You are also confusing the Church with the institutional churches like Catholicism and liberal Protestantism. If people see through all the phoniness in these that is good. Then they may be opened to hearing the true gospel. There is no one harder to reach with the true gospel than people bound in false religion.

The main purpose of the Church is to teach the gospel of salvation by grace through faith to the whole world. It is high time that “Christian” authors got with God’s program instead of trying to adapt to please the world with their own ear tickling false doctrines.

But then again, perhaps you think that Barna is leading people to Hell in a handbasket as well?

I really am not buying your argument that all these postmodern people feel that they are being attacked by the church, by God etc. I think it is a false argument used to justify promoting a heretical book. How and where are Christians attacking postmoderns in our churches? If anything the church is compromising the gospel and their own worship services to appease them.

Postmoderns are not coming to church or God because nobody is getting through to them that they are lost sinners that must repent of their sins and be saved by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Shack certainly is not teaching that.

Postmoderns want to believe that they can define their own truth and the The Shack appeals because it also does the same..

Postmoderns reject the absolute truths of the Bible and that is why they cannot be reached with the truth. No amount of watering down the gospel to get to their level of relativism is going to get them to accept what is required of them for their salvation.

Telling them lies about the nature of God might appeal to postmoderns looking for a form of Universalism or religious pluralism but it does not put them on the path to salvation.

The Shack may connect with biblical illiterates but it is a very subtle deceptive connection.

And again, what I was saying is that this book can be a really good addition to conversations that are happening between a believer and another person. the conversations are more important than the book itself, but the book can breach the walls and opposition that people have built up due to hurts and pain that have built up over the years. I would not think that the book by itself is sufficient, because there are potential issues, but why not have it be a complimentary resource?

Unless of course you have other suggestions that are better? And thinking in terms of someone who might be hostile to the Gospel, because while JI Packer or Dallas Willard, or Lee Strobel or others might be solid theologically, I don’t see them really connecting with your average 20-30ish adult in the ways that The Shack can.

Oh how confused I am…

Don’t hear me wrong, I do believe that God is holy, and that his wrath must be satisfied; but don’t recall ever having met a single person who is attracted by that view of God. Perhaps this will justify you calling me a heretic, but It is the love and mercy of God that draws people to repentance, not the fire and brimstone.

So is it possible God is using this book to express his love to people who have been hurt by the Church’s repeated attempts to convert them by force?

Christians that write Christian fiction about the nature of the Father Son and Holy Spirit ought to have Orthodox Theology.

I think Dr. Norman Geisler points out the problems with The Shack better than anyone so I will let him point out the problems in The Shack. I also include his conclusion.

Problem One: A Rejection of Traditional Christianity
Problem Two: Experience Trumps Revelation
Problem Three: The Rejection of Sola Scriptura
Problem Four: An Unbiblical View of the Nature and Triunity of God
Problem Five: An Unbiblical View of Punishing Sin
Problem Six: A False View of the Incarnation
Problem Seven: A Wrong View of the Way of Salvation
Problem Eight: A Heretical View of the Father Suffering
Problem Nine: A Denial of Hierarchy in the Godhead
Problem Ten: Ignoring the Crucial Role of the Church in Edifying Believers
Problem Eleven: An Inclusivistic View of Who Will be Saved
Problem Twelve: A Wrong View of Faith and Reason
Problem Thirteen: It Eliminates Knowledge of God
Problem Fourteen: It Entails Divine Deception

Conclusion
The Shack may do well for many in engaging the current culture, but not without compromising Christian truth. The book may be psychologically helpful to many who read it, but it is doctrinally harmful to all who are exposed to it. It has a false understanding of God, the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, the nature of man, the institution of the family and marriage, and the nature of the Gospel. For those not trained in orthodox Christian doctrine, this book is very dangerous. It promises good news for the suffering but undermines the only Good News (the Gospel) about Christ suffering for us. In the final analysis it is only truth that is truly liberating. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). A lie may make one feel better, but only until he discovers the truth. This book falls short on many important Christian doctrines. It promises to transform people’s lives, but it lacks the transforming power of the Word of God (Heb. 4:12) and the community of believers (Heb. 10:25). In the final analysis, this book is not a Pilgrim’s Progress, but doctrinally speaking The Shack is more of a Pilgrim’s Regress.”

*Dr. Geisler has a BA, MA, ThM, and PhD (in philosophy). He is an author of some 70 books and has taught philosophy and ethics at the College and Graduate level for fifty years. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Apologetics and Theology at Veritas Evangelical Seminary (www.VeritasSeminary.com). His articles and materials are available at http://www.normgeisler.com.

For the complete explanation of each of the problems that Dr Geisler points out about The Shack read the following article.

http://www.normangeisler.net/theshack.html

While i believe that what you say here is absolutely true, I think what Whitney was saying is that while the content of the Gospel does not ever change, the method in which we deliver it can and must change and evolve in order to relate to the culture in which it exists. Consider sharing the truth of the Gospel with a group of indigenous people…you must rework the timeless truths into a format that can relate to the audience.

Even Paul said that he has become all things to all people in order to save people (1 Cor 9:19-23). Or take the Gospels, Luke wrote to a Gentile audience while Matthew likely wrote to a Jewish audience. The content remains the same, while the method f delivery remains fluid. Young is just taking the timeless truths of the perfect love which exists in the trinity and shows it to the audience in a way that they can connect with.

Also, it might be wise to remember that it is not a theological or apologetical textbook. It is a fictional story which is drawn from theological truths, much like the Left Behind series or many other books that you’d find in your local Christian bookstore.