Matt Slick Reviews The Shack

The Deception of Altering God’s Word

Chapter 3 how many heard me on the radio today talking about? Deception. We didn't go through this again. I want it on the web. I want people to know it. Yes. Let's get going. So I'm gonna hit. All right.

We're live on Facebook. And we're live on YouTube. All right. Welcome everybody and hope you guys are gonna enjoy what I'm gonna do with this Shack. And we're gonna be doing some Analysis of it. I'm going to show you why it's got problems and stuff like that.

All right, so everybody got a handout. I have a handout. I made 25 of them. So If you want take them home copy them, whatever and if you want one I can email you the copy. I'm not a big deal and you can print it up yourself.

I apologize that it's a little on the small side of the font. Hey, hey rich. You know, it's a little on the small side, but hey, it's got information in it. Trust me I could go in a lot further than than that.

All right before we get going. Thanks for reminding me. We're gonna pray and we'll jump right in and So what we do is but what I want to do is tackle this first then you can ask questions sound good. Only one person really is paying attention.

Yeah, I heard a kind of a Over here someplace Happy birthday and congratulations on the the new one. Oh, oh So cute what babies? All right. Let's pray Lord Jesus we We thank you Lord for your great grace that you've given us for the love the patience the kindness that you have shown towards us Lord, I ask that all of our hearts will be bowed before you our minds ready for you and that as we study your word.

And as we study the truth. That we would be able to see by your great light those areas of darkness that have crept into the church. And our society and our psyche Lord. We want to repent of them and expose them that we might bring you glory and Lord Jesus.

We praise you. We thank you. We ask this in your holy and precious name Lord. Amen all right, so We're gonna be going through and I'm gonna be showing you why the book the shack has got some serious problems and it does.

Genesis 3 and the Pattern of Doubting, Altering, and Contradicting God’s Word

Now some of you may be thinking well Matt you're a little bit too anal about doctrine and that may be true. But it still does not negate the truth that this book has got some heresies. Back nine years are back in 2009 when it came out I interviewed Paul Young on my radio show and I assumed that he thought I don't know what he thought but I assumed that what he Expected was just another radio interview, but how great the book is that's not what happened.

I started quizzing him and asking him doctrinally related questions, and he cut the interview short. That's fine. You know, no big deal. I met him at NNU Northwest Nazarene University. About a year or so later I can't remember exactly and I went out there and try to pass out literature.

Because NNU should not have had him on because he's teaching heresy and he is. But that's NNU which is going south and so he and I had a discussion there and I told him That I would be willing to sit with him and go over Christian theology with him.

So that he when he writes this, you know, he could do it more accurately biblically and I was being serious. And he didn't take me up on it. Now since then incidentally, I've written a novel the influence and it's a similar kind of a thing except not but Angels and demons and things like that and good theologies in there.

Even if I do say so myself, all right. So what we'll do is we're gonna start by going to Genesis chapter 3. I'm gonna read out of the NASB and I want to do this. We did this on a radio today and I want to go through this again.

I am learning that Genesis 1 2 3 are Very significant when it comes to understanding Biblical theology, there's a lot of foundations in here. I may go through Genesis 1 2 3 just teaching these three chapters sometime just to do it because there's so much there but I want what I want to do is I Want you to understand something before we get going here.

I want you to understand who God is. The magnificent holy eternal being who has the quality of a seatee a seatee is this eternal independence? Self-sufficiency. God possesses this this is a quality of God alone.

He is eternal. He doesn't make any mistakes. He doesn't sit up in heaven unless you're an open theist and say don't he does not goof. He does not make any mistakes. He knows all things First John 3 20.

He also works all things after the counsel of his will Ephesians 1 11. There's nothing he's not aware of and anything that does occur occurs by his permission whether it be by sin or by his specific creative effort.

He ordained certain things to be and I can get into the theology of all of that don't need to. But I'm trying to get you to get a little bit of a flavor here on the majesty and the holiness and the wonder of Who God is?

Now not that experience makes any Doctrinal point, but I have discovered lately that I'm having to refer to my conversion experience more and more and not that it means anything. Because it's subjective, but I'll tell you in the presence of holiness.

