Surprised by Paradox, Jen Pollock Michel
Surprised by Paradox, Jen Pollock Michel
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Surprised by Paradox
The Promise of "And" in an Either-Or World

Author: Jen Pollock Michel, Russ Ramsey

Narrator: Jen Pollock Michel

Unabridged: 6 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/12/2019

Synopsis

In a world filled with ambiguity, many of us long for a belief system that provides straightforward answers to complex questions and clarity in the face of confusion. We want faith to act like an orderly set of truth-claims designed to solve the problems and pain that life throws at us.

With signature candor and depth, Jen Pollock Michel helps listeners imagine a Christian faith open to mystery. While there are certainties in Christian faith, at the heart of the Christian story is also paradox. Jesus invites us to abandon the polarities of either and or in order to embrace the difficult, wondrous dissonance of and.

The incarnation—the paradox of God made human—teaches us to look for God in the and of body and spirit, heaven and earth. In the kingdom, God often hides in plain sight and announces his triumph on the back of a donkey. In the paradox of grace, we receive life eternal by actively participating in death. And lament, with its clear-eyed appraisal of suffering alongside its commitment to finding audience with God, is a paradoxical practice of faith. Each of these themes give us certainty about God while also leading us into greater curiosity about his nature and activity in the world.

About Jen Pollock Michel

Jen Pollock Michel is the author of Teach Us to Want, Keeping Place, and Surprised by Paradox. A Wheaton College graduate, she holds a master's degree in literature from Northwestern University and has written for Christianity Today, Image Journal, Comment, First Things, and The Gospel Coalition. She also speaks regularly at The Gospel Coalition (Women's Conference and National Conference) and at churches and retreats. Michel lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Laura

I have learned to love the tension of paradox, the way paradox disciplines me to allow two seeming contradictions to coexist. Jen Pollock Michel admits that much of her writing has been born from the tension between two ideas. This book is her celebration of the many paradoxes of the Christian faith......more

Goodreads review by Catherine

For non-fiction, Christian books, I often turn to the endnotes to determine whether or not I will read the book. Anyone who quotes Fleming Rutledge and Ta-Nehisi Coates in the same chapter will get moved to the top of my to-read list, and I was not disappointed with Jen Pollock Michel's new book. Di......more

Goodreads review by Darryl

Jonathan Edwards, the great American theologian, believed in paradox. He believed that in God we see many traits that don’t seem to belong together: infinite greatness and infinite care, infinite justice and infinite mercy, and infinite majesty displaying itself as stunning meekness. So did G.K. Che......more

Goodreads review by Andy

Things aren't always either/or and maybe they aren't supposed to be. Faith can be much more beautiful and reciting when things that seem contradictory are held as true without need for resolution. Jen Pollock Michel does a fantastic job of showing beauty in mystery and uncertainty. God becomes one i......more

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