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I've got to admit I never read The Shack. I read enough reviews on it from Christians I trust, who did read it, and every one of them mentioned that it presents some unbiblical views of God and Christ and Christianity. So I figured, why waste my time on it?

But then this movie came out recently. And I'm seeing many Christians, and even non-Christians, yet again debating whether or not this is a good movie inspiring people to love God, or a dangerous movie encouraging people to believe unbiblical things about God.

So when I heard about this new book of his I figured it might help people to understand what Paul Young actually believes about these things. 

With The Shack it's debatable because, isn't it fiction after all? I even had someone ask me, "Well what's the problem? It's just a story." If that were all the author intended, perhaps. But that was not his intention. In this new book he tells about how The Shack came about.

I wrote the novel at the request of my wife, Kim. She’d asked, “Would you someday please write something as a gift for our kids that puts in one place how you think? Because, you know, you think outside the box.” (pp. 51-52)

So The Shack is more than just a story. It's an author trying to convey what he thinks about God. It's theology wrapped in a story.

In Lies We Believe, Young opens up about what he meant to convey in The Shack. I just finished reading this new book and let me tell ya... it's not encouraging. 

Here are just a few things that stood out to me.

The book is set up in 28 short chapters. Each of which has the title of a lie that many people believe about God. So, for example, chapter one is titled, "God loves us, but doesn't like us." Young says that's a lie and it's not true. So, you get the idea. Here are some other "lies" and Young's explanation of them.

God is Good, I am Not

In this chapter, Young I believe is reacting against the Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity, which I also think is unbiblical. But Young swings the pendulum too far in the other direction and believes that we are all essentially good. His main proof? Genesis 2. We were created "very good." 

However he makes zero mention of the Fall (Gen. 3) or Scriptures like Romans 3:10-20. In fact, one of the problems of this book is he hardly uses Scripture at all - which is not surprising for someone who is trying to teach that some biblical doctrines are in fact lies. Most of his evidence in these chapters comes from his own feelings, the things his friends have told him, life experiences, philosophy... pretty much anything will work as long as it supports what he wants.

God is in Control

Remember, this is a lie that people believe according to Young.

Now, to be fair, I think he's probably trying to stir the pot here a bit and drive up sales and discussion of his book. 

But at the same time, his main point is essentially, When bad things happen it's not God... and God simply reacts to the bad things that happen in the world.

One of those things is Jesus dying on the cross. We'll return to this in a moment.

God does not submit

In this chapter Young says that the Golden Rule is something that applies to God.

The Golden Rule is immensely significant because it is the way God is. God treats me exactly the way God wants to be treated. (p. 46)

How does that square with statements from God in the Bible like Isaiah 42:8, Exodus 20:3? What about Scriptures that talk of God disciplining those he loves? Does God want us to discipline him? This is foolish. Anyway, moving on...

God is not a Christian

This is where Young's universalism starts showing. But not yet fully... that comes later.

Here though he does say we shouldn't "perpetuate the categories of believer and unbeliever." (p. 57)

Unfortunately the Bible would disagree (See 2 Cor. 6:14-15). A simple search for all forms of the world "unbeliever" or "unbelief" returns 55 results in the New Testament alone. 

God is more He than She

This was one of the biggest problems I think people had with The Shack - God the Father being represented as a woman. 

Now it's clear from Scripture we were all created in the image of God, both men and women. And it's also clear that God is spirit, not a physical, gendered being. But we cannot deny the fact that over and over again the Bible refers to God with masculine pronouns. You can't just sweep that away with no explanation, as Young does. 

Again, Young uses no Scripture to back up his claims. Only emotional stories. 

Essentially Young is creating a God in his own image... a God who makes sense to him. He is not reckoning with the way God reveals himself in the Bible. And that's a decision we must all make. Will we view God the way he reveals himself to be, or will we decide for ourselves what God is like and what he isn't like?

God created (my) religion

People, the word "religion" is biblical and is not always used in a negative sense (See James 1:27). So can we get off this bandwagon already? 

This article by Kevin DeYoung is very helpful on this topic.

You need to get saved

Another lie apparently. People don't need to be saved. Why? Because everyone will be saved no matter what. Here's Young again...

So what is the Good News? What is the Gospel? The Good News is not that Jesus has opened up the possibility of salvation and you have been invited to receive Jesus into your life. The Gospel is that Jesus has already included you into His life, into His relationship with God the Father, and into His anointing in the Holy Spirit. The Good News is that Jesus did this without your vote, and whether you believe it or not won’t make it any less or more true. What or who saves me? Either God did in Jesus, or I save myself. If, in any way, I participate in the completed act of salvation accomplished in Jesus, then my part is what actually saves me. Saving faith is not our faith, but the faith of Jesus. God does not wait for my choice and then “save me.” God has acted decisively and universally for all humankind. (p. 117-118)

In case it wasn't clear the first time...