You are undone and your face is to the ground and we'll go through some scriptures that talk about that and we should always always keep in mind God's holiness and his majesty and We should never seek to redefine him apart from what he has declared in his own revelation.

Because if we do that we become idolaters very quickly. Having said that We know that when God created Adam, he said in Genesis 2 17 the day that you eat of this fruit you will die. You're gonna die don't eat of it now.

Adam probably is the one who gave the word to Eve and Because we don't see we don't see any record of the father speaking of God. Speaking to Eve here. What we see is God speaking directly to Adam and there's a reason for that.

He's the male. He's the federal head. He's one who represented mankind and even though she sinned first sin entered the world through him. Romans 5 12. That's another bit of theology don't need to get into.

But when we look at Genesis 3 verse 1 now the serpent Was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. He said of the woman indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden.

Has God said did you really say that the first thing the enemy does is to doubt God's Word? Did he really say that are you sure? Did he really say that? Just a subtle Doubting of God's Word and we all can do that very same thing when we're reading through the Bible and we say I don't understand.

You know I feel that he should be this way as soon as that happens to you. What you're doing is the same thing has God really said? We have got to be careful as Christians that we don't submit the Word of God to our particular Denominational bent our presuppositions or whatever it is.

We want to go to the Word of God as best as possible. Now I'm a five-pointer. People say well you do that. Yes, I do. We all do we all look at the Word of God through our assumptions our presuppositions.

And hopefully what we want to do is make sure that these things are biblical and that's a whole nother topic all together as well. But what I want you to see here is you shall not eat from any tree of the garden.

Because he says shall is this what he said? Is this what he says raising the question the woman said of the serpent from the fruit of the trees of the garden? We may eat but from the fruit of the tree.

Which is in the middle of the garden. God has said you shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die. She added three words in English or touch it. God did not say or touch it. She added those words.

Now some people might say well Adam told her and Adam added look we don't have that what we have is what she said right here. Now what she's doing is modifying the Word of God altering it slightly. That is sinful to do what God doesn't know his own word.

The infinite creator of the universe who can tell you the location of every electron in the universe just like that. Well, we wouldn't know to comprehend it, but he knows. This is God. Do you think he knows what he's saying when he says don't eat?

Do you think he knows what's going on? Do you think that he knows why the words that he's going to speak are there and the words he doesn't speak aren't there? This is God we're talking about. Why does she have to come in and alter the word?

Why does she have to do that? Well at first what she's doing is listening to the evil one who's doubting the Word of God first thing and Then once she modifies the Word of God. He then verse 4 contradicts the word the serpent said of the woman you surely shall not die.

The Word of God did he really say that the Word of God is altered now. The Word of God is contradicted. The Word of God is altered the Word of God is contradicted and that's what happens in this book.

I people say well, it's not a big deal. Yes. It is a big deal. When I wrote my fiction novel the influence I've made sure I did not contradict anything that was aware of in Scripture. As best of my knowledge what I understood the Word of God to say nothing I said in that book and wrote in that novel.

Contradicts the Word of God. This is full of contradictions to the Word of God. It's an alteration of the very Word of God and people all over America love it. Why. Because maybe they're false converts or they're ignorant or the pastors or the teachers aren't telling the people what they need to know in The congregations and that's at the fault of the pastors and the elders who are not saying things like you shouldn't go see this.

Let me tell you why you shouldn't see the movie. I'll tell you why because of its heresies. But the men who are supposed to be in the pulpit don't have what it takes. Apparently to lay down the law so to speak and say what truth is because they're too afraid and who knows.

Because maybe they're not following Christ or following. You know looking the finger put up in the wind of the air and say which one does which way does a doctrinal wind blow? Or the social wind or whatever it is, and I'm sick and tired of that kind of stuff.

It's happening. I'll get into this you'll see Verse 5 for Satan speaks now notice what's happening now. Satan is speaking for God. Once the words been altered once the words been doubted. Contradicted now he says for God knows.

Now he's speaking for God. God knows that in the day you eat from it. Your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. Now he's the teacher. The false one is now the teacher teaching her.

