opinion.

By: James

James — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:42:11 +0000

Just wondering, but of those of you who loved the book, how many of you have had a “life altering” experience such as Mack’s? Not necessarily the unnatural death of a child, but the loss of a loved one, divorce, etc. I lost a son at birth and I couldn’t bring myself to read past the beginning of the camping trip. Mack’s cross to bear is so much different than mine that I couldn’t begin to relate. I know, some of you are going to try and comfort me with “it doesn’t matter because God’s grace is all encompassing.” It doesn’t work that way. Until you bear the cross, you have no idea; I don’t wish that anyone. We deal with grief in our own ways and have our own relationships with God (following scripture, of course). You think you might be able to relate to Mack and think his moment of forgiveness is a revelation, but again….you have no idea.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:16:38 +0000

Oh, Sam, is not the point of any book to stress a relationship with God, a book worthy of a little praise? No matter, this is fiction and you really should look up the definition of fiction.

Opening a human’s eyes just a little to begin the journey of a relationship with God is so vital in a day and age of judgmental hypocrites. A quote directly from you “neither God the Father nor God the Holy Spirit became a human!” how do you really know? Have you been around forever?

You speak for the young Christians of the world and your concern…you should be concerned if you are a leader in the Christian world to which they are to learn to be a loving human with a heart and soul filled with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; but
honestly, it is your comments and stance why I left the church never wanting my children to learn from ‘leaders’such as yourself. (oh, yes, the entire conversation with Jesus in the book about leaders….ummmmm).

Oh, and BTW, Pamela C, who you absolutely tear apart is one that you should have said “Congratulations! Now go read the Bible and worship in the light of the Holy Spirit” …not tear her down in her/your thoughts. Also the point you make about Willie appears not to recognize at all that God is holy and unreachable! Hello, the entire book is about how Mack can’t reach God but is told time and again how Jesus made that relationship for God. Did you read the same book we all did or were your Christian blinders on too tight? Again why so many of us leave the church: you are not open to allowing others to worship and survive this crazy world the way we need to: thus the story of Mack someone needed to say how he feels about God. And that’s all it is.

Please go forth and love, not hate others for the way they learn to believe and worship…the world is hard enough.

By: matthew

matthew — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:01:19 +0000

After meeting Young personally, I must say that I truly felt inspired to hear a Christian preach the love of God in such a relational way as it was intended to be. The way he portrayed the Trinity is so beautiful and shows this wonderful relationship. Refer to Baxter Krueger.

It can be hard for some people to accept that God is love and not condemning and by looking at some of the comments that have been published against the Shack, you can see this quite visibly. It is sad to see people so anti it.

God Bless

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:13:45 +0000

Pamela C: ‘The Shack book led me to see a different side of my Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit because in my mind, I could only see Them as so Holy and unreachable after sin, that recovery was out of reach.’
I am not a fan of ‘The Shack’for a large number of reasons, but one minor one must be this: Willie appears not to recognise at all that God is holy and unreachable!

The only reason we are now within reach is because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and Willie appears to entirely skirt around that issue. His understanding of the Trinity is unbelievably inaccurate – at one point ‘Papa’is described as having scars on her wrists because she became human in Jesus – neither God the Father nor God the Holy Spirit became a human! He also appears to dismiss the use of the Bible as any reference to what God has spoken.

I am sorry to say this – as it will sound harsh – but it genuinely concerns me that so many Christians lack the discernment to see this book as the dangerous demonic tool that it is. The tears I have shed as a result of this book (and I have) are for the younger Christians who read this and are led into lies by a man who clearly is not in a relationship with God enough to know who He really is (i.e. his misunderstanding of the Trinity), what He really has a passion for (i.e. the bride of Christ, the church, which he has not attended for 15 years) and how He has made known His truth (i.e. the Bible).

I think there are some key points in this book which are to the author’s credit but there are so many disturbing errors that I’m afraid I cannot endorse it, and would refer anyone rather to a book such as Philip Yancey’s excellent ‘Disappointment With God’.

By: Pamela C

Pamela C — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:32:51 +0000

The Shack brought a long-awaited healing… Before I even finished the book, the Lord took me thru a dream. I was traveling up a road, steep, red, muddy and slippery, and I was having trouble getting up it. I noticed there were state troopers, state police officers, and city police officers all around. I stopped my car and opened the door and when I did, I heard this woman, screaming for help. The screams were deafening! They were horrific! I looked up, and at the top of the hill, there was a forest of trees. The atmosphere was dark, but around me, where my car was, it was day time. She was in her house and when I paid close attention, I could hear the beatings! She was being hit repeatedly. It sounded like bones breaking. I looked around and noticed that not one of those men “in authority” would go to help her. Then a young police office was gonna go, but the closer he got to her the more he feared. He came back and I asked him, not believing what I was witnessing, why he wouldn’t help her. When he looked at me I could see the fear in his eyes. I wanted, so bad, to go help her, but I “knew” I couldn’t.

When I woke up, I was so hurting in my heart for her. I asked the Lord what it meant.

I got to work the next morning and shared the dream with my mom. (she came by, unexpectedly). (humm) Mom said, “The woman, being beat, was you……

I knew it was, as soon as it came from her mouth. I began to cry, beautiful hot tears. So did my mom. I quit going to church or even being around people for about 5 years or so. I still loved God. But the abuse from the “townspeople” and “church people” after I fell into sin, (I’ve long repented) was so intense and never ending, that I could no longer bare it. It was so devastating that thru them, I truely believed that God did not want me anymore. I loved my Lord so much, that I died inside, to everything and everyone. I could face my punishment from the people, but I could not face my Jesus, tossing me away. I believed that I had become a Saul and a Judas and was unredeemable, because that’s what I saw from the churches. The Pasor was restored, but I was not.

In the dream, the different police people was authorities and the reason ” I ” could not help her, was because no one can heal their own hearts, or anyone else’s for that matter. It could only be done by my Father in heaven.

The Shack book led me to see a different side of my Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit because in my mind, I could only see Them as so Holy and unreachable after sin, that recovery was out of reach. This just recently happened and I have total forgiveness, not just for EVERYONE, but also for myself. I love who I am in God. He loves me so very much. And I thank God for “The Shack!” His story changed my life. I thank God, so very much, that I can be open to “however” He would choose to set me FREEEEEEEE!!!!!!.

Sincerely, Loved forever!

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:15:58 +0000

A church friend recommended The Shack to my husband during coffee a few weeks ago. We put it on our list, to get to it “sometime.” Then the very next day we attended Open House at our son’s (Christian) school and found out that they are reading it as a text in Bible class. “Sometime” quickly became “today.”

An unbelievable book, an enjoyable read, definitely thought-provoking and comforting in so many ways. So many people we know have been changed by this book – though it is fiction, of course, God can use anything to speak to us.

As His ways are higher than our ways, we as humans can never perfectly express or understand the mysteries of God. Does it have to be true to be real?