Sound

Teaching/Doctrin
e
And

Discernment

2 Timothy 4:1-5
2Proclaim the message; persist in it whether
convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage
with great patience and teaching.
3For the time will come when they will not tolerate
sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,
will accumulate teachers for themselves because
they have an itch to hear something new.
4They will turn away from hearing the truth and will
turn aside to myths
5But as for you, keep a clear head about everything,
endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist,
fulfill your ministry.

Declaration: I believe that all of the

original scriptures that make up the
Bible are the exact Words of God,
and because of what the Word of
God says, I also believe that not
every teaching in the Bible is as
important as others. In other words,
according to the Bible, there are
some teachings that are more
important than other teachings.

Matt 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that .
35And one of them, an expert in the
law,..ask
36Teacher, which commandment in the
law is the greatest?
37Jesus said to him, Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.
38This is the greatest and most
important commandment
34

Matt 23:23-24
23Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint,
dill and cumin, yet you have
neglected the more important
matters of the law justice, mercy
and faith..

Romans 14:1-4
1-4Accept anyone who is weak in faith,
but dont argue about doubtful issues.
One person believes he may eat
anything, .One who eats must not
look down on one who does not; and
one who does not eat must not criticize
one who does, because God has
accepted him. Who are you to criticize
anothers servant? Before his own Lord
he stands or falls. And stand he will for
the Lord is able to make him stand.

2. Important Doctrines doctrines that

are important, but not critical for one
to live the life of a Christian
(eg: Infant baptism, Pre-milliennialism, Amillennialism, Post-millennialism, Pretribulation, Mid-tribulation, Posttribulation etc
3.

Core Doctrines doctrines that are

crucial for one to live the life of a
Christian
(eg: Birth, Death and Resurrection of
Jesus

In essentials, unity (In necessariis

unitas)
In non-essential, liberty (in dublis
libertas)
In all, charity (in omnibus autem
caritas)
St Augustine added:
Yet I say; not only in all things;
But before all things
And thus I praise [Christian] love

Bible verses on warnings of False

Teachers

Acts 20:28-31 Keep watch over yourselves and all

the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers. Be shepherds of I know that after
I leave, savage wolves will come in among you
and will not spare the flock. Even from your own
number men will arise and distort the truth in
order to draw away
Matt 7:15-20 Watch out for false prophets. They
come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly
they are ferocious wolves.
Matt 24:24-27 For false Christs and false
prophets will appear and perform great signs
and miracles to deceive even the elect if that
were possible. See, I have told you ahead of
time..

Gal 1:6-10 evidently some people are

throwing you into confusion and are
trying to pervert the gospel of Christ..
Eph 4:11-14 . Then we will no longer be
infants, tossed back and forth by the
waves, and blown here and there by
every wind of teaching and by the
cunning and craftiness of men in their
deceitful scheming.
Col 2:4 I tell you this so that no one may
deceive you by fine-sounding arguments

Col 2:8-12 See to it that no one takes you

captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human
tradition and the basic principles of this
world rather than on Christ
Col 2:18-19 Such a person goes into
great detail about what he has seen , and
his unscriptural mind puffs him up with
idle notions..
1 Tim 6:20-21 . Turn away from
godless chatter and the opposing ideas
of what is falsely called knowledge

2 Tim 3:1-7 .They are the kind who

worm their way into homes and gain
control over weak-willed women, who are
loaded down with sins and are swayed by
all kinds of evil desires, always learning
but never able to acknowledge the truth
2 Peter 1:20-2:3 .But there were also
false prophets among the people, just as
there will be false teachers among you.
They will secretly introduce destructive
heresies, even denying the sovereign
Lord who bought them bringing swift
destruction on themselves.

Stuart Brogden says, A man is not to

be judged a heretic for speaking or
writing an error we all fall into this
group. A heretic is one who
continues in teaching falsehoods
that strike at the basics of Christian
beliefs
So what do we do?

