Truth or Feel Good Christianity

​The book, The Shack, by William P. Young (a former office manager and hotel night clerk) is filled with distinctly liberal and feminist theological thought. In this book, there appear to be Unitarian beliefs mixed in with other, very heretical idealisms which need to be addressed especially if you know of someone who sees the film and comes out with certain beliefs which do not follow God’s Word yet perverts it to satisfy a people who do not have a personal relationship with Him so they feel good about their sin filled lives.  
The first one to look at is where the author states, “God the Father was crucified with Jesus (p96)”. Well, Scripture states that because God's eyes are pure and cannot look upon sin, the Bible says that God would not look upon His own beloved Son as He hung on the Cross, carrying our sins.
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity:  Wherefore looks thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holds thy tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he? Habakkuk 1:13
If The Shack spoke true then God died with Jesus. Scripture says that Jesus cried out to God while He was on the cross and close to death, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” or “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me”. But here we must also recognize that Jesus was revealing Psalm 22 and saying the first verse which standing alone is telling us that God rejected (looked away from) His only Son even though God said that He would never forsake us. Instead we should look at the whole Psalm and conclude that Jesus was sharing that another section of the Old Testament was foretelling exactly the events which were about to unfold regarding His death and the fact that God did hear the cry of affliction. God heard the cry of His Son but also knew what must be done. God was not crucified with Jesus, we were. He was with Jesus but the sins of the world were weighing upon Jesus that He more than likely could not feel God’s presence.

While we are on the subject of the crucifixion, the book explains that, “On the Cross, God forgave all of humanity, whether they repent or not. Some choose a relationship with Him, but He forgives them all regardless (p225)”.


Yes it was done for all mankind but not without the condition of believing in Jesus and accepting Him. Do we have to go down the Roman Road here? Should we review Romans 3:23 and 6:23 specifically? Jesus is very thorough in His explanation of this all the Gospels and the writings of the Apostles. Paul even states that only those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior will be saved.
 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

If the previous statement from the book is true then: “There is no need for faith or reconciliation with God because everyone will make it to heaven (p122, 192)”. And “There is no such a thing as eternal judgment or torment in hell (p248)”. Why do you think Jesus spent so much time vividly discussing and describing Hell if no one was going to go there? Was he trying to scare people away from a vacation spot with goats as the caretakers?? I think not.  Jesus said, "Only those who believe in me will have eternal life" and it is mentioned at least four times in the Gospel According to John alone.
These are just a few of the theological discrepancies found. There will be people who challenge these simple theological discrepancies saying the book shares the truth and the old Bible thumpers lied. Nope, they obviously did not pick up a Bible after having an experience. Be vigilant in the knowledge from Scripture. Stay in prayer constantly, and treat each other with God’s Great Love.