Overall Response to the Book The Shack - Coursework Example

The author's portrayal of the trinity in human form (William 97) is in deep contrast to my belief; Father, referred to as Papa throughout the novel, Holy Spirit, referred to as Sarayu, and Jesus portrayed as a middle-aged man. I feel this is an insult to Christian teachings as this equal humanizing God which I find unacceptable. My understanding is that the novel does not relate closely to the scripture teachings. It is missing out on religious doctrines which have been observed since time immemorial.

Through centering on salvation and trinity, passionately rejecting the cessations view on scripture which Mack was taught at the seminary (Briana 34) I feel there was some bias from the authors’ viewpoint.  Mack had been taught that God stopped communication with the humans; all He wanted was for them to read and follow his Scripture (Brianna 27). Through reading this, I feel the novel is out to repel and challenge the undisputable church doctrines. I do not agree with the author's approach here though he might have been trying to communicate a different message.

I conquer the author’s argument of a God who speaks with us in our thoughts rather than paper, for instance, the bible (Roger 117). This revelation is subjective, that is the reason why the author goes ahead to assure us that humans should learn to recognize and understand the Holy Spirit as we grow in our Christian life. The Holy Spirit's relationship with humans should always come first before adherence to the written scriptures (William 65-69). 

 The author has little regard for the church and other institutions. He explains this by his character Mack who indisposing in the seminary, he had little understanding of God which contributed to his living in sadness following his daughter's (Briana 47). I feel this is in contrast with reality as those who attend seminaries gain a deeper understanding of God and use this knowledge to teach others.

I believe all violence is evil. God is love and we are supposed to love each other. How can I love someone and sacrifice his or her life as portrayed by the death of Mack's daughter? (Roger 129) I believe God loves all children because they are innocent and pure in spirit. I don’t agree that the events that led to the death of Mack’s daughter were planned by God. God is a just God who does not rejoice in the suffering of his children. How could he then allow Mack's family to endure the pain of losing they are loved ones as a way of communicating with mankind?

Reading this novel has challenged my spiritual maturity greatly. I seek to understand the reason why mankind learns about God from past manuscripts. I now believe mankind can have a personal relationship with God and this way he will understand God better and learn the truth about Him. This novel has challenged me to learn about Eastern religion which emphasizes personal development (Brianna 29) because I agree with the author's view that for me to become a member of the church, all I need is to start sharing life. How best would I be able to share life with fellow mankind if I don’t have a relationship with myself before establishing a relationship with others? (William 167) I now perceive God to be helpful to all humanity as opposed to One who fights for His people. I now understand we are all God's people even though one is a Christian or not.

No matter the relationship between God the FSoner, son, and holy spirit, this novel has ascertained my belief that Almighty, Master who can put himself at the human level and He Has no limits (Briana, 57). I acknowledge that how God enters into a relationship with human beings is a mystery beyond human comprehension. I strongly do not agree with the novel portrayal of a human God. I believe in a Supreme God who is exalted way up to humans. The relationship of the trinity in this novel is cloudy thus I cannot comprehend.

Conclusion

This novel approach to humanizing God and giving portraying the Trinity in human form is contradictory to my belief and I see it as a form of idolatry. I perceive the author to be advocating for idolatry and I believe he had a motive behind it during the publication of this book. My concepts and perception about God are similar to the authors’ argument on a small scale. I believe strongly in the written Holy Scripture and everything else in this novel which contradicts It serves only as food for thought for me (Roger 199).