Peter Goldman Job is, in a sense, a foreshadowing of the persecution righteous christians would have to face, and it's also a testament of God's trust in mankind, as He allows Job's suffering to prove a point to the Enemy. Ever watched The Dark Knight (2008)? Imagine if it was Batman that gave the trigger to the bombs in the boats to the passengers because he trusted they'd male the right decision. The Enemy is like the Joker. Specially when proven wrong, all he can do is attempt to destroy the vulnerable parties involved a.k.a. us.

@@RUSTSy Jesus also did nothing. He was a scapegoat.

@@lalaithan only in a Protestant understanding. Jesus is not a scapegoat Jesus doesn’t take on our sins in our place but rather pays for them on the cross. There is a difference between penal substitution (what you’re talking about) and satisfaction theory More so both of those are a tad different from the orthodox perspective

@@RUSTSy the point of a Job is that God permits things to happen for greater goods and we can’t persevere that sometimes because we’re not omniscient but he is. I would even say the Gospel ads even more so to that point, as an ex atheist I used to ask “why would a God punish infinitely for finite transgressions.” However one can now flip that logic here and ask What is finite transgressions to the infinite reward of heaven? Anything bad that has ever happened, God can and will undo (in a sense). We just gotta get there.

sanchmargar I did this!

Sanchmarger, Being a novel and being that I know my Bible, I appreciated the different take the author presented. Too many critics act like it’s heresy and the author never presented it as a historical novel such as the DaVinci Code, which was serious heresy. Shalom

And, are you a Christian?

Be careful with that, Christianity is not always what you see in movies

jeffreydebra1 I saw the heart of the father in the book and movie. I find it sad to see so many reviews by people focused on everything but the spirit and the message. People nowadays have no time to spend with the spirit so they twist and defile the message by leaning to their own understanding.

Absolutely Burton, Paul portrays the God he found in his own dark night of the soul and I find it a wonderful portrayal of the Trinity, which 40 odd years of strict teaching in a fundamental church never gave me. I just feel so much closer to Jesus, and to the Father and the Holy Spirit... they are now my life, not just icons on a wall.

Bravo Bishop Robert! You are an epitome if spiritual intelligence. You have spoken well of our God. It's been seven years since you posted this, glad taking the time rereading and listening to your comments over and over again. You see, I'm always open for correction. This is the best way to learn about God. Kindly teach me more!

Bishop Robert Barron I believe your commentary was done very well sir. With all the different denominations of Christianity, there’s a great deal of confusion and even conflict among God’s children. But I will say as a Christian, I don’t believe God’s law goes against his grace. I believe they do work hand in hand. I have heard people talk about that stating Christ came and changed everything. I don’t believe that though, I believe he simplified the law. If we do as Christ told us we would be within the law. We should love God with all our heart, our mind, and our spirit; and we should love one another as he loves us. He even showed love to those who crucified him setting an example of how we should be.

god bless you father the church needs more like you.