Are you suggesting that everyone is saved? That you believe in universal salvation? That is exactly what I am saying! This is real good news! It has been blowing people’s minds for centuries now. (p. 118)

So I'm guessing the people saying you need to watch out for the universalism suggestions in The Shack were right after all.

Hell is separation from God

If you say everyone will be saved, what's the point of a literal hell? 

perhaps hell is hell not because of the absence of God, but because of the presence of God, the continuous and confrontational presence of fiery Love and Goodness and Freedom that intends to destroy every vestige of evil and darkness that prevents us from being fully free and fully alive. This is a fire of Love that now and forever is “for” us, not against us. Only if we posit that we have existence apart from Jesus can we believe that hell is a form of punishment that comes to us in our separation from Jesus. I propose the possibility that hell is not separation from Jesus but that it is the pain of resisting our salvation in Jesus while not being able to escape Him who is True Love. (p. 136-138)

In the words of one of my favorite bands, Cake: "Perhaps...perhaps... perhaps." That's a really bad way to do theology.

The cross was God's idea

Just a couple quotes here...

Let us be unequivocally clear: there is nothing good about a cross. It was devised as a torture machine to implement the most profound humiliation and abuse. Its purpose was solely to keep a human being alive as long as possible and in as much pain as possible until his very breath (spirit) was violently ripped from his body through excruciating suffocation. (p. 149)

Who originated the Cross? If God did, then we worship a cosmic abuser, who in Divine Wisdom created a means to torture human beings in the most painful and abhorrent manner. Frankly, it is often this very cruel and monstrous god that the atheist refuses to acknowledge or grant credibility in any sense. And rightly so. Better no god at all, than this one. (p. 149)

Wow. I was surprised at this point Young didn't just come out and say, "Ok, what the Bible says really doesn't matter to me at all." 

Harkening back to his chapter on God not being in control, and how all the bad things that happen are not God's doing, Young essentially says the cross was a horrible thing but God used it for good.

But that's not what Scripture says. The Bible is clear that the cross was both a cruel act of sinful men as well as a carefully laid plan of God that was in full accordance with his will (Acts 2:23). 

Young here is denying the very heart of Christianity - God loving us so much that he was willing to pour out his wrath on his own Son so we could escape it. (See Romans 3:24-26, Isaiah 53:5, Isaiah 53:10)

Death is more powerful than God

Of course this is not true. But Young says the way people believe this lie is they believe that there are no more chances after death. They believe once you die, your fate is sealed. That, he says, is a lie. Why? Because it assumes God is not powerful enough to do anything after death.

Young is naive throughout this entire book, and especially here. He never even acknowledges the possibility... What if God set it up this way on purpose? He simply assumes that believing this way must mean you believe death is more powerful than God. 

Here are some quotes... 

Again, he never interacts with Scripture, like Hebrews 9:27, or the numerous places in the NT where Jesus and the biblical writers speak of Judgment Day as a separation of sheep from goats, or a declaration from Christ that those apart from him are departing to eternal punishment. 

Sin separates us from God

Young rightly recognizes that this is one of the foundations of Scripture and Christianity... and he outright denies it. 

A lot of “my people” will believe that the following statement is in the Bible, but it isn’t: “You have sinned, and you are separated from God.” (p. 231)

While those exact words aren't in my ESV, surely Young has read Isaiah 59:2, right? What does he believed happened to Adam and Eve after they sinned and were kicked out of the garden? 

If separation is a lie, does it mean that no one has ever been separated from God? That is exactly what it means. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8: 38–39). Jesus did not come to build a bridge back to God or to offer the possibility of getting unseparated. (p. 232)

Throughout the book Young misuses Romans 8:38-39 and applies it to all people, failing to acknowledge Paul was writing to the Christians at the church of Rome.

I don't want to re-hash all the problems we just mentioned but only to make a couple comments. 

First, let me say I appreciate anyone who wants to help others love God more. I hope that's the heart behind The Shack. But I'm afraid Young has essentially encouraged people to create whatever god they want to make themselves feel better. The God of the Bible confronts us with many truths that don't make us feel better. Our hearts our deceptive (Jer. 17:9) and oh so good at finding justification for our sinfulness. The beauty of the Bible is that God has revealed himself to us in something that is objective and outside ourselves. We don't get to decide what kind of god we follow. God tells us who he is and we reckon with that - either to our eternal joy or not. 

Second, Young reminds me a lot of Rob Bell. And the response of evangelicals reminds me a lot of the response many had to Rob Bell when he was very slowly walking away from biblical Christianity years ago. Many who loved the works that Bell had produced were offended and hurt deeply when anyone would call out his unbiblical claims. But now that the dust has settled it seems very clear he has walked away from biblical Christianity. This looks much the same. 

The Bible is always trustworthy. Our feelings? Only sometimes.