"THE SHACK" AS THEODICY

In this bestselling work of fiction, a man
who is angry at God because of the kid-
napping and murder of his little girl is in-
vited to a weekend retreat in the woods,
where it turns out he is the only guest, and
is welcomed and waited on, hand and foot,,
by the three persons of the Trinity.

Lengthy discussions and demonstrations
ensue, in a situation reminiscent of the old
TV series "Fantasy Island." I kept expecting
a little person to pop up and yell, "the plane,
boss, the plane!"

The central message of the book is that God is
good, in spite of bad things that happen to
good people. It does take a powerful amount
of fantasy to bring this off, along with some
plain old dishonesty. These attempts to ex-
lain or justify the ways of God with men are
known as "theodicies." The most famous of
these, and justly so, are Milton's Paradise Lost,
and the Hindu Bhagavad Gita.

"The Shack" is not in that class. Not even close.
It uses Christian terminology and imagery, but
misrepresents the traditional doctrine of the
trinity, and embraces universalism (the teaching
that everyone will be "saved" in the end, regard-
less.) If the latter is true, there was no need for
Jesus to suffer and die an agonizing death for
our sins. But said death is a prominent feature
in this book.

In my view, the story is at cross-purposes: how
do you make a case for the goodness of God by
starting with the brutal murder of a child? That
spoiled the following fantasy for me. It remind-
ed me that a quarter of a million children die
everyday, worldwide. Starvation, HIV, and ma-
laria kill most of them, along with filthy or no
drinking water.

While the death of one child may be only a
speed bump on the way to explaining God, the
preventable deaths of ninety million kids a
year is a stone wall that can't be breached.
Sorry. It doesn't compute. No can do. It won't
wash. Case closed!

P. S. I'm not saying there is no God. I'm just
saying that God is beyond our understanding
or explaining. Attempts to explain God are for
children. This is a good kid story, for a 10-12
year old who has lost a playmate to death. As
for me, I hold the "blessed hope" that one day
it will all become clear.

comments appreciated.

jgoodwin004@centurytel.net