{"id":5785,"date":"2019-04-30T07:00:21","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/kelleymathews\/?p=5785"},"modified":"2019-04-30T20:36:58","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T01:36:58","slug":"embrace-the-paradox-of-the-christian-faith-says-author-jen-pollock-michel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kelleymathews\/2019\/04\/embrace-the-paradox-of-the-christian-faith-says-author-jen-pollock-michel\/","title":{"rendered":"Embrace the Paradox of the Christian Faith, Says Author Jen Pollock Michel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/p>\n

In my quest to read more nonfiction this year, I joined the launch team for Jen Pollock Michel\u2019s newest book,\u00a0Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of \u201cAnd\u201d in an Either-Or World<\/em><\/a>. The title intrigued me, as did the back cover descriptive copy. And paradox is such a fun word: a term\u00a0that seems self-contradictory or\u00a0absurd\u00a0but,\u00a0in\u00a0reality, expresses\u00a0possible\u00a0truth. It\u2019s a fantastic word to describe the Christian faith. So much of what we believe, of what we read in scripture, leads us to seemingly irreconcilable truths that indeed do reconcile. Sometimes we see it, but other times we are forced to wrestle with the mystery and decide if we trust God enough while not understanding completely.<\/p>\n

I hope you enjoy this interview with Jen:<\/p>\n

From the back cover: In a world filled with ambiguity, we want faith to act like an orderly set of truth-claims to solve the problems that life throws at us. While there are certainties in the Christian faith, at the heart of the Christian story is also paradox, and Jen Pollock Michel helps readers imagine a Christian faith open to mystery. Jesus invites us to abandon the polarities of either<\/em> and or<\/em> in order to embrace the difficult, wondrous dissonance of and<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How does Surprised by Paradox<\/em> draw from your previous books?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

JEN: I think my two previous books both treat paradox in their own way. Teach Us to Want<\/em> is about the paradox of desire\u2014that it is both a place of caution and call in our life with God; Keeping Place<\/em> is about the longing and the labor of home that is both now and not yet. My interest was more specifically in this third book is about reading the Bible well, which is to say not imagining it like a puzzle that neatly fits together but staying curious about the mysteries we find within its pages\u2014and certainly a God whose ways are not our ways. As I say in the book, I think paradox has a way of cultivating a certain kind of \u201cspiritual posture\u201d in us, one of humility, awe, wonder. Those have all the elements of worship.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What role should surprise play in our lives with God?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

JEN: My central thesis is that paradox isn\u2019t the exception in life with God: it\u2019s the rule. From the way Jesus\u2019s life unfolds (from the incarnation to his public ministry and then to his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascent), everything is full of surprise. God upends our expectations along the way, which seems to insist that we must approach theology with a great deal of modesty.<\/p>\n

This approach is distinctive perhaps in that it\u2019s committedly biblical. As opposed to a Parker Palmer approach, for example, it\u2019s not just commending mystery in the abstract. It\u2019s having readers draw close to scripture and explore the tensions.<\/p>\n

What do you hope readers take away from Surprised by Paradox<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

JEN: I want them to realize that:<\/p>\n