Talking about The Shack

Talking about The Shack

I read The Shack years ago

as I was grieving the recent death of family members.

I understand how readers respond emotionally to the book.

 

The Shack

is known as a

warm, comforting book.

Yet we need to remind ourselves.....

Even though

this book is seen as a warm, comforting story

and

makes many people feel better

and

may even change some people's life - 

Alarmingly ....

it

contains

lies

that come against the Bible.

These  lies  can  result  in - an   eternity   in   hell. 

The  important  question  is  -

Does it

lead us

astray

in important Bible doctrines?

And yes The Shack  does!

The Shack

is a comforting book and movie.

Yet...

The Shack

attacks

central themes of the Bible.

Such as.....

The Shack denies that:

Jesus came to take our punishment for sin.

See: 1 John 2:2, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:4-10

The Shack denies that:

God punishes sin.

See: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Luke 13:24-28, Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29-30, Genesis 19:15,  Genesis 4:13, Isaiah 13:11, Jeremiah 21:14, Isaiah 26:21

And

The Shack

presents a false view

of

how to have a relationship with God and go to heaven.

Paul Young undermines

the Bible's teaching on HOW to get to heaven.

There is

nothing more important

for people to understand

than

HOW to get to heaven.

I  will  clearly  explain  Paul  Young's  falsity  further  down.

Sadly, Paul Young is greatly deceived.

Note that:

I have several videos on this page

including one from

Dr. Michael Youssef

The Shack

is a

beautiful, deceptive bridge

to the ungodly New Age Movement

Next

The Shack

Clearly and Specifically

Exposed

On this page,

I will give you specific quotes from the book that

are anti-biblical just as the video above did.

But first,

I want to deal with

the central theme of Paul Young's great lies

that deceive people and guide people toward hell.

I remind you that...

The greatest mission of a Christian writer or teacher

who loves Jesus

is

to point people toward Jesus

while

carefully avoiding

saying anything

that would undermine the Bible's teachings

on how to get to heaven.

Paul Young

wrote another book

that explains his spiritual beliefs.

Paul Young's Theology Book

Paul Young

wrote the book...

Lies We Believe about God 

In that book,

Paul Young attacks the Bible by saying that

all people go to heaven.

On Page 118, Paul Young

asks himself

the key question of Christianity

and then

he answers his question.....

Paul Young asks himself in the book:

"Are you suggesting that everyone is saved?

That you believe in universal salvation?"

Paul then answers his question:

"That is exactly what I am saying."

The Above Quotes

are from page 118 of Paul Young's book:

Lies We Believe about God -

Paul Young turns the Bible upside down.

by contradicting

The Bible.

Universalism

Paul Young promotes

Universalism.

The most serious "crime" of

Paul Young's books, movie, and teachings

is that

he promotes universalism.

Paul believes that EVERYONE goes to heaven.

Universalism

is the theological view

that says that

all people will end up in heaven.

The next video

explains

Paul Young

greatly admires Oprah.

He has been interviewed by Oprah, 

and has even said,

"I want to be more like Oprah."

Here is a video of

Oprah

clearly saying she is a Universalist. 

Note: when Paul Young was interviewed by Oprah,

he did not Oprah's well-know beliefs that are shown below.

Below the Youtube video, there is a post that refers to the one of the ladies speaking to Oprah. The post says, "Her name is Kathy Rueskin. She’s alive and she’s my aunt!"

I answer the comment Oprah made

about people around the world

who do not know about Jesus

but live a good life....

Please see my page Psalm 19. 

And here is my Oprah page 

 Oprah and the New Age Movement. 

Paul Young

in his theology book

gives his false opinion about eternity,

But...

Jesus

spoke of

> >   people going to hell   < < 

numerous times.

For example,

Jesus says:

We enter heaven by a Narrow Gate and FEW find it:

"Enter by the narrow gate.

For the gate is wide and the way is easy

that leads to destruction,

and those who enter by it are many.

For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life,

and

those who find it are few."

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

Also see Matthew 7:21

Also see the following Hell verses:

"And to you who are troubled

rest with us,

when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven

with his mighty angels,

in flaming fire

taking vengeance on them that

know not God,

and that obey not

the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Who

shall be punished with

everlasting destruction

from

the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power."

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 KJV

 On page 122,

The Shack says....

 Papa [God the Father] says,

“I don’t need to punish people for sin. It’s not My purpose to punish it.”

But God says in Isaiah 13:11 a,

 “I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity.”

But God says in Romans 2:8,

“But for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury."

 I urge you to read Romans 2:1-11

But Jesus God says in Luke 12:4-5,

“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell;
yes, I say to you, fear Him!"