1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine

carefully. Persevere in them, because if you
do, you will save both yourself and your
hearers
Mark 4:24 Consider carefully what you
hear
2 Cor 10:5 We demolish arguments and
every pretension that sets itself up against
the knowledge of God, and we take captive
every thought to make it obedient to Christ
Acts 17:10-11 They (the Bereans) received
the word with all eagerness, and searched
the Scriptures daily to find out whether
these things were so

Charles Spurgeon:
Discernment is not
simply a matter of
telling the difference
between what is
right and wrong;
rather it is the
difference between
RIGHT and ALMOST
RIGHT.

What marvel, if under some mens shifty talk,

people grow into love both truth and falsehood!
People will say, We like this form of doctrine, and
we like the other also. The fact is, they would like
anything if only a clever deceiver would put it
plausibly before them. They admire Moses and
Aaron, but they would not say a word against Jannes

Instead of using a didactic

(instructive; especially excessive)
teaching method, I will use a Case
Study method this morning

Phenomenal success
No. 1 on New York Times for months
Sold over 17 million copies; in 36 languages
Went through several reprints
About to be made into a movie
Countless laugh and cry over it
It inspires, irritates and infuriates millions
It is gripping, immersive and provocative
There is no escape from it: churches, book
clubs, forums, debates, interviews, blogs,
reviews and seminars were held with packed
audiences

Some denounce it as pure, undiluted

heresy; others buy in crates to give away
to friends and love ones; even strangers
Hiking tours are even conducted in the
wilderness of Oregon to replicate the
imaginary journey of the book!
The book is simply an immensely
engaging read
It grips you, it make you soar, it makes
you weep, it sets you free etc.
Do I get your attention now !!!!

What is The Shack all about?

The Shack in less than 500 words:

- Who is this writer William Paul Young?

- Before we critically review The

Shack, let us look at what some
well known Christian scholars and
thinkers have said about the book:

Dr Eugene Peterson (Professor Emeritus

of Spiritual Theology, Regent College,
Vancouver, Author of The Message)
When the imagination of a writer and
the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize,
the result is a novel on the order of THE
SHACK. This book has the potential to do
for our generation what John Bunyans
Pilgrims Progress did for his. Its that

Dr Roger Olson (Professor of Theology at

George W. Truett Theological Seminary
of Baylor University in Texas, Author of
several books on theology) . it can
teach us about the nature of God,
especially in the midst of anguish and
pain. correct our folk images of God
and replace them with more biblical
images.

Dr Randal Rauser (Associate

Professor of Historical
Theology at Taylor Seminary,
Edmonton, Canada.)
At its heart The Shack is a
response to evil, and Rauser
offers an honest and
illuminating discussion of the
books explanation for why
God allows evil, how the
atoning work of Christ offers
new hope to a suffering world,
and ultimately how this hope
extends
tohard
all ofquestions
creation.
It is true that The Shack asks
some
and occasionally takes position with which we might
well disagree. But whether they have been inspired,
challenged, or even threatened, surely the answer is
not found in shielding people from the conversation,
but rather in leading them through it, Rauser says.

Dr Gary and Cathy Deddo

(Senior Editor of InterVarsity Press, PhD in
Systematic Theology)
But we shouldnt expect
Youngs understanding to
be consistent at every point
with every other
theological understanding
currently taught even
within the wider Christian
church. So some, in certain
theological traditions, do
not agree with all of
Youngs theological points.
But that doesnt
necessarily mean that his
understanding doesnt
square with the biblical
reality to which he intends

Professor John G.
Stackhouse (Professor of
Theology at Regent
College, Vancouver)
Theologically, Stackhouse
said he is mostly pleased
with The Shack. Like
Brother Young (as
Stackhouse calls Young),
Stackhouse tends to
believe Gods salvation
extends beyond the range
of those who have heard
the Christian gospel,
understood it and
accepted it as true.
The Shack brings to us

Dr Gregory Boyd (Professor of

Theology at Bethel University)
I felt like the portrait of
God in this novel was beautiful
and reflective of what we find
revealed in the New
Testament. And the
theological and psychological
insights of this book were at
times profound and
consistently communicated in
brilliantly simple ways. A good
deal of the dialogue is about
the problem of evil, but the
novel touches on everything
from the Trinity, Incarnation
and the nature of free will to

Young manages to pack all this

heady stuff into a narrative that
keeps you spell-bound (at least it did
me). In one moment he has your
head spinning with theological
quandaries and in the next he has
you crying, sometimes out of sadness
and other times because of the
beauty and tenderness of what hes
sharing.. I was delighted with this
material I encourage you all to
read this powerful and poignant
novel, says Boyd.