Check this out verse 6. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food saw what she liked, okay? And that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise. She took from its fruit and ate and she gave also to her husband with her and he ate now.

Adam Surely blew it and we can get into a discussion on that but I want to focus on the issue here of the word and what the appeal was. It was a Appeal of sensuality of appeal to what seems right what I want what I desire.

Not what what God desires and that's what this book does. This book is a written form of human desire and human Preferences as a veneer put over the majesty of God to bring him down to the level that we want him at and that's Idolatrous and that's what this book does.

It presents God in idolatrous fashion. Even though there are places where it has good theology in it. But I forgot the exact verse a little leaven leavens the whole low but the whole lump a little bit of sin can ruin basically everything and What we want to do here is make sure that we don't alter the Word of God even a little bit now.

I wanted to go to Genesis 3 1 through 6 first because I want you to understand what the Nature is what happens when people doubt the Word of God, so The version of this I have is a 2008 version 10th printing and for those of you who may be checking on the web it might be that there's a slight different page number and things like that and Maybe I can do something later where I get another version and put it in a version whatever and put another page number.

So I'm just going to go through this not that it's any theological as significance of any particular order. Because there's a lot and there's even more that can go through but I've got stuff in here underlined.

I haven't even talked about in here just stuff anyway. So on page 95, let's look at number one together. The father has scars on his wrists like the crucifixion wounds of Christ. This is called patripastianism.

It is called Heresy now, I know that the web or weights. It's filming. It looks a little bit. It's backwards. So I'm gonna try something here. This is the word. I'm gonna be pointing to this Heresy, I wonder if I could do it this way.

Let's see. It would have to be this way. Not that way, but this could be tough. But what I'm gonna do it though I'm not helping. You think you're messing me up here. Thanks. I was on a roll Heresy because it's best backwards.

It's working. Okay, great. All right. Was the father incarnated? No, only the son was incarnated not the father. This is what we call in theology. We call this the economic Trinity. The economic Trinity says that the the end of the Godhead the father son and Holy Spirit are different roles.

Different functions. The father is the one who elected and gave to the son all that the father gives me of them. I will lose none. John 6 37 through 40 that pericope you go to high priestly prayer. The father has given them to the son.

The son is to keep them. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin righteousness and judgment. John 16 9. Jesus doesn't do that. Only Jesus became incarnate not the father not the Holy Spirit. The father and the son send the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not send the son or the father. It's called the economic Trinity. It's different than the ontological Trinity. Ontological Trinity is that the father the son and the Holy Spirit all share the same divine essence on toss nature essence being.

The economic Trinity is a difference in function. Only Jesus became man the second person of the Trinity. Became man. The father did not become man. The father was not crucified. I could get into the doctrine of why the incarnation is necessary and the hypothetic union and the communicate you idiom atom.

And why the doctrines that relate to the person and natures of Christ are necessary for atonement. Another time I'll tell you that this is a heresy to say that he has crucifixion wounds on His wrist has scars on his wrist.

Now. Let me ask you a question. Does Jesus have any scars on his wrist on his side? No. When he died he rose from the dead. He prophesied his own resurrection in John 2 19 through 21. And he rose from the dead and he said to Thomas and John 20 25 to 28.

Take your hand and put it into my side now according to 1st Corinthians 15 35 through 45 that which is sown. The body that dies is also the thing that is raised. So that which is sown that which is raised.

So his body was sown, but it was raised in the glorified state and in the glorified state. He retained the crucifixion wounds. Then Thomas put your hand into my side take your finger put it into my hand after the resurrection now this get into some other stuff about the nature of the blood and Flesh and blood and I got so much tangents I could take not gonna so.

There aren't any scars. So why would the father have scars? Well, first of all, it tells me that Paul young doesn't take the Word of God very seriously and doesn't study it very deeply. And yet he's gonna write a novel speaking for God.

That it would scare me and you'll notice how many read my novel the influence. Okay, one two three. Okay, four. I Don't speak for God in there. I Don't put words in Christ's mouth. I don't put words in God's mouth.

I have an angel speak and he says things that we already know are in Scripture. Why why did I do that? Because I'm not going to risk putting words in God's mouth. I'm not doing that even in fiction. I will not speak for God.

