Is God Black? Octavia Spencer To Play The Almighty Lord In New Movie 'The Shack'

Actress Octavia Spencer began her week on the Oscars red carpet Sunday, but she's set to wrap up her week on another red carpet. Her next film, “The Shack,” scheduled to premiere Friday, features Spencer playing God. That casting choice hasn’t been without controversy.

Spencer is both black and a woman, setting her apart from the conventional Western depiction of God as usually white and male. When God isn’t shown in human form, the role has been given a male voice, such as in the 1956 classic “The Ten Commandments,” when God appeared as a burning bush.

The depiction of God the Father as a black woman in William P. Young’s 2007 novel “The Shack,” upon which the film is based, was a major departure from those classic images of God. That break from tradition has irked some Christian groups.

“Young’s pretentious caricature of God as a heavy set, cushy, non-judgmental, African American woman called ‘Papa’ (who resembles the New Agey Oprah Winfrey far more than the one true God revealed through the Lord Jesus Christ-Hebrews 1:1-3)... lends itself to a dangerous and false image of God and idolatry,” said Joe Schimmel, pastor of Blessed Hope Chapel in California, in December.

James B. DeYoung, a professor of New Testament Language and Literature at Western Seminary in Oregon, called the concept of a black woman portraying God as “heresy.”

In the story, the three people of the Holy Trinity were all portrayed in non-traditional ways: The Holy Spirit was played by Japanese actress Sumire Matsubara, and Israeli actor Aviv Alush played Jesus.

Phylicia Rashad, known best for her role as Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” stood by Spencer’s casting Wednesday night.

“Oh, please, God is in all of us,” she said. “It does not matter what color you are or what gender you are, there is God in all of us.”

For her part, Spencer defended her own casting in an interview with The Christian Post published Wednesday.

“I love the way the Holy Trinity is presented in ‘The Shack,’” she said. “It represents a very diverse group of people, which is what the world is.”