Chyril Walker, PhD

Your work is a masterpiece!
There are tears in my eyes
and a lump in my throat. All I
can think of is the others who
need to read your words. Im
just as convinced that each
one who reads it has those
who also need your words.

Pastor Steve Berger, Grace

Chapel, Leipers Fork, TN
Wrapped in creative
brilliance. The Shack is
spiritually profound,
theologically enlightening,
and life-impacting. It has my
highest recommendation. We
are joyfully giving copies
away by the case.

Gayle E. Ga yle Erwin,

author of The Jesus Style
Riveting, with twists
that defy your
expectations while
teaching powerful
theological lessons
without patronizing. I
was crying by page one
hundred. You cannot
read it without your
heart becoming
involved.

Professor of
Evangelism, Drew
Theological Seminary,
New Jersey.
He and co-author
Frank Viola of the
Jesus Manifesto
endorse, praise and
use The Shack in
their writings,
speech, blogs along
with their partners in
the Emergent Church
movement.

On the other hand, there are also

Christian scholars and writers who
think otherwise; who believe The
Shack contains errors,
misrepresentations, distorted
teachings, near heresies, even
downright, undiluted heresies!
Lets see who they are

Dr James De Young (Professor

of New Testament Language
and Literature at Western
Seminary, Portland, Oregon,
USA) Dr De Young has known
William Young for more than a
dozen years. They were
neighbours in fact. They have
discussed much theology in a
Over the years, William
has embraced,
thinkYoung
tank known
as M3.
published and defended Universal
Reconciliation (UR) on a number of occasions.
Young has claimed that UR has changed his life
and his theology. In fact, the book went through a
few rounds of editing to eliminate its UR
contents.
Young has written a creative, provocative novel.
Unfortunately, its creativity strays from an
evangelical understanding of core doctrines. In

Dr Michael Youssef (PhD from Emory

University; Founder of Leading The Way)
Dr Youssefs charge that The Shack
contains heresies has been incorporated
into the table below.

Dr Norman Geisler
(Distinguished
Professor of
Apologetics and
Theology at Veritas
Evangelical
Seminary)
The Shack may do
well for many in
engaging the
current culture,
The book may be psychologically helpful to many
but not without
who read it, but is doctrinally harmful to all who
compromising
are exposed to it. It has a false understanding of
Christian truth.
God, the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, the
nature of man, the institution of the family and
marriage, and the nature of the Gospel. For those
not trained in orthodox Christian doctrine, this
book is very dangerous

Dr Albert Mohler
(President of The
Southern Baptist
Theological
Seminary) The
Shack is
undiluted heresy

Stay out of The Shack!

When Isaiah and Apostle
John caught glimpses of
God, they were overcome
with despair at their own
unworthiness in the light
of His glory. The same
could be said of Daniel or
Paul, or any number of
figures from scripture.
But when Mack met God,
he met a large AfroAmerican woman known
as Papa who clowns
around with food and
drink and engages in

(Dr Paul Coulter, MD in Genetics and PhD

Candidate in Theology)
The book paints a compelling picture of the warmth
of Gods love for the reader and the possibility of
intimacy in relationship with Him, and it strongly
emphasises grace rather than legalistic religious
observance as the basis of our relationship with
God through Christ. There are many believers today
who, like William Young, have experienced hurt and
disillusionment with local churches, breakdown in
Worst still. living under a wrong perception of God as a distant
relationships, abused by spiritual leaders,
deity who they must work hard to please . focusing on the
disappointed with internal bickering and politics
externals like attendance at church services, frequencies at CG,
etc
Bible study, prayer meeting rather than simply living by faith in
God, filled with and led by the Spirit.
However, despite all these, The Shack is a dangerous book. It
places ideas on the lips of God that are not consistent with what
He has said in the Bible. These are not minor, non-essential,
peripheral issues: they strike at the very heart/core of the
Christian faith.
The fact that the book has the power to move the reader at a

