The theological train wreck that once ruled the best seller lists is being made into a movie directed by Forrest Whitaker and is rumored to have cast Oprah Godfrey as God. If you have found yourself wondering "Someone cast a woman as God?" then consider yourself blessed, because that means that you haven't been exposed to the heresy of The Shack by William P. Young.
The fact that God the Father is a woman named Papa is just the first in a slew of unbiblical teachings of The Shack. The Shack is a Christian flavored work of fiction written by William P. Young who is not a member of a Christian church nor has any theological training. This lack of doctrinal discipline becomes apparent if you delve into the book.
The Shack is the story of a man diswraught over the kidnapping and murder of his daughter. He ends up at the shack where his daughter was murdered and ends up spending the weekend with three Christian Flavored beings who in the book are considered the Holy Trinity, but any bible believing Christian would immediately identify them as demonic entities.
I use the term "Christian Flavored" because it sounds like Christian teachings, but if you look at the list of ingredients, it's poison and having a female god is just the sugar coating. Nowhere in the bible does God the Father's identity as a male father come into question, He is always addressed as He and Him, and The Father by Jesus, his son. If you read the bible, the mentions of a goddess are generally Asherah (also called Astarte) and worship of her is always forbidden.
Jesus in The Shack is portrayed as a middle eastern Carpenter. This isn't too bad, by Jewish tradition everyone has a skill to fall back on in hard times, you generally learn your skill from your family. Peter was a fisherman before he became a minister, Paul was a tent maker before he became a rabbi/politician/preacher. Jesus was most likely trained as a carpenter by Joseph before he was called Rabbi. (John 3:2, John 6:25, Mark 9:5, Matthew 26:49) so a realistic visualization of Jesus would be of a rabbi complete with prayer shawl (It is thought by some to be the article of clothing in Mark 5:25–34)
The last member of the trio is Sayaru, an asian woman that is out of focus, (Sayaru is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning 'wind'.) this is meant to portray the Holy Spirit. Besides the obvious falsehoods (God cannot be seen John 4:6, the Holy Spirit does not take human form Matthew 3:16 and Acts 2:3) Michael Youssef points out that there are 13 glaring heresies that The Shack is built upon, each one has the potential to lead a follower away from Christ into an unbiblical New Age nightmare. With additional comment and reference they are:
1. God was crucified with Jesus. In the Shack Papa has scars on her wrists and feet. But it wasn't God who was crucified. To begin with God is a spirit (John 4:24) and has no hands and feet to scar (Luke 24:30). God surely felt the pain when Jesus was crucified but it was Jesus and Jesus alone who was murdered by the sheep he was sent to save. God did not die on the cross but watched as His plan for our salvation unfolded and suffered as His beloved son was tortured and murdered.
2. God is limited by His love and cannot practice justice. The bible clearly states over and over that God is just, God is holy, God is righteous, nowhere in the bible does it say God is blinded by love. If God cannot practice the justice He promised us then He is no longer just, or righteous, or holy because forgoing justice would be endorsing sin. In the bible God promises righteousness and justice to all (Hosea 2:19)
3. 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. This where a Christian should be looking for a fire to toss the book into. No where in the bible does it say this, in fact the bible states quite clearly that God only saves a chosen select few, the good news is that we are invited to join the few. (John 14:6)
4. Hierarchical structures, whether they are in the Church or in the government, are evil. The bible clearly states the opposite, that hierarchical structures exist in heaven (Philippians 2:5-8) and on earth they were instituted by God. (Romans 13:1-3) How can a God that is Holy institute something that is evil? He can't.
5. God will never judge people for their sins. Ummmm - Revelation 20:11-15
6. There is not a hierarchical structure in the Godhead, just a circle of unity. As I mentioned earlier, there is a hierarchy in heaven, the theology is called the Economic Trinity and is clearly and definitely scriptural.
7. God submits to human wishes and choices. Nowhere does the bible even hint that such a concept is valid. Our submission to God and His wishes and choices is mandatory: 1 Peter 5:6-7. If you love God you'll prove it to Him by doing what he says. John 14:15
8. Justice will never take place because of love. Everyone knows that if A = B and A = C then B = C, this is a true statement, we can also apply it to God. God = Love (1 John 4:8) and God = Justice (2 Thessalonians 1:6) then Love = Justice. What kind of loving God would ask us to love him if we want to be with him then turn around and say "Nahhh, come on in everybody!" Personally I'm not looking forward to sharing eternity with Josef Stalin unless he first accepted Jesus as his savior and repented of his sins, but here the author of The Shack is saying that unrepentant mass murderers will be joining us at God's table.
