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!
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Know its limitations and look for more than "experiences":
I will probably update these brief comments later... Pluses: I think it does a good job bringing the point in that God is a "Person" and that His ablity to relate to people is based upon the fact of the Trinity itself. This point alone can be beneficial in apologetics of the God of the Bible vs. other gods. That God is "deeper than rules" is related to this and I think is brought forth in a thought provoking manner. Suffering and injustice being seen from a perspective outside of our... more info
Oh, Please:
At the risk of sounding sensationalistic, I would like to have returned to me the hours of my life I spent reading this book. I will give the author two stars for creativity. However, the rest of the book can best be described as . . . unusual. If you are a person with strong Christian beliefs you may find this book offensive. In The Shack, God the Father is a stereotypical large woman, the Holy Spirit is a fairy flying around the room, etc. Perhaps for some individuals, this comes across as a well written... more info
The Shack, brings the trinity and God's purpose of life to heart:
The first three chapters are startling, horrific and make you more appreciative of your own life, and those you love. The solution of getting over a dead kidnapped child? Only God can heal, and the pain will still be there. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit come alive in real compassionate and wise characters, giving the griever a chance to see life from the infinite source and a larger perspective. The Shack
Evangelical Theology?:
From what I hear Evangelicals think William P. Young is too liberal, while other complain the book isn't "Christian" enough. I find the theology fascinating, pushing evangelicalism to its limits (a good thing) and opening the door for discussions. I used to be an Evangelical Christian myself and although I no longer quite hold to that paradigm, I enjoyed the book and found some of my own experiences with God reflected in it.
