Customer Reviews

Finding God in The Shack

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have read and loved The Shack (and have given away 3 copies of it on my blog so far), reviewed it, encouraged many others to read it and defended it (not always very tactfully) from some that don't agree with it. This book is the missing link for those of us that love The Shack but can't always defend it properly or for those that might need a little clarification on my The Shack is a great book and not a theological nightmare.
Randal Rauser is a theologian that has laid out, in an easy to read format, why The Shack has been a great tool for opening people's eyes to some amazing ideas and facts about God. He addresses many sticking points people have including -

1) The Trinity
2) Why bad things happen to good people
3) Why God is portrayed like He is
4) Much, much more

This book will provide a lot of food for thought on its own. Take this for example when he is discussing God and Abraham with the whole sacrifice Isaac scenario...

"If God knows all events before they occur, including every detail of Abraham's life, then what was the point of the testing? The point was not that GOD would learn Abraham was fully committed to him, but rather that ABRAHAM would learn from and be strengthened by his own faithfulness." (page 29)

Grab a copy of this book and delve into the theological eyeopener that many of us lovingly refer to as "The Shack".

My name is Mike Morrell - I'm a back-cover endorser on the runaway-bestseller The Shack. I said "Finally! A guy-meets-God Novel that has literary integrity and spiritual daring. The Shack cuts through the clichés of both religion and bad writing to reveal something compelling and beautiful about life's integral dance with the Divine. This story reads like a prayer-like the best kind of prayer, filled with sweat and wonder and transparency and surprise. When I read it, I felt like I was fellowshipping with God. If you read one work of fiction this year, let this be it."

I stand whole-heartedly behind my endorsement. And yet even I have been surprised by the wide range of impassioned responses the book has received, ranging from people receiving it as a literally-true story straight from the mouth of God on the one hand, or a witch's brew of New Age heresy on the other. The Internet is filled with armchair speculation on the literary and spiritual merits of The Shack - much of it rather un-inspiring.

So imagine my delight when I found out that Authentic Media was publishing Finding God in The Shack, an interrogative-yet-playful tome by theologian and author Randal Rauser. Rauser takes readers on a fascinating journey through the pages of the story that has ignited the church's interest in theodicy ("the problem of evil") and the Trinity, a doctrine that has long been locked away in seminary classrooms.

As Rauser explores the intricacies of the plot, he addresses many of the book's complex and controversial issues. In the process, he takes a stab at why God the Father is revealed as an African-American woman, defends the book's theology of the Trinity against charges of heresy, and considers its provocative denial of a Trinitarian hierarchy (with a nod toward the eastern Cappadocian Mothers & Fathers). At its heart The Shack is a response to evil, and Rauser offers an honest and illuminating discussion of the book's explanation for why God allows evil, how the atoning work of Christ offers new hope to a suffering world, and ultimately how this hope extends to all of creation.

So: If you've been inspired, challenged, or even threatened by Young's novel, Finding God in The Shack is like inviting an intelligent, even-handed conversation partner in your home.

I approached Rauser's book with a few concerns, but probably not the ones that a typical reader might bring. I've read The Shack several times critically and had come to the conclusion long ago that the concerns expressed by some as to the theology were both overstated and also coming most often from those who lean hyper-Calvinist.

What I was concerned most about was whether this book, in its effort to address the theology, was going to do it some violence by focusing on those elements of the book which are really secondary to what the book is about in the first place. The Shack has many elements of Theology within it, but it was never intended to be a systematic theology. Approaching it in that manner misses a lot. It can be a classic case of missing the forest for the trees.

That said, I was encouraged as I read this book, that the author recognized and addressed this concern from the very start. Futher, by addressing the book in broad themes and by recognizing that those themes are better evaluated as a whole as opposed to nit-picking on isolated passages which are wrested from the context of the book by critics who are exercising their own biases.

I did not agree with every element of Rauser's critique but in the end I left feeling that is was fair and would give the reader who was perhaps concerned about The Shack or wrestling with the critiques of others the tools they needed to move beyond the nit-picking and understand where the author of The Shack is coming from.

In view of this, I recommend the book and give it 4 stars.

4 Stars

Bart Breen

In "Finding God In the Shack", Rauser has shared a helpful explanation of several theological themes in Young's, "The Shack". Though the author comes from a Pentecostal background, it is not obvious to this reader that it biases his views. I found Rauser's text to be a great help in teaching a class for adults on "The Shack" with many insights that I may have missed. It is a relatively easy read but has well-developed discussion of his points. I recommend it highly for those who want to dig deeper under the foundation of "The Shack".
Doug Martzluf
St. John's UCC
Chambersburg, PA

"The Shack" is a novel that has caused much debate in the world of Christianity. "Finding God in The Shack" is a companion manual to the novel, urging congregations to embrace the novel as a collection of stories about how God is everywhere, and how faith takes form in all shapes and sizes. Talking on the controversial nature of the book, Rauser speaks eloquently on how 'controversial' does not mean 'ungodly'. "Finding God in The Shack" is a must for pastors who are fans of the book.

This book is a good starting point for evaluating the theology of Wm. Young as displayed in The Shack. Rauser relies frequently on Scripture and then compares it to comments in the book. Over all, Rauser has little problem with the theology in the book, which calls into question whether he is balanced in his approach(or not). There are many theological concepts where he could have camped out but chose not to (for example, does the book deal with ecclesiology?); however, within the constraints of the title, he does a good job. It is very readable with little overload of theological terms and the terms that do appear are explained. I recommend this as a starting point. REMEMBER! The Shack is only a novel; it is NOT a theological treatise.

Very well written and very informative. As a pastor myself, I may not agree 100% with the contents of this book, I feel this is a very good explanation of The Shack, and I would recommend it as a follow-up reading,
and each person must make their own decisions about this book.

I purchased "Finding God in the Shack" to use as a study guide as I prepare to do a Lenten Study on "The Shack" and it has supplied me with a great deal of insight and information that I never considered.

This book is a relevant and enlightening companion to "The Shack". Far from being "preachy", this book incorporates scripture to bring the reader to a deeper understanding of the theoloigical implications of "The Shack".

I am an avid reader....This book did more for me than any other book I've read...Make sure you have tissues..Yes, it does explain many things..and the best is why God doesn't fix all the things in the world that happen that are BAD....I loved this book and have turned on many people to read it...A keeper to go back to in the future...