‘The Shack’ Co-Creator Drops Bombshell: Original Draft Promoted Universalism Before Major Rewrite

One of the men who helped transform The Shack into a worldwide publishing phenomenon has made a stunning admission: the original manuscript promoted universalism-and he refused to work on it unless that teaching was removed.

Wayne Jacobsen, the pastor, author and publishing collaborator who helped rewrite William P. Young's controversial novel, revealed that the version initially presented to him taught that everyone would ultimately be saved.

"To be honest, the first draft we got was universalist," Jacobsen told The Christian Post. He said he made his participation conditional upon removing that position because he did not believe it agreed with Scripture. 

The revelation is explosive because accusations of universalism have followed The Shack almost from the moment it became a Christian publishing sensation. Supporters have long defended the novel as a fictional exploration of grief, forgiveness and God's love, while critics have argued that its theology blurred biblical teachings about salvation, judgment and the Trinity.

According to Jacobsen, those critics were not imagining everything. The controversial teaching was apparently present in the early manuscript, but Jacobsen and fellow collaborator Brad Cummings spent approximately 16 months reshaping Young's story. With Young's permission, they removed the explicitly universalist material before publication.

Jacobsen said Young was then less certain about universalism and allowed the book to move in a different theological direction. However, he also suggested that Young's later work has moved closer to a universalist perspective-an assessment belonging to Jacobsen and not a fresh public declaration from Young.

The timing of the revelation could hardly be more dramatic. Young's official sequel, Return to the Shack: A Journey Into Redemption, is scheduled for release on October 6, 2026. Publisher Worthy describes it as the highly anticipated continuation of the blockbuster that has sold more than 25 million copies and inspired the 2017 film starring Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer and Tim McGraw. Hachette Book Group

The original story follows grieving father Mackenzie "Mack" Phillips as he encounters representations of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at the shack associated with his daughter's murder. Its portrayal of God the Father primarily as a Black woman named Papa became one of the novel's biggest talking points, while theologians also debated its presentation of divine wrath, human freedom, church authority and salvation.

Jacobsen is revisiting the dispute while promoting Just Love: How One Mistranslated Word Distorted the Gospel, his new book with South African educator Tobie van der Westhuizen. Published in March 2026, the book argues that Christians have separated righteousness from justice and reduced faith to managing sin and performing religious duties. Wayne Jacobsen's official site

Jacobsen calls Just Love an "unplanned sequel" to the spiritual themes explored in The Shack and his earlier book He Loves Me. His central argument is that receiving God's love should produce internal transformation, holiness and more just treatment of others-not simply religious activity.

Yet it is his admission about The Shack that is certain to reignite the old theological firestorm. Nearly two decades after the book divided churches, pastors and readers, one of its principal collaborators has effectively confirmed that universalism was not merely something critics projected onto the story. It was part of the original vision-and survived only until the rewriting began.

With Return to the Shack arriving in October, readers may now approach Young's sequel with one burning question: did the universalism removed from the first manuscript finally find its way back into the shack?