Dr Ross Olson, MD
A Biblically literate Christian can be
blessed by this book and will ignore the
omissions as well as correct the
ambiguities. But a child of our age, who is
already conformed to the world, may be
led astray. The most obvious ditches by
the side of the road are universalism, and
its logical consequence, abandonment of
When that
the very raison detre of the
thehappens,
great commission
Christian faith and the Church is demolished and
what is left are mere gatherings of at best,
clusters of like-minded civil individuals or worse,
assemblies of religious bigots Chen

Chris Eller, Pastor of Adult Ministries for

Grace Church, Des Moines, Iowa
American are falling in love with
universalism. From Brian McLaren to
Joel Osteen, American Christian writers,
pastors, teachers, musicians, politicians,
etc are all on the politically correct
bandwagon that declares all men saved
This Christianity draws crowds but
distorts the truth. Discounting Satan as
well, they weaken Gods warnings about
deception

Rev Brooks St Clair Morton, First United

Methodist Church, Shallowater, Texas
Its purpose is to offer to the emerging,
disenfranchised North American Christian
sub-culture an alternative view of God that
their parents would not approve of .
Unfortunately, William Young trades truth
and tested tradition for hipness and
heresy. In the end, the tragedy of Macks
Great Sadness (and all those who share
similar stories in real life) is that when
they come to The Shack for healing and a
fresh encounter with God, in the end, they
meet the distorted views of a deceiving
false teacher

Barry Arrington, an attorney in Denver,

Colorado specializing in complex
litigation and constitutional law
William Youngs many doctrinal
failures, troubling as they may be,
are not, for me at least, the main
problem with the book. The main
problem with The Shack is that it is
so completely infused with the
zeitgeist, the spirit of our age. It is
no wonder The Shack is so popular.
Far from challenging the biases and
preconceptions of our time, William
Young panders to and reinforces
them. He tells people what they have
preconditioned to want to hear, and
it is little wonder they are lining up
in droves to hear it

Have these critics been too hard on

The Shack and William Paul
Young?
Have they been unfair?
Worst still, have they demonize the
book and William Young?
Or is there a Massive Shift in what
it means to be Christian?

Before I tabulate the

Questionable/NearHeresies/Undiluted Heresies below, I
will give you a peek as to how I view
the matter
And at the end of the sharing,
perhaps we can, corporately, as a
body of believers take certain
position

Pastor John Huff says The Bible

tells us that we have a
responsibility despite what
William Young says to teach
with integrity (Titus 2:7), to
patiently correct and reprove
with all authority (Titus 2:15
and 2 Tim 4:2), and to restore
those who have erred without
ourselves falling into
temptation (Gal 6:1).
As such, when we have a book
filled with as many major
theological errors as this one,
we must be bold in showing its
faults

Bernice Young, mother of William

tried several times to read her sons
book. Each time she put in down.
But she didnt give up. She kept
trying to understand her boys book.
Finally, one day, she called Williams
sister and blurted out her biggest
fear: Your brother is a heretic, she
said.

1 Tim 1:19, 20 holding on to faith and

a good conscience. Some have
rejected these and so have
shipwrecked their faith. Among
them are Hymenaeus and Alexander,
whom I have handed over to Satan
to be taught not to blaspheme.

Eric Barger, Take

A Stand!
Ministries
William Young is
perhaps the
nicest heretic I
have ever dealt
with personally.
That may sound
flip, but its true.
He is a very nice
guy who is
presenting and

N
Heresy
o
1 God the
Father
was
crucified
with Jesus

Page in The Shack

Bible Verses

Page 96 -Papa: We were

there together.
Mack: At the cross?
Now, wait, I thought
you left him you
know My God, my
God, why hast thou
forsaken me?
Papa: You
misunderstand the
mystery there.
Regardless of what

Habakkuk
1:13; Matt
27:45, Isaiah
53:4-10 -Because
Gods eyes
are pure and
cannot look
upon sin, the
Bible says
that God
would not
look upon
His own

N
Heresy
o
2 God is
limited by
His love
and cannot
practice
justice

Page in The Shack

Bible Verses

Page 102: -Papa: The God who

is the I am who I
am cannot act
apart from love!
Pages 118-119
Mack: You seem to
be especially fond
of a lot of people.
Are there any who
you are not
especially fond of?
Papa: Nope, I
havent been able to

