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    Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of "And" in an Either-Or World
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    Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of "And" in an Either-Or World
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    Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of "And" in an Either-Or World
    Ebook229 pages3 hours

    Surprised by Paradox: The Promise of "And" in an Either-Or World

    By Jen Pollock Michel and Russ Ramsey

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    About this ebook

    Word Guild Awards Shortlist — Apologetics/Evangelism

    Word Guild Award — Best Book Cover Award

    Christianity Today's Book of the Year Award of Merit - The Beautiful Orthodoxy

    What if certainty isn't the goal?

    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 readers 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.

    As Michel writes, "As soon as we think we have God figured out, we will have ceased to worship him as he is." With personal stories and reflection on Scripture, literature, and culture, Michel takes us deeper into mystery and into worship of the One who is Mystery and Love.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIndependent Publishers Group
    Release dateMay 14, 2019
    ISBN9780830870929
    Author

    Jen Pollock Michel

    Jen Pollock Michel is the author of Teach Us to Want and is a regular contributor to Christianity Today and Moody Bible Institute's Today in the Word. She earned her BA in French from Wheaton College and her MA in literature from Northwestern University, and she belongs to Redbud Writers Guild and INK. Wife and mother of five, Jen lives in Toronto, Canada, and is an enthusiastic supporter of HOPE International and Safe Families.

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    • 4/5
      It should not be surprising that a book about paradoxes can be a little confusing and maybe feel a little contradictory. But given how moved and informed I was by the last couple of chapters, it may be where I am in my life, and at a different time, I would have gotten more out of the first couple of chapters. Well worth the read in any case.