For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two–edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:12)
Our Tuesday Night Bible Study lead to a discussion on the subject of the Trinity (or "the Tri-une God"). This reminded me of a very popular book that many Christians think would help understand this difficult topic but is very controversial. As we have learned in this Bible Study, the only valid revelation about God, apart from the Creation, comes from the Bible and the Son of God, our Lord Jesus, in particular. To think that other ideas, that are not derived from or deeply rooted in the Holy Scriptures might help in understanding a difficult topic is, to say the least, dangerous.
Recently, the book The Shack has been approaching sales of seven million copies. There is even talk about making the book into a movie. But while the novel breaks sales records (in Christian circles!), it also breaks with the traditional understanding of God and Christian theology. The issues and discussions around this book seem to be:
- "Does a Christian book of fiction has to be doctrinally correct?"
- "Do not the good points of the novel outweigh the bad?"
- "Could not this book lay the foundation for seeking a growing relationship with God based in the Bible?"
If we look at Young’s doctrinal statements (direct or perceived), the question arises: How much error are we willing to tolerate? If the theology of Young is so different from our understanding of the foundational truths (see also our basic beliefs in our constitution), how can we expect to get a better understanding of one of those major foundations like the Trinity?
So what are the major fallacies in this book?
- Young’s view of revelation and the Bible
- his depiction of God, the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus
- how he describes Jesus’ death and the meaning of reconciliation
- the subversion of institutions that God has ordered, such as the government and the local church
In clear text, these are the major errors:
- No eternal punishment for sin - basically, there is no hell
- All are eventually being saved
- An incomplete picture of the enormity of sin and evil;
- The subjugation of God’s justice to His love;
- The institution of the Church is "diabolical".
The following are excerpts from a review published by James B. De Young about "The Shack" that demonstrate the deficiencies in Young’s theology. As already mentioned in one of our earlier articles, many others have pointed out the theological errors they find in the book.
"The common thread tying all the errors together is Christian universalism. A study of the history of universal reconciliation, which goes back to as early as the third century, shows that all of these doctrinal deviations, including opposition to the local church, are characteristic of universalism. In modern times, it has undermined evangelical faith in Europe and America. It has joined with Unitarianism to form the Unitarian-Universalist church.
Read on…
