tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post918799900918765331..comments2023-09-02T11:38:09.518-04:00Comments on The Lamb on the Altar: "The Shack" by Jurgen MoltmannChuck Wiesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09008527429925493264noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-90204210885218090712013-03-06T14:12:37.120-05:002013-03-06T14:12:37.120-05:00Jill:
As the website for the book indicates, the ...Jill:<br /><br />As the website for the book indicates, the book is designed to show us how God relates to humanity. So by its own marketing, the book opens itself up to theological criticism. I think it's also clear from reading the book that the author is creating a fictionalized account of Moltmann's theology. If you read my blog, you'll know I'm also critical of other "Christian" media as well. I'm no fan of the Sherwood films movies that tell you that if you turn your life over to Jesus everything will be dandy and your boss will buy you a new car. Most "Christian" fiction is just absolute rubbish.<br /><br />The Shack intends to tell us how God relates to us but omits all the ways in which God promises to relate to us. God promises to bring us healing through the preaching of the Word and through Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper. God does not promise to meet us in the woods and does not promise many of the things that the god in the Shack promises.<br /><br />I think the author of the Shack has identified a real problem in the Christian church but his solution is just as bad as the problem he identifies. What we need is better pastoral care in our suffering where the pastor is able to apply the Gospel to us in our unique situation. I'm thankful that I have found that. But Young has completely removed himself from the church. Young has given up the false god of legalism for a god of his own imagination and directing others to do the same.Chuck Wiesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09008527429925493264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-23888229391366452492013-03-06T12:54:16.023-05:002013-03-06T12:54:16.023-05:00I find it difficult to understand why you and so m...I find it difficult to understand why you and so many others have taken the time to criticize the theology of a bestselling NOVEL. It is a work of fiction, not a theology text or even a self-help or how-to book. A novel is a work of fiction that may or may not posit truths, but ultimately takes the reader on a journey unique to each reader. I read The Shack before it was widely available. I read very little Christian fiction, but am a wide reader of contemporary literary fiction. What I found in The Shack which is not in evidence in any other contemporary fiction is the picture of a loving God. Yes, aspects of His nature are missing from this novel, as they would be in any work that's not a comprehensive picture of Him. I have found The Shack to be a perfect book to recommend to someone who has been deeply wounded in life, often by authority figures (incest, domestic violence victims, refugees). It is a great first step to getting them to pray, read the Bible, and gradually form a more accurate picture of the one true God. Jill Lamarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16000263617058851909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836035001444911450.post-60688282788419070482010-04-02T06:27:18.056-04:002010-04-02T06:27:18.056-04:00Thanks for this helpful review - I agree with it b...Thanks for this helpful review - I agree with it but feel that Young DOES conclude that there will be those of other faiths who will be in Heaven - this is because the Jesus of The SHack says he has no interest in making them Christians viz being conscious folllowers of him - surely that is what the Great Commission is all about?!? I have just watched a UK TV programme called The Day Jesus Died, all about the various views on the atonement. The presenter (a historian who had sort of done her homework, although totally ignored Augustine and dismissed any punishment theory a la the Reformers)concluded by saying that each view had elements of truth for its own time and favoured Moltmann's view for our own - which perhaps explains the popularity of The Shack! But the god of The Shack is not the God of the Bible and you are right to highlight this. I hadn't realised that Young cannot find a church that accepts him - even with all the emergent churches in the US< that speaks volumes...Nigelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05214828646052264100noreply@blogger.com