Summary of Chapter 7
The 7th 'lie' confronted is that 'God is more he than she'. The chapter contains an amazing story of a baby born in 1946 weighing just 1 pound. Through the risky (against the orders of the Doctor) love of a teenage nurse (Young's mother, Bernice), this baby boy (Harold) survived, grew up to become a minister, and many years later was re-united with and became a close friend of Bernice! When Bernice began to read The Shack she concluded that her son was a heretic (because of the depiction of God the Father as a woman), but correspondence with Harold led her to change her mind and realize that God is not less feminine than masculine. The Bible (as does The Shack) depicts God in a multitude of images (some masculine, some feminine, some animal, some inanimate object). None of this imagery is meant to define God, but to give us a window through which to see aspects of God's character.
Reaction
In this chapter, Young addresses the controversy which arose from his portrayal, in The Shack, of God the Father as a black woman. The story he tells is an amazing one, no doubt. And I think his point is strong. He recognizes that his depiction of God in The Shack was startling to some, but he is right to declare that God is not 'male'. He's right that "the image of God in us is not less feminine than masculine". And he's right that the Bible uses multiple images to help us gain insight into God's character. The Shack, in my opinion, goes out of its way to address why God the Father appeared to Mack (the main character) as a black woman. I don't think there are any good objections to this aspect of The Shack or to this chapter of the book.
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