Sin

The "god" of the Shack states:

You don't need me at all to create your list of good and evil. But you do need me if you have any desire to stop such an insane lust for independence.... Mackenzie, evil is a word we use to describe the absence of good, just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of light. ...evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence.” p 136

Evil has no actual existence? Take a concordance and look up how many times the words "evil" and "sin" are found in the New Testament alone! I did that and my computerized concordance search results for "evil" included the word devil. How appropriate!

The book rejects all accountability for sin. The black female says that "she" is instead about "curing" sin. A "cure" that comes with teddy-bear hugs, rather than repentance. A "cure" without atonement, without all that the real Jesus was all about.


Mr. Young, God alone has the authority to define sin and evil, and God does not sugar-coat these words. Evil is more than the absence of good. Evil is rebellion. Evil began with Satan's REBELLION against God. And Satan's next move was to draw Adam to do the same.

"Yea, hath GOD said ...?"

Yes, Mr. Young, God DID say!

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Does The God Of Love Punish Sin?

I am not who you think I am, Mackenzie. I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It is not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.’” p 119-120

In other words, God's going to make everything all better, so the atonement was unnecessary. There is no mention of hell in the book, of course, because its god is only a god of love and he's going to make everything GOOD, you see, thus the book's elimination of hell as the final place for the rebellious. And now we have a completely different ending to the wonderful story of redemption, versus the results of rejecting the Gospel.

But oh no, there IS indeed judgment, there IS indeed punishment, and there IS indeed a hell:
"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!"
Luke 12:4-5