Tim Tebow, who plays outfielder with the New York Mets, has received a lot of backlash after he tweeted his support for the new faith-based film "The Shack."
Even though the Christian athlete has often been praised for his faith and commitment to serve others, he received a different treatment after he gave the film his seal of approval.
On his Twitter account (@TimTebow), the former NFL star wrote, "Got a sneak-peek of @TheShackMovie last night. Great reminder that God is with us in our highs & lows & LOVES us no matter what! #TheShack."
Prior to the movie's release, the book version of "The Shack" written by William Paul Young was deemed "heretical" because it presented God as an African American woman, while the Holy Spirit was portrayed as a mysterious Asian woman named Sarayu.
A lot of evangelicals did not appreciate this depiction, and they voiced their displeasure with Tebow for tweeting positively about the movie. "I can't support this movie nor have I the book. Scripturally unsound," a netizen wrote.
"Bad portrayal of the living God especially the holy spirit," commented another. A former fan of Tebow's even said he has now unfollowed the athlete because he does not agree with him, since the book and movie are both heretical.
Of course, not everybody was displeased with Tebow's tweet. Some fans wrote positive comments: "I read the book 3 times liked it so much! Hope the movie is as good and does justice to the book."
"I was able to get a sneak peak too! I loved the way it portrayed the trinity's relationship with each other and us!" wrote another.
Meanwhile, Belinda Elliot of CBN News sought to understand why so many Christians are opposed to "The Shack." But when she read the novel, she could see
"As a novel, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the story quickly pulled me in and kept me turning pages. It is a quite heartwarming and satisfying work of fiction," she said. "As a work of heresy, however, I was sorely disappointed. I just couldn't find much in the book that I would consider heretical."
"The Shack" is set for release in movie theatres in the U.S. on March 3, 2017.
