MixedThe Christian Broadcasting NetworkWhen the novel, The Shack, was released by author William Paul Young it created quite a controversy ... Some embraced the story as a creative depiction of how God works in our lives, while others dismissed it as “heresy” ... The book’s central character, Mack, receives a mysterious note signed by “Papa” inviting him to come to “the shack.” Papa is the name Mack’s wife affectionately uses for God, and the shack is a deserted cabin located deep in the wilderness ... It turns out the note is from God and Mack soon comes face to face with The Trinity ... God is Spirit and has no gender, even though the Bible often uses the pronoun "He" for God and describes him as a Father-figure ... The problem is that the author is attempting to describe the indescribable ... The Shack's depiction of God is an interesting portrait that isn’t meant to be taken literally as much as it is meant to capture many of the attributes of God that we read about in the Bible.