9. There is no such a thing as eternal judgment or torment in hell. To make such a claim is to call Jesus a liar. He clearly warned us about hell in Luke 12:5, Matthew 13:41-43, Matthew 25:41-43, and Mark 9:43-45. Instead of thanking Jesus for the warning, Paul Young denies Jesus.
10. Jesus is walking with all people in their different journeys to God, and it doesn't matter which way you get to Him. This is new age feel-good propaganda straight from the pit of hell. Jesus clearly and plainly said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one will come to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). It is safe to say that one way or another we will all come before God, that meeting is outlined in Revelation 20:11-15
11. Jesus is constantly being transformed along with us. Another new age fabrication made up to deceive the unwary. Jesus is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8) Jesus' own brother verifies this: (James 1:17)
12. There is no need for faith or reconciliation with God because everyone will make it to heaven. Again, another new age lie made up to make sinners feel that the doing the bidding of Satan is perfectly fine. Jesus said, “Only those who believe in me will have eternal life” (John 3:15, 3:36, 5:24, 6:40)
13. The Bible is not true because it reduces God to paper. Finally the entire reason for writing The Shack: the desire to attack, belittle, and defame the very word of God. The bible is inspired by God: 2 Timothy 3:16, Jesus himself clearly stated that scripture comes to us from the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:36). Not just the words but the interpretation of the words is inspired by God (2 Peter 1:20-21)
The strong Christian will spot these heresies right off, and one who reads the bible but is still new will probably not even notice. They're buried in long, rambling (and generally boring) conversations that sound good, and much of the stuff is good - there's talk about developing relationships with God which is good, there's talk about God's love which is great, but then these sweet sounding statements sneak into the conversation and the unbeliever, the weak Christian, the new Christian will swallow them up thinking they're taking in a discussion of scripture when instead they're drinking poison from the pit of hell.
Don't burn this book, but if it's around highlight the heresies within. Use it as a teaching tool to show how Satan can use what sounds like a message from God to be instead a whisper from a demon. In short order you'll understand how Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, and Rob Bell have led thousands of souls astray.
The Shack is the story of a man diswraught over the kidnapping and murder of his daughter. He ends up at the shack where his daughter was murdered and ends up spending the weekend with three Christian Flavored beings who in the book are considered the Holy Trinity, but any bible believing Christian would immediately identify them as demonic entities.
I use the term "Christian Flavored" because it sounds like Christian teachings, but if you look at the list of ingredients, it's poison and having a female god is just the sugar coating. Nowhere in the bible does God the Father's identity as a male father come into question, He is always addressed as He and Him, and The Father by Jesus, his son. If you read the bible, the mentions of a goddess are generally Asherah (also called Astarte) and worship of her is always forbidden.
Jesus in The Shack is portrayed as a middle eastern Carpenter. This isn't too bad, by Jewish tradition everyone has a skill to fall back on in hard times, you generally learn your skill from your family. Peter was a fisherman before he became a minister, Paul was a tent maker before he became a rabbi/politician/preacher. Jesus was most likely trained as a carpenter by Joseph before he was called Rabbi. (John 3:2, John 6:25, Mark 9:5, Matthew 26:49) so a realistic visualization of Jesus would be of a rabbi complete with prayer shawl (It is thought by some to be the article of clothing in Mark 5:25–34)
The last member of the trio is Sayaru, an asian woman that is out of focus, (Sayaru is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning 'wind'.) this is meant to portray the Holy Spirit. Besides the obvious falsehoods (God cannot be seen John 4:6, the Holy Spirit does not take human form Matthew 3:16 and Acts 2:3) Michael Youssef points out that there are 13 glaring heresies that The Shack is built upon, each one has the potential to lead a follower away from Christ into an unbiblical New Age nightmare. With additional comment and reference they are:
1. God was crucified with Jesus. In the Shack Papa has scars on her wrists and feet. But it wasn't God who was crucified. To begin with God is a spirit (John 4:24) and has no hands and feet to scar (Luke 24:30). God surely felt the pain when Jesus was crucified but it was Jesus and Jesus alone who was murdered by the sheep he was sent to save. God did not die on the cross but watched as His plan for our salvation unfolded and suffered as His beloved son was tortured and murdered.
2. God is limited by His love and cannot practice justice. The bible clearly states over and over that God is just, God is holy, God is righteous, nowhere in the bible does it say God is blinded by love. If God cannot practice the justice He promised us then He is no longer just, or righteous, or holy because forgoing justice would be endorsing sin. In the bible God promises righteousness and justice to all (Hosea 2:19)
3. 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. This where a Christian should be looking for a fire to toss the book into. No where in the bible does it say this, in fact the bible states quite clearly that God only saves a chosen select few, the good news is that we are invited to join the few. (John 14:6)
4. Hierarchical structures, whether they are in the Church or in the government, are evil. The bible clearly states the opposite, that hierarchical structures exist in heaven (Philippians 2:5-8) and on earth they were instituted by God. (Romans 13:1-3) How can a God that is Holy institute something that is evil? He can't.
