The Shack Revisited

1.Kruger describes The Shack as giving voice to a universal human cry — the longing to know that God is real, good, and personally involved in our suffering. Do you recognize that cry in yourself? What form does it take in your own life?

1.Kruger introduces the Greek theological term perichoresis to describe the mutual indwelling of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Before reading any further definition, try to describe in your own words what you think it means for three persons to mutually indwell one another.

1.Many readers were initially shocked or offended by The Shack's portrayal of God the Father as a woman named Elousia. What was your initial reaction to that portrayal — either when reading The Shack or hearing about it? What does your reaction reveal about your assumptions?

1.In The Shack, Jesus appears as an ordinary-looking Middle Eastern man who is playful, handy, and deeply at home in the physical world. Kruger argues this is entirely consistent with orthodox Christology. What does it mean to say that the eternal Son of God became fully, genuinely, unreservedly human?

1.In The Shack, the Holy Spirit appears as Sarayu — a shimmering, hard-to-focus-on figure who is always in motion and who tends a chaotic but beautiful garden. What was your first impression of this portrayal? What does it capture about the Spirit that more conventional images (a dove, flames) might miss?

1.Kruger describes the human problem not primarily as guilt or moral failure but as a kind of blindness — we cannot see who God really is, and therefore we cannot see who we really are. Do you find this diagnosis more or less convincing than the traditional emphasis on sin as wrongdoing? What do the two views have in common?

1.Kruger introduces Athanasius of Alexandria and his famous battle against Arianism. In simple terms, what was at stake in that controversy? Why does Kruger believe Athanasius was defending not just an abstract doctrine but the very possibility of salvation?

1.Who was T. F. Torrance, and why does Kruger regard him as such a pivotal figure for recovering the vision of God he is describing? What does Torrance add to or clarify from what Athanasius already said?

1.Kruger describes the "orphaned heart" as the fundamental human condition east of Eden — not necessarily that we doubt God exists, but that we live functionally as though we are on our own. What does an orphaned heart look like in everyday behavior? What are its telltale signs?

1.Kruger describes what he calls the "circle of blessing" — the life of the Trinity as a never-ending gift-giving in which the Father gives to the Son, the Son to the Spirit, and the Spirit back to the Father. How does understanding the inner life of God as a circle of blessing (rather than a hierarchy of command) change the way you think about authority and relationships?

1.Kruger does not try to make the problem of evil disappear — he acknowledges it as the central question The Shack raises. What is his primary response to the question of how a loving God can permit horrific suffering? Does his answer satisfy you, partially satisfy you, or leave you wanting more?

1.Kruger concludes by returning to where he began: the human cry for a God who is real, warm, and personally present. Looking back over the whole arc of The Shack Revisited, in what ways has Kruger answered that cry? What, if anything, remains unanswered for you?

1.When you began this study, what was your picture of God — and specifically of the Trinity? How has that picture shifted, deepened, or been challenged through these weeks? Be specific about what changed and what didn't.