A Call to Darkness in The Shack
An Invitation to Enter Into the Black Depths of the Soul
Jul 23, 2009
On Wednesday, July 2008 a post, in the blog Herescope, connected the God, Elousia, in The Shack to the archetypal Black Madonna that is found around the globe. The post references an article by Matthew Fox: The Return of the Black Madonna: A Sign of Our Times or How the Black Madonna Is Shaking Us Up for the Twenty-First Century.
In his article, Fox describes the Madonna as challenging people to enter into darkness. William P Young’s black, female, Godhead in The Shack seems to also call followers to enter into darkness a challenge that Christians should avoid.
A Call to Darkness
Fox suggests that the darkness of Black Madonna is a call for followers to enter their own darkness. According to Fox, the darkness that she calls us to is the darkness of the soul where we can find the essence of things. He says that the fear of darkness is a deception perpetuated by the Enlightenment.
According to Fox and the mystics that he quotes, the ground of the soul is dark and this is where people must go. This is where divinity and the true self hide. If people do not stand on the ground of the soul, they are disconnected from themselves. He goes on to quote Meister Eckhart, a German theologian, philosopher, and mystic from the 13th and 14th centuries, as saying that God’s darkness is “a mystery behind mystery, a mystery within mystery that no light has penetrated.” Eckhart’s quote refers to a common idea among mystics that it is in darkness where truth lies.
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite wrote “we may know that Unknowing which is enshrouded under all that is known and all that can be known, and that we may begin to contemplate the superessential Darkness which is hidden by all the light that is in existing things.”
Darkness and Wisdom in the Shack
In The Shack, Jesus sends Mack down a trail and tells him to enter where it ends. “He ventured a couple of small steps into the inky darkness and stopped. Fear seized him as he tried to breathe, unsure whether or not to continue. As his stomach clenched he felt it again, The Great Sadness settling on his shoulders with its full weight almost suffocating him. He desperately wanted to back out into the light, but in the end he believed that Jesus would not have sent him in here without a good purpose. He pressed in farther.” (151-152)
Mack continues into the cavern until he meets Sophia, a wisdom entity, who invites him to stand as judge against those around him. (Incidentally, Sophia is a Greek goddess of wisdom who can also be found in Gnostic and neo-platonic worship.) She then proceeds to reveal to him his past record as a judge. As the chapter unfolds, she correctly reveals to Mack that those who seek justice must be willing to have justice worked upon them. Her revelation causes Mack to realize that the justice sinners deserve would dismay those who seek justice against those who sinned against them. She goes on to remind Mack that sinners do not receive what they deserve but rather they receive grace.
The Direction That Jesus’ Points
While the lesson Mack learns is one that all who believe in Christ must learn, it is learned in the darkness, which is not where God points believers to seek the truth. In John 12:46-47 Jesus says “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” Jesus like Sophia doesn’t sit as judge, however, unlike Sophia who Sarayu says is a manifestation of God’s wisdom, Jesus can save.
It is notable that the Bible has the Savior saying that those who believe in him should not live in darkness. In opposition to scripture, Mack was sent into the darkness. He did not turn away from darkness to live, He was sent into it by Young’s Jesus. Granted Young’s Jesus did not ask Mack to continue to stand in the dark but it is important to realize that it was by walking into the darkness and standing in the dark that Mack found divinity and true self which is exactly opposite of what the Bible commands us to do “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12
Young, William P. The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity. Windblown Media. 2007.
Read more about William P. Young and The Shack at Suite101.
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