Canadian author (1955- )
Rules cannot bring freedom; they only have the power to accuse.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
Evangelicals have like millions of rules. And it's just, uh, we have sort of an accepted, rationalism within which we frame religion. And we think that belief, intellectually, is of the same as relationship. And in our Western family conversation, that's become an incredible impediment toward actual wholeness, where the heart and the head are aligned and relationship -- with not just God but with each other.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
interview, "Your Daily Bread", Rare, Dec. 10, 2013
It is impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn't even real.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
Words you will never hear God say, "I have a quota."
WM. PAUL YOUNG
FaceBook post, Sep. 30, 2014
This life is only the anteroom of a greater reality to come.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
God's voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellect.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
It wasn't long ago I was cleaning toilets and now I have protestors. How cool is this?
WM. PAUL YOUNG
"Unpacking The Shack: WM Paul Young Interview", Eden
It seems like -- especially in religious circles and Christian circles, we want to first talk about the things we're opposed to. That means we have to categorize that person. We can call them emergent or neo orthodox or someone who feminizes scripture. There's the category, let's stick them in the category then just blow up the box and him along with it.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
"Unpacking The Shack: WM Paul Young Interview", Eden
Normal is a myth.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
Today's minor irritations may become tomorrow's treasured memories. We often don't know what we are missing, until it's missing.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
FaceBook post, Sep. 24, 2014
Jesus was always challenging the dogma of religion. So, you know, it's not like I'm out there by myself.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
interview, "Your Daily Bread", Rare, Dec. 10, 2013
I often find that getting head issues out of the way first makes the heart stuff easier to work on later.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
Transformation without work and pain, without suffering, without a sense of loss is just an illusion of true change.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
Cross Roads
You are the root, and only God knows that the flower will be.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
Cross Roads
Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
It's always been you know, religion that has been the primary impediment to actual relationship with God, because it creates a mythology about performance -- that you can perform your way into the appeasement of the deity. And you know, when you're born inside the cultural framework that I was, and you're born inside the religious traditions that I was, that becomes your understanding of spirituality: That it's about trying to please God. So, it's really not about God at all; it's about our ability to perform according to whatever the expectations are.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
interview, "Your Daily Bread", Rare, Dec. 10, 2013
I grew up fundamentalist, evangelical, Protestant. Those are my roots, and they are good roots. But it means the Pharisees are my people. I grew up with an image of God that was not helpful -- largely the face of my father expanded.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
"The Love Shack", Christianity Today, Mar. 4, 2013
Submission is not about authority and it is not obedience; it is all about relationships of love and respect.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
The arrival of the unforeseen reveals the depths of one's heart.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
The Shack
I don't see the Father pouring out his wrath on the Son. I see the human race pouring out their wrath on the Son. So I see the only hope for the entire cosmos is what the Son chooses to accept, crawling upon the instrument of our greatest wrath. He met us at the deepest, darkest place.
WM. PAUL YOUNG
"The Love Shack", Christianity Today, Mar. 4, 2013