Theophanies and The Shack

Since my last blog about The Shack, I’ve read several reviews of it. One by Katherine Jeffrey, entitled "I Am Not Who You Think I Am," ran in the January/February 2010 issue of Books&Culture. One statement there struck a chord with me: “Theophany is strictly circumscribed in Christian literary tradition." Thus over the years religious authors have not been allowed to include speeches by God in their works. Jeffrey discusses some minor exceptions to that rule in Medieval literature and some egregious violations in recent films such as O, God!, Dogma and Evan Almighty.

I had an encounter with this principle in a preaching class in seminary. One of my sermons featured a dialogue with God in which I played His part as well as the person to whom He was speaking. Though I certainly tried to make my words consistent with the scriptures, they were not from holy writ. I foolishly thought that my dialogue would be an effective rhetorical tool; my preaching professor thought otherwise. The message I received was that I should never play the part of God in a sermon or anywhere else for that matter. It is not a safe or prudent practice.

When I read Jeffrey's dictum about theophanies in literature, I thought back to my seminary experience. I also recalled my reaction, a few years later, witnessing Morgan Freeman play the part of God in Bruce Almighty. Horrors! More recently, I admit that I have become desensitized and watched Evan Almighty without my previous strong aversion. Now, after reading Jeffrey's reminder, my appropriate sensitivity has been restored.

As Jeffrey points out, "The Shack breaks all the rules." "There are no significant Christian literary precedents for Young's exuberant representation of the Godhead." In case you haven't read the book, I note that all three persons of the Trinity have much to say in it. I consider the dialogues by Papa, Jesus and Sarayu with Mack to be one man's attempt to give greater weight to his own beliefs about "the problem of pain." He does so by using characters who represent God, and that is dangerous business.

If Young were here he might respond with a query about what Lewis was doing with Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia. Aren't Aslan's appearances theophanies? I would have to admit that Lewis came as close as he could to the line without crossing it. Here is what Lewis had to say about Aslan in a letter to some fifth grade students: "You are mistaken when you think that everything in the books 'represents' something in this world. Things do that in The Pilgrim's Progress but I'm not writing in that way. I did not say to myself 'Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia': I said 'Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as He became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would happen.' If you think about it, you will see that it is quite a different thing." Lewis's success has been verified by millions of readers, both by those who have seen resemblances to Christ in Aslan as well as those who haven't.

Lewis did something similar in the Chronicles to what Young has done in The Shack, but Lewis remained within bounds of Christian orthodoxy both in method and in message. In fact, I consider The Chronicles of Narnia to be so effective and accurate that they are able to function as a Mere Christianity for younger readers.

There are many vantage points from which to evaluate The Shack. The one I have noted from Jeffrey's review is enough to make my theological Geiger counter (as another seminary professor used to say) tick loudly and clearly.

"The Gift of Love"

One of the blessings of listening to classical music stations is that they often broadcast some of the most beautiful music ever written and performed for the glory of God.

I was inspired to write this short entry because of one such blessing. My favorite station played a beautiful performance of "The Gift of Love." The sacred text was inspired by 1 Corinthians 13; the tune is a beautiful English melody. What a wonderful example of God's common grace: that I would be able to worship God via a secular, publicly funded, music station.

Here are the lyrics to the hymn "The Gift of Love."

Though I may speak with bravest fire, / and have the gift to all inspire, / and have not love, my words are vain, / as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess, / and striving so my love profess, / but not be given by love within, / the profit soon turns strangely thin.

Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control, / our spirits long to be made whole. / Let inward love guide every deed; / by this we worship, and are freed.

I wish I could replicate the music here, but I'll simply refer you to my favorite hymnal Worship & Rejoice selection #397 or you can order the album, titled "Our Love" from Amazon.com.

The Shack and the Search

I am in the middle of my first and, I hope, only reading of The Shack by William P. Young. I will suspend judgment until I finish the book--but I am gravely suspicious. I also have been in search of a review of the book by an orthodox seasoned literary critic from an Evangelical liberal arts college. Spending a few minutes searching the Internet, so far, has yielded only sympathetic reviews from younger, less qualified folks than the type previously mentioned.

But while searching for such reviews I landed on a sight I am very interested in. It's called The Search written by Brett McCracken, a self-proclaimed Christian Hipster. I was drawn-in by his review of Toy Story 3 which I found to be convincing and well written. Then I took Brett's test (on his Christian Hipster Bookshelf page) to see if I am a Christian Hipster. I didn't pass the test but I have read, and regularly recommend, several of the books on his list. I would use a more conservative, yet also easily misunderstood, title to describe myself: Christian Humanist.

Then, by rummaging around Brett's sight some more, I discovered that he wrote the cover story for the September 2010 issue of Christianity Today titled "The Ironic World of Hipster Faith." I was initially offended by the cover of that issue (see above) especially since I have recently been drawn to, dare I say it, the veneration of Christians Icons. But now that I know a little more about the author, I'm tempted to take a new look at the article.

I realize that this blog post is not focused. It's very "stream of consciousness." But I have a purpose: I want to point out that I have added The Search to my Recommended Sites. I also am interested in finding helpful reviews of The Shack. So please let me know if you are aware of any reviews that 1) consider the literary value of the book, 2) consider the theology of the book from the perspective of Christian history, and 3) are written by people over forty years of age.

"Remember, All Music Was Once New"

One of the daily segments I listen to on WXXI, my favorite National Public Radio station, is a program called the Composer's Datebook. It is a daily two-minute summary of significant events in the history of musical composition. As the broadcast comes to an end I know the announcer will remind us that "all music was once new."

I often think that would be a good slogan for church leaders to repeat often, or print in the bulletin, to ward off negative attitudes among those who complain simply because we're singing a hymn or chorus they haven't heard before.