The Shack also says on page 164:

"Wisdom infers the fallacy of belief in God sentencing anyone to hell."

But

2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, says that,

“In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."

God warns us that there is a hell and we ought to remember that.

Check out

hell in 

Luke 16:19-31

If you don't know

the Bible,

you are at the

mercy of

your experience

and the

teachings of fallible, unbiblical people.

Paul Young is deceived.

He does not stand firmly on the Bible.

The Shack

portrays the devil's best attempt at deception

by presenting

The Beautiful Side of Evil.

And

when Christians confront The Shack,

we need to remember

that the book and movie

capture

people's emotions.

The Shack

captures emotions and turns hearts away

from the truth of the Bible.

The next video...

begins with speaking about

A Course in Miracles

then quickly goes to discussing

The Shack.

The Beautiful Side of Evil.

The Shack

has the word Creation (capitalized) 20 times.

In the

New Age movement

that capitalization means

that

God is in Everything.

Meaning God is in a tree, a book, etc.

That is a false view of God.

God is separate from the creation that he made.

On page 112,

The Shack 

incorrectly

describes God as,

"God who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around,

and through all things."

That is a totally false view of God.

There are many

alarming concerns about The Shack.

Here are a few....

It portrays The Trinity incorrectly. Two examples  - its depiction of Father God as female and Holy Spirit as female. And it incorrectly teaches that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit suffered on the cross with Jesus.

It erases hell and punishment.

Papa says, "Wrath? You lost me."

And Papa says, "I don't need to judge sin." 

In The Shack, there is no hell and no devil. 

Papa says on page 206, "Honey, I've never placed an expectation on you or anyone else."

On the contrary - the Bible is full, full, full of God's expectations of us.

We are commanded to follow God into an obedient lifestyle.

We will never be perfect but we are called to practice righteousness like one would regularly practice a musical instrument - getting better and better at following God.

When we mess up and sin -

we go to 1 John 1:9 and repent and get a fresh start.

Michael Youssef

describes the teachings in The Shack

as

"Almost right but devastatingly wrong."

Disclaimer: I endorse this video. I agree that no one can fully explain the Trinity. But I do think we can give helpful information so that we can get a better grasp on the Trinity. I have a page called Explaining the Trinity.

And - Michael Youssef mentioned that we must "believe in Jesus." He is assuming that you understand that he means that you "believe in Jesus so much that you follow his Word." He means you "believe in Jesus so much that you repent of your sins and make Jesus your Savior and Lord." At the end of the video, he explains in more detail.

http://www.ltw.org/read/articles/2017/03/six-major-problems-with-the-shack

A Concerning Quote

The Shack

hides little digs against the Bible.

On page 184,

(depending on your edition)

the main character is talking to Jesus.

In The Shack Jesus says,

“Who said anything about being a Christian?

I’m not a Christian.”

Please see the two Bible references below...

Acts 11:26 says,

"And when he had found him,

he brought him to Antioch.

So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church

and taught a great many people.

And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch."

Acts 26:28-19

King Agrippa is talking to Paul.

"Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”

Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”"

Interviews

In this section, I will be talking about 

Paul Young interviews.

Sad to say but

Paul Young is very deceptive when he answers questions.

Paul Young talks in a very deceptive way.

He is slippery when he talks about important issues.

He forms sentences

in a way

to try to make the reader

think

that he agrees with the reader

even when he doesn't.

When asked about other religions,

Paul goes to great lengths

to talk a lot yet avoid being specific about his beliefs.

The bottom line is that

Paul Young doesn't like the word "Christian"

and he refuses to say that

any other religion is lost and needs to receive Christ

as Savior and Lord

in order to be

right with God and in order to go to heaven.

So the most basic mission of what Jesus came to do

on earth

is hidden from

Paul Young's written works and from his interviews.

Paul sprinkles in

warmth and love and just enough

"Christianeze"

that people think,

"Of course he believes the way I do,

he just doesn't emphasize the Gospel message."

But "No" he does not believe the way a true Christian believes.

In actuality,

Paul Young

does his best to

make all people feel good about the way they see God

and the way they interpret the Bible.

Note that

most people who are unsaved and headed to hell

are eager to get confirmation

that they are right with God.

Sadly,

Paul Young has become a spiritual chameleon

to uninformed people who listen to him.

They think he agrees with their view of God.

And they think he is some kind of expert on the Bible.

That makes Paul Young popular but dangerous

to the eternal lives of the people who listen to him. 

Please join me in praying for Paul Young  -
I am praying that his heart would turn to what the Bible says
and that
Paul would accept
the true Jesus as his Lord and Savior and be saved from hell.

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Talking about the Shack was presented in November 2024.