Randal Rauser on The Shack

Cover of The Shack

Over the last year or so I have often heard William Paul Young’s novel The Shack compared to a cake with a teaspoon of arsenic in the batter. Given the book’s title, we might recast the warning in terms of a shack loaded with the theological equivalent of asbestos. Either way the lesson is the same: the book contains a number of heresies that could be theologically fatal, and so we had better stay away from it altogether.

As a professional theologian who has written a book on The Shack, I take this advice seriously. Nonetheless, I find it deeply misguided for three reasons.

To begin with, I find that this response has a troubling impact on the Christian mind. Whether the chosen analogy is an asbestos shack or an arsenic cake, the claim is the same: there is no way to read The Shack without being infected by the gross errors contained therein. But clearly this warning is spurious. When I eat an orange, I throw away the peel . Likewise, if I “consume” a book, I need not digest all of it. Even if The Shack contained some heresy, surely I could leave that behind and still benefit from that which is nourishing.

What is especially disturbing about the arsenic and asbestos analogies is that they discourage nuanced, critical thinking among Christians. Rather than helping us to test everything and hold on to that which is good (1 Thess. 5:21), they encourage simplistic all-or-nothing judgments. Either the book has all its theological ducks in a row or you shouldn’t read it at all. But very rarely is anything completely right or completely wrong. Children may see everything in terms of black and white, but becoming an adult means learning to navigate the grey.

Second, this advice misses the way The Shack has reoriented priorities. Every day I encounter Christians more interested in what they will do for the weekend than in the grand topics of Christian doctrine. How sad it is that we allow all sorts of trivialities to crowd out really important conversations. Now enter The Shack for whether you like it or not, it has undoubtedly led people to ask important questions about a range of pivotal issues ranging from the nature of God to the problem of evil. And that is a marvelous gift.

Finally, I find the charge of heresy in The Shack to be simply false. Since I make that point at length in my book Finding God in The Shack (Paternoster, 2009), I won’t rehearse the arguments here. But suffice it to say, charges that the book promotes “goddess worship” or “modalism” are so far off base that for the sake of charity I must assume those who make the charges did not really read the book.

To sum up, the Latins had a great phrase: “Sapere Aude” or “Dare to know”. Although this slogan can be abused, it remains a great piece of advice. Don’t let other people tell you what to think, whether that person is William Paul Young or his most fiery critics. Read for yourself, pray, reflect, and hold on to that which is true.

(Via The Christian Post)

Are there other thoughts on this book?  If you’ve read the book, do you agree or disagree with Rauser?

Dr. Doug Geivett’s Recommended Reading for Critical Thinking and Apologetics

Dr. Geivett, professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, lists several recommended books on critical thinking, logic, apologetics, and evangelism that he shares in his lecture “Apologetics in Your Home.”

My lecture on “Apologetics in Your Home” has been popular at conferences. During this presentation, I recommend the following books to parents:

• Isaac Watts, The Improvement of the Mind
• Isaac Watts, Logic: The Right Use of Reason in the Inquiry After Truth
• D. J. McInerny, Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking
  
• Tracy Bowell and Gary Kemp, Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide
• Colin Allen and Michael Hand, Logic Primer
• J. Budziszewski, Ask Me Anything: Provocative Answers for College Students
  
• J. Budziszewski, Ask Me Anything 2: More Provocative Answers for College Students
  
• John Dewey, How We Think
• Norman Geisler and David Geisler, Conversational Evangelism: How to Listen and Speak So You Can Be Heard

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) is best known as a great hymn writer. But his two books contain much timeless advice for the education of children in piety and critical thinking.

J. Budziszewski is a Christian author and professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas. He converted from Marxism to Christianity and has written these two books to guide Christian university students through the thickets of their “higher” educational experience.

American philosopher John Dewey (1859-1952) was a leading figure in the pragmatist movement in philosophy, and is well-known for his work on the philosophy of education. If used with caution, parents will find much wisdom in his book on How We Think.

Three books are listed here for the exceptional value they offer in areas related to logic and critical thinking. I recommend beginning with D. J. McInerny for an overview of issues related to the nature of truth, evidence, logic, and good judgment. The book by Bowell and Kemp is an excellent textbook—the best of breed, in my opinion. Parents should learn this material early, and lead their children through a close study of its principles before graduation from high school. The book by C. Allen and M. Hand is a useful reference work.

The book by Norman Geisler and David Geisler explains the challenges of relativism and postmodernism and offers practical advice for combining critical thinking with conversational skill in dialogue with nonbelievers.

Here are two additional books to consider: How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler, and Study Is Hard Work, by William Howard Armstrong.

Finally, for general wisdom on the cultivation of the mind, I highly recommend the classic by A. G. Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life.