New Study Bible & The Shack
Well, I promised that I’d start giving my review of the Shack here. So here goes, but first I’d like to tell you all about a great new Study Bible that you should check out – here’s the details:
The Mark Driscoll R-Rated Study Bible for Dudes. Freak out your reformed Baptist friends with Mark Driscoll’s comedic, rude and radically male centered interpretations of scripture. This is a study Bible that reaches the emerging culture while denouncing the emerging church. A fashion section helps you to see the scriptural mandates for mechanic’s shirts and hemp necklaces. Puzzlingly endorsed by John Piper, an alternative sheet of negative endorsements from various reformed bloggers is available on request. Profanity in red letters. Crude and shocking sexual episodes in blue. Bible doctrine is related to MMA throughout.
ht: Vince, and Internetmonk
Back to The Shack. Here’s my quick thoughts. Hoping for a deep, drawn out argument or defense of the book? Sorry, won’t find that here.
- I took a LONG time to get going. It seemed like a third of the book was preface. But that’s just me, I like to get to it.
- The story was very moving. I’m not gonna lie, I fought back tears many times.
- The portrayal of the trinity of God did not offend me in the slightest, in fact it offered me a new way to experience God for the week or two that I read the book. And it challenged me to explore God deeper than just a ‘pray to/sing to/serve to’ God.
- I did not read this book expecting it to be a theological study of the trinity. In fact I clearly remember the author stating that this book was FICTION.
- I believe that Christians can and have missed the point on this book. Rather than an exegesis of scripture, this is a fictional look at how God could choose to reveal himself. I think this is an attempt of an author to share how he personally experiences God – as each of us experience God a little differently.
- I believe that the danger of this book is if the reader misses the point and accepts the story as fact without clear, Biblical teaching on the nature of God. If you are looking for that, don’t look to a fictional story.
- I’m a little appalled that some in the Christian community have come out so strongly against the book, as if it was completely heretical. I mean we get all excited when a movie that portrays God as a giant Lion comes out. And we jumped all over the end-times books & movies, that were completely fictional… We are a weird crowd.
- And of course, I don’t consider myself a theologian, so I could be way off too.
- All in all, it’s a beautiful story of pain, redemption, love, forgiveness, and relationship.
Back to Driscoll. He’s very angry about this book:
Bob Botsford preached on it too:
I don’t know. I respect guys like this – they’re proven warriors, they’re obviously concerned for their churches & for the church as a whole. I just really think that it’s an issue of missing the point. I don’t believe the book is trying to state any theological premises, it’s just a story with some interesting adjectives to describe God. I’m of the thought that God will not be anything like we can imagine in our human brains. God gave us an imagination for a reason.
Of course, I’m learning too, every day, so help me out if you have other thoughts.
that’s funny, i delayed my post on the study bibles until tomorrow.
hilarious!
Vinces last blog post..The Reasons
yikes i think you just picked a fight. are you referring to the ESV Study Bible? He endorses it, but its not his. i need to gather my thoughts here, more later.
James McLeans last blog post..Something is Wrong
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment.
Beckys last blog post..A Thousand Questions
Yeah dude. I haven’t read it, but just take it for what it is I guess. The guy is an artist. We see things differently sometimes. That doesn’t mean we call it theological truth. So quick we are sometimes to shout out heresy. It’s an artistic expression of one guys experience. Lay off a bit.
And yeah, the bummer is, I have a lot of respect for Driscoll as well. Unfortunately I tend to hold less weight to any guy with a Calvary Chapel dove on the stage, but blame that on my own past experiences and perceptions.
bobbys last blog post..Catalyst Speakers – Day 1 (cont.)
oh ok i get it, its from a joke blog.
so the videos on the shack, i mean they have some validity, we should consider what we read and how it shapes our beliefs. i’m not going to endorse the book or knock it down. its not as bad as everyone says it is and its not as good as everyone says it is. it is one guys thoughts and heart poured into a story. it is his thoughts on how he has come to relate to God based on the hard realities of life. a lot of people will find comfort and encouragement in the book, however we shouldn’t turn to it for our truth or guidance, we turn to God’s Word for that.
James McLeans last blog post..Something is Wrong
Glad you got to experience “The Shack” … I fought back the tears many times as well, but the tears won … and to tell you the truth, they felt pretty doggone good warming my face.
For the Kingdom,
Fred McKinnon
http://www.fredmckinnon.com
http://www.theworshipcommunity.com
Fred F. McKinnons last blog post..Sunday Setlists #12 – Your Worship Recap
Hey Alex….We are a weird crowd
This book does have me concerned about “truth” factor too, only being a Christian. I am concerned it’s stating unbiblical things about God, fiction or not. One review I read quoted Ephesians 4 where it talks about “the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” This would sure be a clever way to feed some lies. It’s cool to be able to talk about and question though. It has made me think and search the bible. I was drawn to the comments about how others were powerfully impacted. I I relate myself having been impacted by Jesus in my own personal life. Which part was powerful to others? The unimaginable story, the content on God or maybe the part about this guy getting to know God and developing a personal relationship with Him? If about God and knowing Him, then maybe some would then consider the God of the bible if they hadn’t yet? Getting to know Him doesn’t have to be fiction, huh. God is desiring for us to know Him in a personal way and through His Word. That would be pretty awesome if that came of it!
I am a dismayed to hear W. Young’s book The Shack described as heretical. William Young’s attempts to describe the character of God in human terms that us humans can relate to through the dream of the main character, McKenzie Allen Phillips, while he lays in a comma after a near-fatal car accident. Let’s keep in mind that the book is considered religious fiction. So, the main character, is in a comma, and the book describes his version of meeting up with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which take on human form and are described as having human qualities, although they have, as we would expect, divine qualities. There is for me a very clear difference between making graven images and describing a man’s personal dream, in which he relates to the Trinity in a very personal way. All Christians relate to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a very personal way. That is the nature of the relationship with God that we are, as Christians, are encouraged to seek, cultivate, nurture, and grow, and does not reduce, demean, or soil the Godhead in the slightest. On the contrary, it must please Him immensely, since He manifests himself to us in many events, actions, forms, and shapes, and would be pleased that we are listening and relating to Him through a paradigm, and he “get†him. The characters that correspond to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are figments of the main character’s subconscious imagination and poetry at its finest. They bring us closer to God in Young’s personalized style. To interpret his literary effort as heresy or sin insults the intelligence and spirituality of his readers.
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