William Paul Young is reopening The Shack - and he isn't backing down from the Christian critics who have challenged his theology for nearly two decades.
The author is preparing to release Return to the Shack: A Journey Into Redemption this October, a sequel to his 2007 publishing phenomenon The Shack. The self-published original went on to sell more than 25 million copies and inspired the 2017 movie starring Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer.
But its enormous success came with equally enormous controversy. Some Christian critics objected to Young's unconventional portrayal of the Trinity, particularly God appearing as a Black woman, alongside Jesus as a Middle Eastern man and the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman.
Young apparently expects some of that criticism to return - and he has a pointed response.
"If people are bothered...it means something is in them that needs to be addressed, and it becomes an invitation," Young told Fox News Digital.
Young also took aim at what he calls "fear-based religion." Pointing to 1 John 4:18 and its teaching that perfect love drives out fear, he argued that if fear is embedded in someone's religious beliefs, then "your theology, your religion is seriously flawed."
The sequel could generate controversy for another reason.
Set about 10 years after the original story, Return to the Shack follows Mack Phillips as he visits the man who abducted and murdered his 6-year-old daughter. According to the synopsis, Mack confronts both "the brokenness of another human being" and the lingering weight of his own anger, doubt, and disappointment with God.
Young knows that asking readers to see the humanity of a death-row killer may be uncomfortable. He drew inspiration from relationships he formed through prison ministry in Nashville, saying prisoners are often reduced to the worst thing they have ever done despite coming from complicated backgrounds that can include trauma and abuse.
The storyline also became personal for Young as he reflected on his difficult relationship with his missionary father.
"I finally released him from my expectations and allowed him to become something greater than a failure to my expectations and greater than being my dad," Young said. "And that was to finally become a human being."
Young has also been open about his own failures, including previously acknowledging marital infidelity, which he described as a "monumental failure." He has said God's grace helped him face what he had done rather than run from it.
Now 71, Young appears prepared for another round of debate when Return to the Shack arrives in October. He calls the sequel a "powerful story" for a world facing troubled times and hopes it will "speak life" to readers.
Nearly 20 years after The Shack first had Christians arguing about God, suffering and forgiveness, Young is returning to the place where it all began.
And this time, he's asking perhaps an even more provocative question: Can redemption reach the person you find hardest to forgive?