Isaiah 61:8,
Hosea 2:19,
Romans 9:13

The Bible
declares that
Gods love
and His
justice are
two sides of
the same coin
equally a
part of the
personality
and the

N
Heresy
o
3 On the
Cross, God
forgave all
of
humanity,
whether
they repent
or not.
Some
choose a
relationshi
p with
Him, but
He forgives
them all

Page in The Shack Bible Verses

Page 225
Papa: Forgiveness
does not establish
relationship. In
Jesus, I have
forgiven all humans
for their sins
against me, but only
some choose
relationship
When Jesus forgave
those who nailed
him to the cross
they were no longer
in his debt, nor

John 14:6
Jesus
explained
that only
those who
came to Him
will be saved

N
Heresy
o
4 God will
never judge
people for
their sins

Page in The Shack

Page 120: -Papa: I dont need
to punish people for
sin. Sin is its own
punishment,
devouring you from
the inside. Its not
my purpose to
punish it; its my joy
to cure it.

Bible
Verses
Romans
2:16; 2 Tim
4:1-3
The Word
of God
repeatedly
invites
people to
escape
from the
judgment of
God by
believing in
Jesus
Christ, His

No
5

Heresy

Page in The
Shack
God submits Page 145: -to human
Jesus:
wishes and Submission is not
choices
about authority
and it is not
obedience; it is all
about
relationships of
love and respect.
In fact, we are
submitted to you
in the same way.
Mack: How can
that be? Why
would the God of

Bible
Verses
Matt 7:1315
Far from
God
submitting
to us, Jesus
said,
Narrow is
the way
that leads
to eternal
life. We
are to
submit to
Him in all

No
6

Heresy

Page in The
Shack
God limited Page 106: -himself out
Papa: We have
of respect
limited ourselves
for us, ie.
out of respect for
God does
you. We are not
not know the bringing to mind,
future (God as it were, our
of the Open knowledge of your
Theism)
children

Bible
Verses
1 John 3:20,
Jeremiah
1:5
God knows
all things:
the past,
the present
and the
future

N
Heresy
o
7 Anthropocen
tric
(humancentred)

Page in The
Shack
Page 83
Papa: Not ready?
Thats okay, well
do things on your
terms and time

Bible
Verses

No
8

Heresy

Page in The
Shack
Justice will Page 169: -never take Wisdom:
place
Mackenzie,
because of judgment is not
love
about
destruction, but
about setting
things right.

Bible Verses
Matt 12:20,
Romans 3:2526, John 3:18
The Bible
teaches that
when Gods love
is rejected, and
when the offer
of salvation and
forgiveness is
rejected, justice
must take place
or God has sent
Jesus Christ to
die on the cross

No
9

Heresy

Page in The
Shack
There is
Page 248: -no such a Narrator
thing as
(Willie): And
eternal
one day,
judgment when all is
or
revealed,
torment
every one of
in hell
us will bow
knee and
confess in
the power of
Sarayu that
Jesus is Lord
of all
Creation, to
the glory of

Bible Verses
Luke 12:5, 16:23
Jesus own
description of hell is
vivid it cannot be
denied
John 3:18
While Universal
Reconciliation
teaches that
salvation can occur
after death, the Bible
says, whoever does
not believe stands
condemned already
because he has not

No

Heresy

Page in The
Shack
10 Jesus will Page 182: -find us on Mack: Does
any
that mean all
road
roads will
lead to you?
Jesus: Not
all all. Most
roads dont
lead
anywhere.
What is does
mean is that
I will travel
any road to
find you.

Bible Verses
Matt 7:13-14
Enter through the
narrow gate. For
wide is the gate and
broad is the road
that leads to
destruction, and
many enter through
it. But small is the
gate and narrow the
road that leads to
life, and only a few
find it.

