‘The Shack’ co-creator addresses universalism, theological criticism ahead of ‘unplanned sequel’ book

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Entertainment Editor Monday, September 07, 2026

Wayne Jacobsen, co-creator of the bestselling novel The Shack, has revealed that an early draft of the controversial book embraced universalism, but said he refused to help rewrite it unless that theology was removed.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Jacobsen, a longtime pastor, teacher and author, reflected on the controversy that has followed The Shack for nearly two decades while discussing his latest book,Just Love,co-written with South African educator and theologian Tobie van der Westhuizen.

Among the most persistent criticisms of The Shack was that it promoted universalism, the belief that all people will ultimately be saved. Jacobsen said that criticism was not entirely without basis when it came to the manuscript he was originally given.

“To be honest, the first draft we got was universalist; [universalism] was part of the answer in that book,” Jacobsen said. “And when I was asked to help rewrite it, I was clear that I would not participate in a book that held universalism as an answer because I don't think that's what Scripture says.”

“There’s so much in Scripture you'd have to ignore to get to that point,” he added.

Jacobsen said he and fellow collaborator Brad Cummings spent about 16 months rewriting the manuscript by author William P. Young, known as Paul Young, and, with Young's permission, removed the universalist elements.

“He was a little less certain about that being an answer and was willing to have it move in a different direction,” Jacobsen said. He added that Young's subsequent work has, in his estimation, “moved back more into a universalist point of view.”

Originally self-published in 2007, The Shack became a publishing phenomenon and was later adapted into a 2017 film starring Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer and Tim McGraw. The story centers on Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips, a grieving father who encounters manifestations of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit while wrestling with the brutal murder of his young daughter.

The book's depiction of the Trinity, including its portrayal of God the Father primarily as a black woman called “Papa,” generated fierce debate within Evangelical circles. Critics raised objections to its treatment of the Trinity, salvation, judgment and the nature of God. Young's follow-up to the book Return to the Shack: A Journey into Redemption is slated for release next month. 

Despite the criticism surrounding the book, Jacobsen maintained that it doesn't teach universalism. He pointed to an exchange in The Shack in which Mack wonders whether all roads ultimately lead to God. Jesus responds that most roads lead nowhere, but that there is no road a person can travel without Jesus coming to look for them.

“I think that says it perfectly,” Jacobsen told CP, adding that Christ will pursue people wherever they become lost, including in false religions.

Reflecting on whether any of the broader theological criticism of The Shack had merit, Jacobsen acknowledged that he would approach aspects of the project differently nearly 20 years later.

“I think everything in my life, 20 years later, I'm going to approach a bit differently,” he said.

However, Jacobsen defended its central portrayal of God's character and shared how, recently, he was in Toronto discussing The Shack with people who told him their lives had been transformed by encountering a picture of a loving God.

“To me, that's the essence of the Gospel,” he said. “We can quibble over: Did we get the Trinity exactly right, or did we get this particular expression right? But overall, I think the book is a wonderful depiction of how deeply loved we are by God.”

Still, Jacobsen acknowledged The Shack would likely be even more polarizing if it debuted in today's cultural climate. The success of the novel, he said, taught him that popular books can prompt an “industry of anti voices,” while the book's emphasis on God's love can threaten Christians shaped by legalistic environments.

“If God's too loving, then people are just going to go get away with stuff,” Jacobsen said, describing the concern he has encountered. “ But love's not an excuse to live selfishly or independently. Love is the power of God that transforms us from ... the narcissism of our own flesh to being an agent of the Kingdom in the world.”

In his new book, Jacobsen challenges the way Christians have historically understood the biblical concept of righteousness. “Righteousness,” he said, is not the best translation of the underlying biblical concept; the word “justice” actually better captures its meaning. 

Understanding biblical righteousness through the lens of justice can move Christians beyond a performance-based approach to faith, according to the pastor. Believers are transformed as the love of Christ changes their motivations and frees them from a self-centered way of living. 

“It's Jesus writing justice on our hearts; it's not us trying to be better,” he explained. “It's not us trading righteousness to try and be more just. There are injustices in my heart because I live a self-preferring lifestyle, and if Jesus' love for me wins me into my growing trust in who He is and how He provides for me, then I don't have to use people the way I've used them most of my life.”

Just Love, he said, is the “unplanned sequel” to both The Shack and his earlier book He Loves Me. The Shack, he explained, is the fictional expression of the ideas explored in He Loves Me of how an individual experiences God's love. Just Love, meanwhile, examines what should happen when that love begins shaping how Christians treat others.

“Love becomes the way the Kingdom finds expression in the world,” Jacobsen said.

Growing up in an Evangelical Christian home, Jacobsen viewed the idea of righteousness through a lens of “shame and performance and good works,” an experience he’s learned isn’t uncommon for many believers.

“When we took the word righteousness away from justice,” he said, Christians lost an emphasis on both inward transformation and how believers relate to others.

Jacobsen stressed that reframing righteousness as justice is not intended to diminish personal holiness. He contended that experiencing God's love provides a more effective pathway toward holiness than religious performance.

“Love brought about a transforming of my character and my thinking and my heart that religious performance and activity never did,” he said. “So it doesn't diminish the sense of holiness at all. It gives us a better pathway to find that holiness.”

Jacobsen also connected the message of Just Love to the growing number of people who've become disillusioned with institutional Christianity or begun deconstructing their faith, also known as the “great unchurching.”

“The people I talk to are looking for the same thing that I did,” he said. “I want something to be real. … God’s love doesn't mean we get all our diseases healed. It doesn't mean we all get wealthy and everything gets fixed. This is the kind of love of God that walks you through the worst things that life can throw at us here in this age.”

The pastor lamented that far too often, people mistakenly believe that the Christian life will eliminate struggles. Genuine faith, he emphasized, is found in experiencing God’s love and presence amid pain, which in turn allows that love to transform believers and flow through them to others.

“If you're not in that flow, if you're doing a bunch of religious stuff and it hasn't initiated that flow, I would encourage people to keep seeking,” he said. “There is a life in God for you. There's an engagement with Him that will answer every question you've had, and I don't mean that in the sense that you get a hard and fast answer; I mean that you have presence in the midst of difficulty that makes sense of the chaotic world we live in until He comes to redeem it all.”