5. God will never judge people for their sins. Ummmm - Revelation 20:11-15
6. There is not a hierarchical structure in the Godhead, just a circle of unity. As I mentioned earlier, there is a hierarchy in heaven, the theology is called the Economic Trinity and is clearly and definitely scriptural.
7. God submits to human wishes and choices. Nowhere does the bible even hint that such a concept is valid. Our submission to God and His wishes and choices is mandatory: 1 Peter 5:6-7. If you love God you'll prove it to Him by doing what he says. John 14:15
8. Justice will never take place because of love. Everyone knows that if A = B and A = C then B = C, this is a true statement, we can also apply it to God. God = Love (1 John 4:8) and God = Justice (2 Thessalonians 1:6) then Love = Justice. What kind of loving God would ask us to love him if we want to be with him then turn around and say "Nahhh, come on in everybody!" Personally I'm not looking forward to sharing eternity with Josef Stalin unless he first accepted Jesus as his savior and repented of his sins, but here the author of The Shack is saying that unrepentant mass murderers will be joining us at God's table.
9. There is no such a thing as eternal judgment or torment in hell. To make such a claim is to call Jesus a liar. He clearly warned us about hell in Luke 12:5, Matthew 13:41-43, Matthew 25:41-43, and Mark 9:43-45. Instead of thanking Jesus for the warning, Paul Young denies Jesus.
10. Jesus is walking with all people in their different journeys to God, and it doesn't matter which way you get to Him. This is new age feel-good propaganda straight from the pit of hell. Jesus clearly and plainly said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one will come to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). It is safe to say that one way or another we will all come before God, that meeting is outlined in Revelation 20:11-15
11. Jesus is constantly being transformed along with us. Another new age fabrication made up to deceive the unwary. Jesus is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8) Jesus' own brother verifies this: (James 1:17)
12. There is no need for faith or reconciliation with God because everyone will make it to heaven. Again, another new age lie made up to make sinners feel that the doing the bidding of Satan is perfectly fine. Jesus said, “Only those who believe in me will have eternal life” (John 3:15, 3:36, 5:24, 6:40)
13. The Bible is not true because it reduces God to paper. Finally the entire reason for writing The Shack: the desire to attack, belittle, and defame the very word of God. The bible is inspired by God: 2 Timothy 3:16, Jesus himself clearly stated that scripture comes to us from the Holy Spirit (Mark 12:36). Not just the words but the interpretation of the words is inspired by God (2 Peter 1:20-21)
The strong Christian will spot these heresies right off, and one who reads the bible but is still new will probably not even notice. They're buried in long, rambling (and generally boring) conversations that sound good, and much of the stuff is good - there's talk about developing relationships with God which is good, there's talk about God's love which is great, but then these sweet sounding statements sneak into the conversation and the unbeliever, the weak Christian, the new Christian will swallow them up thinking they're taking in a discussion of scripture when instead they're drinking poison from the pit of hell.
Don't burn this book, but if it's around highlight the heresies within. Use it as a teaching tool to show how Satan can use what sounds like a message from God to be instead a whisper from a demon. In short order you'll understand how Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, and Rob Bell have led thousands of souls astray.
Oprah Winfrey as God? Why does this not surprise me? All narcissists believe the whole universe revolves around them so this is only a natural extension of that belief.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, the Windblown Media Group who published this novel have a lot to answer for. If you have ever seen the videos on Youtube with Wayne Jacobsen trying to give Emergent answers to New Age questions about God and Hell etc, you will realise that this whole thing is about getting published, or in the case of this film, getting broadcast. It is about making money, having power, and being influential. These people are agents of change, and they are doing a darn good job of it.
I read WIndblown Media's page "Is the Shack Heresy" written by Wayne Jacobsen. His argument for the fact that God is portrayed as a woman is that "God as a spirit has no gender". God calls himself Father. I would have thought that was gender enough for anyone. The rest of his argument against heresy is not terribly well thought out and frankly very patronising. It appears that anyone who criticises the Shack is either a coward or an idiot.
Portraying God as female then naming him/her "Papa" shows the utter confusion in William P. Young's soul... or the fact that the poorly schooled will scoop it up like free ice cream. In these final days when gender-bending is more important to the weak than worship, naming a woman Papa guarantees booksales. Had Mr. Young wanted to draw those of us that have read our bibles into his fantasy and had he done any research at all he would have named his false deity psudo-god Shekinah.
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