Two things that bothered me about "The Shack"

When I was in Ghana last time I read the popular novel, "The Shack". Shortly before I left, my dentist had told me it was about meeting The Holy Trinity. Sounding intriguing. Soon I got caught up in a very compelling and heart-warming story. I had advance warning that God was portrayed as a woman, so that wasn't shocking, and I recognize besides authority qualities that we recognize as male, God also has nurturing qualities that we usually identify as being female. Through most of the book, the thing that bothered me most was the depiction of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't that He was an Asiatic female. It was the half unreal, fairy-like quality that disturbed me.
I also noticed that God was all kindness and love, and His authority and judgment were overlooked.

But the thing that bothered me at the most came at the end of the book. After the author had resolved the issue in such a heart-tugging way, came the shocker that what happened wasn't real--well, not totally real. Well, maybe partly real. Not real in an historical way that it really happened. The author encourages us to believe it was real in some other sort of way that is never really defined. Francis Schaeffer! Hold still in your grave! This bothered me a lot because it amounted, in my opinion, to a redefining of reality. It was as if something could be real and not real at the same time, true and not true equally together. Francis Schaeffer! Your bones are shaking!

This week I listened to other critiques of the book on Janet Parshall's radio show, "In the Market". Many problems were discussed, but to me the problem of reality is still the most troubling of them all. After you've redefined reality, you can redefine anything and everything else without impunity.