No

Heresy

Page in The Shack

Bible
Verses
11 Jesus is
Page 182: -John 14:6
walking

Jesus: Those who love

with all
me come from every
Jesus said,
people in system that exists. They I am the
their
were Buddhists or
way, the
different Mormons, Baptists or
truth, and
journeys Muslims, Democrats,
the life,
to God,
Republicans and many
and no
and it
who dont vote or are
one will
doesnt
not part of any Sunday
come to
matter
morning or religious
the Father
which
institutions. I have
but by
way you followers who were
me.
get to
murderers and many
Him
who were self-righteous.

No

Heresy

Page in The
Shack
12 Jesus has Page 100: -no power Papa: Jesus,
within
as a human
himself to being, had no
heal
power within
anyone
himself to heal
anyone.

Bible Verses
Col 2:9, Lk 22:51,
Jn 18:6
Jesus, as the
incarnate Son of
God, never ceased
being God. His
incarnation
involved the
addition of
humanity, but not
by subtracting His
deity. He
continued to
possess full and
complete deity

N
Heresy
o
13 Jesus is
constantly
being
transform
ed along
with us

Page in The
Shack
Page 182: -Jesus: I have
no desire to
make them
Christian, but
I do want to
join in their
transformation
into sons and
daughters of
my Papa, into
brothers and
sisters, into
my Beloved.

Bible Verses
Hebrews 11:12,
13:8; James 1:17
Jesus who dwells in
the splendor of
heaven, sits at the
right hand of God,
reigning and ruling
the universe. The
Bible says, In Him
there is no change,
for He is yesterday,
today and forever.

N
o

Heresy

14 There
is no
need
for
faith or
reconci
liation
with
God
becaus
e
everyon
e will
make it
to
heaven

Page in The Shack

Bible
Verses

Page 192: -Papa: Honey, you asked me what

Jesus accomplished on the cross; so
now listen to me carefully: through
his death and resurrection, I am now
fully reconciled to the world.
Mack: The whole world? You mean
those who believe in you, right?
Papa: The whole world, Mack. All I
am telling you is that reconciliation
is a two-way street, and I have done
my part, totally, completely, finally. It
is not the nature of love to force a
relationship but it is the nature of
love to open the way.
Page 222: -Papa: And one day you will pray for
[the killers] wholeness and give him

John
3:15,
3:36,
5:24;
6:40
Jesus
said,
Only
those
who
believe in
me will
have
eternal
life

No

Heresy

15 The Bible
is not true
because it
reduces
God to
paper

Page in The Shack

Page 65,66
Mack (internal
thinking): Gods
voice had been
reduced to paper,
and even that paper
had to be moderated
and deciphered by
the proper
authorities and
intellect Nobody
wanted God in a box,
just in a book.
Especially an
expensive one bound

Bible
Verses
2 Tim 3:16

All
Scripture is
Godbreathed
and is
useful for
teaching,
rebuking,
correcting
and
training in
righteousne
ss.

No
Heresy
16 The Devil
does not
exist or is
not
involved in
human
history

Page in :The Shack

No Mention of the
Devil at all
throughout The
Shack

Note
Often what
is NOT said
is as telling
as what IS
said

What do we do with a book like

The Shack and a person like
William Paul Young?
Do we burn the book? Examine
it like the Bereans?
If you have NOT read
If you HAD read
If you want, perhaps I can lead
a group

What do we do with other similar

books?
Emergent books such as McLarens
books: A New Kind of Christian,
Generous Orthodoxy, Everything
Must Change etc..
Love Wins by Rob Bell
If Grace Is True by Philip Gulley
and James Mulholland
A massive shift coming in what it
means to be a Christian?
Christianpost.com

Conclusion
One lesson: Young say sometimes we get
hold of a goal or vision and we think we
have finally found something that is going
to give us a sense of worth and identity
and we are going to do great things for
God. So we run right past our kids and
our spouses and friends and the people
who would intersect our path if we just
walked in the presence of God. ITS
IMPORTANT TO MAKE DECISIONS
BASED ON THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE,
NOT THE VALUE OF A GOAL OR A
PRODUCT OR END RESULT.

Discussion Questions
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Why do we need to discern/detect false

teachers/teachings?
How do we to discern/detect false
teachers?
What do you do if you come across false
teachers?
Are you now aware of the many
teachings and books that distort
spiritual truth?
Do you now desire to know the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth?