Some Christians are outraged at who new film The Shack cast as God

The Help's Octavia Spencer plays the physical manifestation of God in the cinematic adaptation of a bestseller

The upcoming faith-based fantasy film The Shack has cast an incredibly accomplished actress in the role of God: The Help and Hidden Figures' Octavia Spencer, whose consistently warm and calm demeanour seems a perfect choice to depict the heavenly.

The Shack is an adaptation of William P. Young's 2007 novel, which focuses on a man who sinks into severe depression after his daughter is murdered during a family camping trip; struggling to keep his faith, he suddenly receives a mysterious letter urging him to return to the site of his daughter's murder.

It's there that he meets physical manifestations of the holy trinity: Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and God - which includes Spencer's iteration of the deity, with the Holy Spirit depicted as a young Asian woman named Sarayu, played by Sumire Matsubara.

However, some Christian leaders have made vocal objections to Spencer taking up the role and to the very book itself, which has sold 20 million copies since its release and has been translated into 39 different languages.

Joe Schimmel, pastor of Blessed Hope Chapel in Simi Valley, California and host of the documentary Hollywood's War on God, told the Christian News Network: "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), and his depiction of the Holy Spirit as a frail Asian woman with the Hindu name, Sarayu, lends itself to a dangerous and false image of God and idolatry."

James B. DeYoung, who actually went so far as to author a book titled Burning Down the Shack: How the 'Christian' Bestseller is Deceiving Millions, also stated: "If the film is a faithful portrayal of the events and the theology of the book, then every Christian should be gravely alarmed at the further advance of beliefs that smear the evangelical understanding of the truth of the Bible."

The Shack hits US cinemas 3 March 2017.