The Shack as Theodicy
I can't think of a more personal example of evil and the pain it causes then the abduction and murder of a little girl. How can a loving and all-powerful God allow such evil? This is the challenging issue at the heart of the Shack. All books have questions but none are quite so difficult. All books have stakes but none are quite so personal. Because evil things like this occur its easy to conclude that God is either impotent or sadistic. If God is completly loving and evil exists we conclude that He cannot be all-powerful. If God is all-powerful and evil exists then we conclude He cannot be compeltly loving. A problem, therefore, occurs when Christians affirm (1) God's power, (2) God's love and (3)the existance of evil. To this tension the Shack proposes the very personal resolution found in Christianity.
Resolutions to the problem of evil are nothing new. An attempted reconcilation is what is known as a Theodicy. Numerous philosophical solutions to the problem of evil have been proposed. Most are difficult to define but simpler solutions can all too often be emotionally unsatisfying. For instance the book of Job is a simple poetic narrative but the resolution it offers is God telling Job and his accusers to shut up. Buddism teaches that suffering comes from attachment and thus to solve the problem one must cease to desire. Naturalism, the worldview often esposed by those who believe in evolution, simply abandons the whole problem by denying the existance of God. If there's no God then their no evil and thus no problem to be addressed.
This is the beauty of the Shack and the faith from which it's solution dervies. It's solution is emotionally satisfying. The Shack does not waver in its relentless depiction of evil. Evil and suffering are very real and cannot be denied. By embracing the reality of pain, instead of denying it, the Shack invites us to live outside ourselves and fully embrace life in relationship with others. This is the God found in the Shack. Not a distant and sadistic god who takes delight in our pain nor a weak and impotent god who would love to help us if he could. The God of the Shack is the God found in Christ, the God who willing empties himself in love so that we might walk in a true relationship him.
Resolutions to the problem of evil are nothing new. An attempted reconcilation is what is known as a Theodicy. Numerous philosophical solutions to the problem of evil have been proposed. Most are difficult to define but simpler solutions can all too often be emotionally unsatisfying. For instance the book of Job is a simple poetic narrative but the resolution it offers is God telling Job and his accusers to shut up. Buddism teaches that suffering comes from attachment and thus to solve the problem one must cease to desire. Naturalism, the worldview often esposed by those who believe in evolution, simply abandons the whole problem by denying the existance of God. If there's no God then their no evil and thus no problem to be addressed.
This is the beauty of the Shack and the faith from which it's solution dervies. It's solution is emotionally satisfying. The Shack does not waver in its relentless depiction of evil. Evil and suffering are very real and cannot be denied. By embracing the reality of pain, instead of denying it, the Shack invites us to live outside ourselves and fully embrace life in relationship with others. This is the God found in the Shack. Not a distant and sadistic god who takes delight in our pain nor a weak and impotent god who would love to help us if he could. The God of the Shack is the God found in Christ, the God who willing empties himself in love so that we might walk in a true relationship him.
posted by Matthew Miller at 9:08 AM
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