Jul 24 2008
witherington on the shack
Greetings,
I commented on the recent novel The Shack a few posts back. My thoughts weren’t systematic and were bit tentative. Ben Witherington weighs in with a few carefully and calmly raised concerns. If you have read the book you may appreciate his thoughts. He is a bit more confident on a few points than I am but I appreciate his careful reading.
on the walk
-Ethan
Thanks for the pointer Ethan. BW’s post will be a useful link for me in reference to the Shack and many other discussions along the lines of “It’s all about relationships, and not about religion, according to this approach. And while no one would deny it’s very much about living and loving relationships, the truth of the matter is that it is a false dichotomy to separate Jesus from religion, or for that matter organism from organization.”
Because I’m a NY-er in exile, the only place I differ from BW’s “if I see one more bumper sticker saying ‘I believe in Jesus, not Christianity’, or ‘I believe in Jesus, not religion/church etc.’ I think I will be forced to honk” - I’m tempted to ram the other car instead of simply honk
I’m a bit frugal. I refuse to pay $15 for a paperback. I went to the library and I am 66th in line to get this book (If you have a copy, could I bum it off of you?). Since I haven’t read the book, all I can comment on is the huge publishing/marketing “buzz” in my literary circles.
The Shack was shopped to every publisher in CBA, and all rejected it (I’m sure they’re kicking themselves silly). So the extremely savvy author and a few friends created a “publishing house” of their own and self-published. This step may not seem radical to most, but when an author self-publishes, it usually means the book will sell to ten people (all family members) and boxes of it will sit in the gargage.
Copies of the Shack did not sit in the garage, but instead have sold in the millions. It should be noted that the author and his friends invested tens of thousands of dollars in marketing and publishing before the book took off. This is very rare occurance - but very interesting to my publishing pursuits right now.
I look forward to reading the Shack and commenting. Ben Witherspoon did a good job, but his explanation was extrememly long and drawn out for most common, pea brains like me. “The facts, Sir. Just the facts.”
Another little tidbit, just announced last week. My family was at Sandy Cove (great vacation place for fams) and Mark Fisher, the director announced that the author, William Young, will be speaking at the Cove next year. Would love to hear him.
I’d be so appreciative if anyone has a copy.
lindy
Hey Lindy,
I borrowed the copy I read and I think it has already been loaned off again. If I hear of an extra copy floating around, I’ll let you know.
-Ethan