Horse crap. This is esoteric smoke and mirrors and sounds more like the new age mysticism teachings than anything in the bible. Jesus, isn't some icon. Nor is God a "play" three beings. It's real, not a story, not a concept, not an iconic revelation. Jesus Christ is a person. The Holy Spirit is a person. the Father God is a person, . . .one God. God is love, yes, . . .but Luciferians are big preachers of love and peace and unity. . . looking forward to the antichrist that will unite the "church" on earth, yet their "love" their 'christ' is a false one. I take issue with this garbage generalist and esoteric breakdown of truth because the vocabulary and truth of scripture is being hijacked by Satan and decieve unsaved people like yourself preach a counterfeit Jesus. Now this may be innocent misunderstanding on your part, but it's clear indication that you do not know the gospel or the living Lord, Jesus Christ. This rhetoric is sweet to the religious who hide behind the illusion of abstractions and the false hope that "love" is feeling that makes all people justified before God. . . .but it's not true. "essense of God" . . .what is that a new fragrance? Jesus said, "I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through me." He spoke literal truths, not whispy flits of ambiguous garbage. He said all sorts of wild divisive stuff, like. . ."don't think that I came to bring peace, but a sword" . . . your enemies will be the members of your own household. A father will turn a son over to be killed, a child their parents, etc. You really need to read the Word, get saved and stop preaching a false gospel . . . .because it not only leads other people to hell by decieving them on the requirements for salvation, . . but your eternal soul will spend an eternity in hell. I share this with you out of love. Yes, . . .L O V E. The same love that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees calling them sons of Satan, and brood of snakes, liars because their father was a liar. And they in their pious knowledge and misconceptions about what love really looked like, decided to eliminate Jesus. So they killed him for speaking the truth, . . . IN LOVE. You fall for Paul Youngs teachings, and the antichrist messages in THE SHACK, because the devil comes as an angel of light and he decieves those who do not have a love of the truth in them. Did you know that only 4% of professing Christians have read the Bible. Did you know that only a fraction of those that have read the bible actually believe the fundamental truths about what it teaches. . . .YET THEY THINK THEY ARE CHRISTIANS. HOW can a person dismiss God's requirement for salvation and reject basic truth and be saved. Want to know the answer? They can't.

@@DT175Enduro Amén! I was looking for someone that thought like me! very deceiving! May God continue to use you!

take from any book that which u can use, and discard the rest.

PREACH!!!

You are brainwashed.

dvalahelvete yeah I know...it changed my life for the Good though...no more anxiety or depression...so what's wrong with that! No need for medication or therapy 💖...sending you love and hope to experience the euphoric joy in Jesus! “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1:21-22, 25, 27-28‬ ‭NLT‬‬ bible.com/116/1co.1.21-22,25,27-28.nlt

Good for you. You could link verses from the quran as well. Or any other religious books. It's not real.

dvalahelvete yes you can because we worship the same Father...they are Judeo rooted....it really is amazing when one ponders on it....have you read the Bible in its entirety? If you have have you studied? If you have not than it would be ignorant...in my humble opinion to critique what one does not know.

dvalahelvete by the way...I'm not a Trump supporter....I was a Bernie girl for whatever that's worth toward any Christian preconceived notions u may have 😉

Edward kirkhope Would that everyone had your breadth of spirit.

Balogna. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through me." Can you comprehend that? God gave us his perfect inspired Word in the Bible. Read it and you can absolutely know God. Yes, he's bigger than us, but the message of the Bible is that we not only can know the truth and facts about God, but we can and MUST have a living relationship with Him in order to be saved. Jesus said, you must be born again. Nicodemus responded, "how can I be born again, I can't enter my mother's womb". . . . Go find a bible and read it my dear. You will find Jesus clear and definitive answer and many more definitive truths.

@@DT175Enduro Sola Scriptura isn't the right way my dear

@@gabrielv8767 If Jesus is the living Word and also the way, the truth and the life, than yes... in conclusion "Sola Scriptura" is the only right way!

You’ve said well. No doctrine whatsoever, and doctrine matters.

There's your trouble...you need to look to a risen Christ. That is where the old order was removed, and the New order given through the gift of the Holy Spirit. I don't in any way mean to lessen the work of Jesus on the cross, but that was only a part of it. Had He not risen, then we would all have died in our sins.

I don't look at Christ crucified every day, I remember He was crucified for us and look to Him in all His glory, strength, power, triumph, Lordship, and grace up in heaven no longer suffering for us! Look at the risen Christ or you are looking at an imaginary Christ!

I suggest two resources for you to read. The first is paragraphs 15 & 16 of the V2 document, "Lumen Gentium". The second is the 2009 article, "Can Non-Catholics Be Saved?" by Mark Shea, which is on the Catholicity site. Hope this helps, God bless.

Yes, well said.

Yes true...

The depiction of God the Father as a motherly black woman was interesting just because it was completely opposite of the traditional imposing bearded older man that's become the standard.

@@JLovrak And yet to be honest. God does not have a gender. And he has never appeared to anyone.

I liked it but i can completely understand where you're coming from. A bit too much new age for me but still a good flick

@@kingston163 How can a protestant do "biblical theology" if he can't know which books to include in the bible?

Jhomel Dela Cruz: Discard The Shack & read the Holy Bible! The Bible is the ONLY book where you'll find TRUTH!

Jhomel Dela Cruz Yes, please do NOT read this terrible book. Just read the Bible. You will not understand it in the beginning. But, as God draws you to see Himself through Jesus, you will begin to see that we are all sinners. But, that through repentance and believing that Jesus is our Savior we can be saved from our destiny in hell. And when we start to understand the deep deep love of God, we will begin to worship Him, and trust Him, and obey Him by the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is who reveals the truth of the Word of God to us. So, once you have repented and turned to obedience in Christ Jesus then the Holy Spirit will begin to truly open to you the wisdom of God’s Word in Scriptures. Those who are not believers can not truly understand and that’s how we get false teachers.

Because people are simple and easily distracted

Lutherans are Protestant.

He means nobody carries the complete truth unless he is Jesus Christ. Nobody has figured it all out except for Jesus. He is the Truth. And about us.. We might have our objective things and looks in our life. And we really need to be humble to realize that all of us are "little bit of heretics" in a sesne, because nobody of us has covered it all. This is one of the reasons we need each other.. God made people dependent. We are His Body and there's something about relationship. There's no any guy having 100% pure perfect theology but Jesus Christ is Perfect Theology. So you have to have some filters on, while digesting even christian information, whoever that guy, priest, preacher, teacher or theologian is. I think that's what he means.

IImar Meldre The Bible is God's perfect Word of truth!! If we stick w/ reading that, studying that & meditating on scripture, as Jesus Himself did, then we don't need any filter. As for The Shack, it's loaded w/ New Ageism even depicting the Holy God as a female diety, much as Wiccans and other systems of the occult do. This is a dangerous book/movie and has the potential to create a stumbling block for the saved & the unsaved. Remember what Jesus had to say about that: “If anyone causes one of these little ones-those who believe in me-to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!"

OK. You worship the Bible, I worship the Jesus and the perfect Word of God. Not the words about the Word. Yes, I love the Bible, but I don't worship my worship of God or my interpreation of the Bible as any one others. The Shack is not loaded with New Ageism, this says person, who does not understand the topic and the theme of this book. If you don't like it, just don't read it, but please don't write stupid things here. God is not female, nor is He male, but He can show as some.. for example He became flesh and He lives in us all, whether we like it or not. Despite what New Age and occult and fundamental evangelical christianity believes in. There's no such thing as "unsaved" in the New Testament. It sounds really excluding, as if you determine everyone on hell and decide for them and ignore the finished work of the Cross, the Grace of God that is able to save every human being. "unsaved" is bad term in evangelical christianity. There's only those, who believe, those, who accepted and those who did not accept. We don't get saved by our prayers and repentances and good works.. it's all God's work. And of course you just put the Bible verse here, but it doesn't prove your saying is write, you can put it together, but that does not always mean your point or your interpretation is right. That's the thing. I have read the Shack and read it again. I know what New Age teaches and it's a big difference. I love this fiction, just as I love parables, dark sayings and symbols, through which God spoke thourghout the Bible and I have seen how the Love of God touched people through this book. If so, then God is really behind it, and He is great to do it, and He alone deserves Glory! And I don't care what haters say.. most of them haven't even read the book or put their own ideas that author does not say, it's easy, just misinterpret someone and label him or her as a heretic, so you can send it all together to hell. BUT HEY, WHERE'S THE GOSPEL IN THAT? I haven't seen!

IImar Meldre: "But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" - 2 Corinthians10:3-5 I'm addressing this prayerfully & w/ grace in my heart, not contentiously; neither as legalistic nor a Pharisee. That said, I will advise people that The Shack is flooded w/ New Age teachings! Followers of the New Age movement are absolutely embracing this movie b/c it illustrates much of their belief system. I am someone who not only has been through very horrific and very tragic life lessons; I am also someone who was immersed in New Ageism & as such am well aware of the manner in which they appeal to your emotions then offer a solution to your pain or fear or harmful memories, lifting New Age above Jesus and every other belief system; offering emotional back pats to those of you who they'll claim are now more evolved, more spiritually aware b/c you've bought into the lie. And their approach is ALWAYS very subtle, just like the serpent who beguiled Adam and Eve w/ a mere question. And just like The Shack, New Age incorporates metaphors in their teachings. "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."- Galatians 5:9 Just a little false teaching & a little more & a little more...chipping away at the truth until as the Apostle Paul said, "they've exchanged the truth for a lie." Someone asked what if The Shack causes someone to walk into church for the first time? What if?? What if it causes them to seek out one of the many churches preaching false doctrine & a false Jesus as The Shack does? And what if it causes many to fall away b/c they're embracing this other gospel & drawn only to churches teaching the false Christ? "For there shall arise false Christs" Jesus said, "they shall deceive the very elect." It's up to us to pray for wisdom & discernment lest we be ensnared by the world's philosophies & vain imaginations! And it's up to us to pray for people involved in New Age and other branches of the occult. We should be the salt & light, presenting the truth to them just as Jesus Christ shared that truth w/ the disciples. Forgiveness & love are what heals all of anyone's pain as Jesus Christ demonstrated throughout His teachings & on the cross. Forgiveness is often a process and sometimes love is too, nevertheless our Heavenly Father in ALL of His divine wisdom designed them to complement each other & to wield powerfully when demonstrated in our own lives. He truly is the Great Physician!

Here is unsaved Jesus said except you repent you will likewise perish and he was talking about souls

Margaret Delisi Actually Margaret, what really matters is that you understand that God cannot be portrayed. Check out #2 of the Ten Commandments. Feeling warm and fuzzy is blinding you to the truth.

I agree 100% with you Margaret!!---Paul Young has said over and over that the book/story is FICTION and not 100% true to the bible. As with everything now days, people have to make something out of nothing and are finding lots of faults about the book.. I loved the book!!---haven't seen the movie. I loved the way the author made those 3 people to be the trinity. It was very entertaining and humorous. I envied Mack being able to walk on water with Jesus and talk to him like he was a good friend just hanging out having fun with. I believe that in order to really get into and enjoy the book, if you truly are a follower of Jesus and have studied him and accept him in your heart, you will totally enjoy the book---haven't seen the movie!

scmarriner-------That was meant for REAL life scenario-----NOT a fiction book

It's FICTION!

Margaret Delisi Margaret please read the Bible God is not an overweight Black woman and Jesus is the ONLY way to God.

Well, that might be because a protestant wrote it.

Thank you for that Gloria, Paul explains through Abba in the beginning that if a tall old man with white hair and a beard had appeared to Mack on the doorstep, he would probably have run. I am Very disappointed, that the so called critics are so obsessed with the characters, that they are missing the real message in the dialogue. I am sure all who read this valuable book will realise that it is fiction, but fiction with a point to it. Avenel Grace, Adelaide Sth Aust.

Okay, I get poetic license. I don't get the nonsense that GOD does not punish when scripture is filled with GOD, HIS prophets and YESHUA HA MASHIACH JESUS our SAVIOR our MESSIAH stating; GOD will punish sin!! YESHUA hanging on the cross was punishment for sin. You can't take poetic license on that point, and to deny it is to lie! sin.

That's not true. It's listed as fiction, the author clearly and routinely says it is fiction.

Robert Hernandez It wasn't for thrills. You might read further for context before commenting.

Jugglable yes yes!