I'll let him speak for himself. Now here, let's go to number just jump at number two. I Don't on this on page 120. I Don't need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment. Devouring from the inside.

It's not my purpose to punish it. It's my joy to cure it. Well, first of all, you don't punish sin. You punish the sinner. Sin is an abstraction. Sin is a concept. Sin isn't punished. People are punished now.

The Bible does not say sin is its own punishment. It doesn't say anything like that. This is mysticism. This is New Age philosophy this is false. God is the one who executes judgment. You go to Matthew 25 46.

John 5 29 we know that God is the one who executes judgment. So let me ask you a question. Who are you saved from? Safe in the devil in one sense. Yes. But you're also saved from God Almighty the righteous judge who executes judgment upon the sinner who has not trusted in Christ and does not escape the righteous judgment of the Holy One and His love was so good that he gave his son that whoever would trust in Jesus will escape that judgment.

And we need to trust in him. But God is also holy and he will punish the sinner and he will. That's why we preach the gospel. So that God will save people through the preaching the gospel, which is the power of God to salvation Romans 116.

So We can go on there's I guess so much to cook to a cover. Let's just jump to number three. God the Father is seen as a black woman. I Have nothing against black women. Okay, just get that out. I don't any problem with that.

I don't care. The problem here though is that God the Father cannot be seen. Jesus says in John 6 46. Not that any man has seen the father except the one who is from God. He has seen the father. He's talking about himself.

You go to 1st Timothy 6 16 and speaking of the context of the father who dwells an unapproachable light whom no man has seen. Nor can see now. We know that in the Old Testament. God is seen. However, Genesis 17 1 Genesis 18 1 Exodus 6 2 3 Exodus 24 9 through 11 numbers 12 6 through 8.

These are places where God is seen. But we know that it's never Excuse me. It's never the father because Jesus says not that any man has seen the father. So even Adam and Eve when they were in the garden, we're not seeing God the father because Adam's a man.

Not that any man has seen The father except the one himself who is with the father and had glory with the father before the foundation of the world John 17 5. So this is speaking about himself in John 6 46 and Paul the Apostle says that the father dwells that he's speaking of the father it was an unapproachable light who no man has seen nor can see.

So Paul young in the book the shack. Has God the father? appearing as a woman in Contradiction to the scriptures and the woman is called Papa. So we have a woman called Papa who's a representation of God the father.

Now we call that gender confusion now maybe. Maybe Paul young was prophetic and the gender things that are going on now and the stupidity. That's going on with that the moronic idiocy with his gender crud, you know.

Actually, I've kind of decided I'm a I'm a lesbian trapped in a male's body, which is why I like women. So I think maybe that might work and I heard as a white woman identifying as a black woman and she wants Special rights or something.

I heard on some article. I was gonna read about that. She wanted minority status. To get into a college. I'm like, oh so what if I was a Black lesbian woman trapped in a white man's body. Oh, I really need help.

You give me stuff. Anyway. The stupidity of humanity is before us and we Christians have to wade through the mire the swamp of Moronic philosophy and hopefully we don't get mired down in it and get so entrenched in stupidity that we don't know how to Respond to them.

You need to know the Word of God. You got to stand with the Word of God and not submit yourself to the foolishness of this world and the vain philosophies of men now. As I mentioned earlier when I was 17, I had a very dramatic conversion experience and it was dramatic and I've mentioned before.

You know, I buried my son and I'll tell you I hope no one I don't care who you are, but you never have to experience that bearing a child. I and if you any of you have I'm sorry if I'm causing any difficulty, we're at a Church service on Sunday to Lutheran Church and they had a film of a guy who lost a son.

I had to leave. I Couldn't handle it. My wife did better than me but the point I'm trying to make is that I went harder the day of my Conversion than the day of death of my son and the reason I did was because I was in the presence of holiness the Holy Spirit and he Just revealed to me by his very presence he revealed to me my sin and all I could do was keep my face to the ground and Yell out my agonizing tears of convicted repentance the presence of God.

Now, does that mean it's true? Could I say it that way? No. But I'll tell you I know it was him. I know that Jesus was there. I'm not offering it as proof. But I understand what it means to be the presence of God to some sliver of a degree that reminds me.

