MEDIA
He writes, “How misguided has been the
frequent assumption that it is the task of
Christian literary criticism to show that
works of literature are Christian. The task
is rather to assess whether and to what
degree works are Christian in their view-
point. Christian enthusiasts for literature
too often seek to baptize every work …
that they love. Even when we judge a
work … to be deficient in truth when
measured by a Christian viewpoint, we
should not dismiss the work wholesale.”
John Franklin says while evaluation is
important, something else has to go on.
“When looking at art Christians will
often say, ‘ What’s that supposed to repre-
sent?’ But it’s not the right question. A
better question is, ‘ What’s going on here?’
Which is not so much an evaluative
question, but one that calls on you to say,
‘ What are you receiving from this? What’s
it giving to you?’
“I have a view that there’s a reciprocal
dynamic between humanity and art. That
art gives to you, and you give back to it.
It’s like a personal relationship.”
Perhaps that’s why the PR pitch before
the screening of The Shack felt so question-
able to me, and why the labelling of the
film – and of others like it – seems a kind
of unwelcome shorthand. In telling people
a film is Christian, and that they need to
support it because of that label, it’s as if an
attempt is being made to head off the
possibility of authentic engagement.
And that, says Franklin, “betrays what
WHAT CRITICS
DISLIKED ABOUT
THE SHACK
“A number of theological weaknesses that
ought to be of concern to Christians.”
–Tim Challies www.Challies.com
“To watch The Shack is to watch human actors
play the roles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
–Tim Challies www.Challies.com
“Built on false doctrine of universal
reconciliation.” –Paul Bremmer www.WND.com
“Suggestive of some unbiblical theology about
the nature of God and the unique truth of
Christianity.” –Adam C. Pelser www.Equip.org
“Gets the relation between human and divine
precisely backwards: God does not adapt
Himself, nor does He alter divine revelation, in
order to suit our individual needs.”
–Connor Grubaugh www.First Things.com
is often an adversarial mindset, an us-and-them approach rooted in the view that if
we can saturate the culture with the
Christian stuff that we believe in, then
we’re doing our job. But some of the stuff
that we try to saturate the culture with is
basically kitsch and will turn more people
off. . . . We want to be an advocate for
Christian sensibility, or for things that are
compatible with the biblical narrative.
But there’s a wide swath there.”
Randal Rauser adds the very people
who might most need to hear a message
of God’s love through a film might never
do so because it has been described as
Christian.
“The critical consensus [about The
Shack, the movie] has been pretty devas-
tating against it,” he says. “I think some of
that is a prejudice against stuff that is
labelled as Christian.”
“But there’s also this idea that it’s not
real art because it has an agenda to it. I
do think that’s the perception, and as a
result it does present a greater stumbling
block to non-Christians. Because they’re
already nervous about the label Christian
or evangelical in the same way that they’re
nervous about their friend who sells
Amway for a living and wants to take
them out for coffee.”
God didn’t create us to be unthinking.
Christians have a long tradition of en-
gaging with art in diverse forms and
places, and finding truth there.
As far back as the year 400 AD, the
Bishop Augustine of Hippo famously
stood up for such engagement when he
wrote, “We should not abandon music
because of the superstitions of pagans if
there is anything we can take from it that
might help us understand the Holy Scrip-
tures. . . . Nor is there any reason we
should refuse to study literature because
it is said that Mercury discovered it. . . .
Let everyone who is a good and true
Christian understand that truth belongs
to his Master, wherever it is found.”
In other words we can savour whatever
truth we might find. And then we can
throw away the bones. /FT
Patricia Paddey of Mississauga, Ont., is a senior
writer at Faith Today.
WHAT FANS
LOVED ABOUT
THE SHACK
“Addresses and debunks the actual heresy that
depicts God as an angry, wrathful and violent
deity.” –Josh Valley www.JoshValley.com
“Contains a very strong Christian theological
message without being a sermon or lecture. …
overall theologically correct.” –Roger E. Olson
www.Patheos.com
“Will bring healing to many.” –Jono Hall
www.IHOPKC.org
“A simple story of one man spending time with
his Papa, something to which anyone, secular
or Christian, can relate.” –Wesley Baines
www.Beliefnet.com
“Expresses the surprising beauty of God.”
–Greg Boyd www.ReKnew.org