You ever seen that interview on YouTube? Where the guy's gonna you know, he's got an interview with God and he's in his nice suit and a nice church setting the whole. But yeah, God should be here any minute now and the interview with God.

Light comes up, you know, this is his ears flapping, you know, he's going. Oh, I'm sorry. He's screaming the light, you know the stuff. That's God, okay, he's instantly, you know from you know, there's gonna be a God to his presence to.

That's how it really is in Exodus 3 6. Moses was afraid to look at God's glory. And Isaiah 6 1 through 4 in the year of King Zion's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne lofty and exalted with the train of his robe filling the temple.

Seraphim stood above him each having six wings. With two he covered his faith with two he covered his feet with two he flew and one called out to another and said Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of the thresholds.

Trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips. And I live among a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts.

He says woe to me. Whoa? I'm in the presence of God because I'm undone. That's the presence of God. Revelation 1 16 through 17 in his right hand. He held seven stars and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword and his face was like the Sun Shining in its strength.

When I saw him I fell at his feet like a dead man and played. He placed his right hand on me saying do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one that I was dead and behold I'm alive forevermore and have the keys of death and of Hades.

Fall at the feet. He's undone. This is the presence of God. Yet how many read this book? Okay. So four of us five of us maybe. In here Mac main character basically, he's got God the Father as a buddy a woman who talks about farting.

We'll get into that later and Does such casual stuff that it is not the majestic God of the Bible. People say well Matt. You know what? All he's trying to do is just bring God to a place where we can appreciate him more.

Oh, I get it. The Word of God is not sufficient has God said. Just add a few little words just change a few little things. It doesn't matter as long as your feelings are satisfied as long as what you want is satisfied and God is made to be what You want him to be?

This is the beginnings of idolatry and the apostasy that's occurring in the Christian Church. Check this out on page 145 146. Mac was surprised. How could that be? Why would the God of the universe want to be submitted to me?

So Jesus Answers because we want you to join us in our circle of relationship. I don't want slaves to my will. I want brothers and sisters who will share life with me. Circle of relationship. You know, I hear this kind of stuff in New Age stuff in mysticism.

You go to a New Age convention, which if you can ever go go better than Disneyland. Trust me. It's better people with candles in their ears and people going. Blowing away negative energy people putting rocks in their head.

Yeah, this one's good. This is a go-rock. I buy this one. This is what you see at a New Age convention. I'm not kidding. Always it's good. Real good better than a science fiction alien movie, but that for me that's pretty close.

So Why would the God of the universe want to be submitted to me? This is blasphemy. This is blasphemy if I was writing a fiction novel. This is the thing that I would say of a demonic force seeking to deceive.

That God wants to be submitted to you. Why. Because of your wisdom your ability your sincerity your understanding. And he's he's there for you. That's what we're being taught. Isn't it God's there for you.

Lately I have been praying more and more and more and more. That I don't even take a step or a breath unless God is directing. I Don't want to do anything anymore unless God's saying go that way in. Five four three two one now go and I can start walking.

I don't want to be any place unless God wants me to be there the older I get. The more I realize how foolish my own desires are. And I'm not kidding and Lately, I've been just praying and praying God please.

Send me use me. I would love it if you opened up the heavens and said Matt. I want you to. I'd love that I don't care what it was. Just tell me but he hasn't done that. What he does is he says trust me and go.

And I do the best I can with his word and I go. I'm submitting to him. I'm submitting to his will. What did Jesus do in Luke 22 42. Not my will but your will be done. Jesus God and flesh second person of the Trinity.

Submitted to the will of the Father not my will but your will he submitted to the Father. It is not this crap. That God want of the universe wants to be submitted to Mac. This fictional character, this is heresy it's blasphemy and Christians will read this.

It's just great because they're feeling it. Because they're letting it guide their hearts. They're not submitting to the Word of God they have a low view of Scripture and they have a low view of God and That's why this book is so successful.

Because the Christian Church is anemic the Christian Church is weak. The Christian Church is pretty pathetic and that it doesn't know enough to be able to change society. Let alone sacrifice itself for the truth of God and know what the truth of God is.

The fact that I had to do what I do in this world is a pathetic demonstration of how bad things are. Someone who has Asperger's someone who's demented. I've been called all kinds of things and God's using someone like me.

That's not good. These are a lot more competent people out there. It's got to be bad. And if you were to have a little megaphone up to the heavens and you know, you see the scraping sound. That's God scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Okay, this is how things are. It shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't be that I have to say this stuff. It shouldn't be that a ministry that I've got karm .org exists. The Christian Church should be doing this.

It shouldn't be this way. It is. It's the fault of the Christian pastors primarily who don't have the guts to bow the heart and the knee in the mind before the Word of God and start teaching it and instead of Preaching to please God what they're doing is preaching and Trying to please men and have numbers come into their church and do what's necessary for that and that's false.

Should not happen should not happen. It should not happen, but it does. Now the Bible says in James 4 7 submit therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you. So he has completely contradicted the Word of God.

False Teaching on Evil, Forgiveness, and Universalism

Let's go to number five improper declaration of what evil is on page 136. It says Mackenzie evil is a word we use to describe the absence of good. Just as we use the word darkness to describe the absence of light or death to describe the absence of life.

I know where he got this is like a crackerjack thing crackerjack, you know sayings or fortune cookies. So hey, that looks good. I'm gonna put that in there. I'll put in my novel. I'll put it in there.

We're gonna get it straight. Good. No bad is the absence of good. Yeah evil debate. Yeah, that works. It's mysticism. It's New Age idiocy. It's stupidity. It's not what it is. He's goes on both evil and darkness can only be understood in relationship to light and good.

They do not have any actual existence. Really? Satan is evil incarnate so to speak. He's not incarnated, but he is evil. I don't know how many of you have ever ever experienced the presence of a demonic force.

You remember it? It's evil. It's scary. It's terrifying. I've had it happen. Not that experience is how we judge these things. But we know that the scripture says that the devil is real the devil is a murderer and a liar and a thief.

He goes around seeking who can destroy John 10 10. He is evil and to say That evil is just the absence of good or if that's the case. We don't need any devil. We don't need any demonic realm because all we need is the absence of good.

What is the absence of good? Absence of good is nothing. Nothing the absence of something isn't anything. This is ridiculous you know if I have a Give a plug for Red Bull here, but if I have this This is here.

It's something now. What a minute wait watch it doesn't put it back over here, okay? It's the absence of the can. What is it? It's nothing. No, that's what evil is the absence of good. The absence of good isn't anything this is New Age Mysticism, it's all it is.

It's ridiculous all right. Verse nut verse Number six. I love this one on page 224. God the father and Mac are talking about forgiving the man who murdered Mac's daughter Mac for you to forgive this man is for you to release him to me and allow me to redeem him so God needs Max permission mass going to release him to allow him to forgive him.

Wow. What God is that? It's a God to stop describing the book of Deuterectomy is certainly not the God of Scripture. God Needs a permission and the release of this sinner in order for God to forgive. This is flaming heresy.

Okay, as in heresy that's flaming. It's flaming heresy is bad. On page 225 we are told by God in Jesus. I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me. But only some choose Relationship so I've forgiven all humans for their sins against me when I talked to to him about this.

He would not answer the question I Remember it. I said are you saying that everybody's forgiven and he wouldn't answer. Are you saying everybody's forgiven? He wouldn't answer. He's teaching universalism all people are forgiven.

No not all people are forgiven mark 329 Matthew 25 46 Revelation 14 11 2010 people are judged and they go to hell. I don't want them to go to hell. They do they're not all forgiven. I mean, this is ridiculous in Jesus.

I've forgiven all humans for their sins against me wrong. Mr. Paul Young the universalist heretic. Wrong, but you know what? This is sure a satisfying statement to help us feel good and better about God.

You know why we don't want God's sovereignty we want our own sovereignty. We don't want his superiority. We want ours. We want our free will and our wisdom and our sincerity. Above his that's what we want.

And that's why people pick up this book and they love it because it tickles their ears. That's what is happening. It is definitely most definitely tickling their ears now 2nd Timothy 4 3 for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.