I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Karen Swallow Prior's words on this profound book:

"So much of the beauty of Christianity is in its paradoxes, the marvelous mysteries that form the center of our faith: the Word made flesh, God become human, law fulfilled by grace, death conquered by death once and for all. With beauty and elegance, Jen Pollock Michel reveals and revels in the mysteries of a faith that cannot be contained by human categories or understanding but beckons us to embrace its certainties and its wonders alike."
-Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well and Fierce Convictions

I first fell in love with Jen Pollock Michel's book Keeping Home. Her words are thoughtful and precise, and Surprised by Paradox is no exception. She does such a great job creating space for believers in Jesus to remember that we are not meant to know every answer to all of our questions this side of heaven, and that it is possible to have peace in that regard when it comes to the complexities that accompany our faith. This is a great resource for anyone struggling in their faith - I think it would be a great comfort.

According to Merriam-Webster, a paradox is "a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true." In Surprised by Paradox, Jen Pollock Michel discusses four paradoxes in the Bible: the incarnation, the kingdom, grace, and lament. Even though seemingly contradictory statements are made in the Bible about these topics and we definitely don't fully understand them, we can have faith and hope, knowing that they are indeed true. After reading this book, you will be challenged to sit in wonder and awe as you ponder these beautiful mysteries and you will thank God that He, in His infinite wisdom and majesty, has allowed us even a glimpse into them.

Surprised By Paradox

I am always on a lookout for theologically sound women authors. I read Ms. Pollock’s contribution in the book Our Secular Age and appreciated her work there. I picked this book up with perhaps a lot of expectations. Here are some things I liked about it:

- her explanation of lament and its place in our Christian suffering.
- her chapter on the kingdom and exhortation to be counter-cultural.
- her emphasis on grace, both as givers and recipients of it.
- her not shying away from calling out sin, cheap grace, blind political party loyalty.

However, I also found some parts that left me wanting more explanation from the author:

- her making changes to the name of God, “the Great I am” to “the Great I and.” The Jews wouldn’t even utter God’s name, yet she alters it just to make a point.
- her claim that Renaissance humanism and scientific revolution changed the church’s view of the communion host, from being the actual body of a Christ to just a memorial. This sounds like she is affirming the Catholic view of transubstantiation is the original and right view.
- She mentions Mary’s “leaky breasts” twice. What’s the point of that graphic description? I’m female and got distracted of that thought in my head.
- What is a spiritual director? The author has one.
- I understand she is perhaps upper middle-class, but her mentioning of having a housekeeper, nanny and going on expensive vacations make her unrelatable.
- her comparing Trump’s Christian supporters to the German National Church embracing he Nazis during WW2. I’m no Trump fan, but there is a stark difference between the two situations.
- It seems any Christian book written nowadays needs to include a mention of the oppressed minorities and the unfairness white America has caused. I’m not white, but I find it tiring to be reminded how oppressed my people have been. Let’s just move on, please.

I don’t want to end with a negative attitude because I think the book, despite the above list, has commendable parts. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“Sin, according to Schmemann, was not simply that man loved the material; it was that he loved it for itself. Sin severed the material from the spiritual—the food from God.”

“Out of his own surprising goodness, God made a world and invited us to be his honored guests in it. He set the table. He made the meal. And even more surprising, when we abruptly left that table to heed another dinner invitation, he cleaned up the mess.”

“A book about paradox is a book about spiritual posture: the posture of kneeling under God’s great big sky and admitting that mystery is inherent to the nature of God. As soon as we think we have God figured out, we will have ceased to worship him as he is.”

*** I received a free advanced copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the best books I've read in 2019. Jen Pollock Michel looks at the idea of paradox in 4 areas of Christian faith - grace, the Kingdom, lament and the incarnation. Her language is stunning and profound and she communicates the mystery and beauty of the Christian faith in ways that are relevant and accessible for everyday people. I am recommending this book to so many people as it recognizes the tension so many of us feel in faith - but instead of drawing us away, draws us closer to Jesus and encourages a real, beautiful, messy faith.

Surprised by Paradox by Jen Pollock Michel is a gift. It is a book that gives Christians permission not to have all the answers. Chapter after chapter, the author reveals the mystery of Christ and how things like his incarnation are baffling and yet the source of our faith. It is a great read and I highly recommend it. I received a digital copy of thsi book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

What a great book! If we examine our faith at all we'll realize there are a lot of paradoxes. Jen takes a close look at several. This book points out the mystery of faith, how we can't figure it all out completely, and that's more than OK.

This isn’t a natural go to book for me but I am so glad I did. This is a beautifully written book which explores the paradoxes of faith. It looks at four themes: incarnation, kingdom, grace, and lament. I like certainty where God is concerned but Jen encourages us to embrace the mystery of God when we find there is no definite answer. Jen encourages us to open the lid on the either/or boxes we have contained God in and make us think about an ‘And’. I particularly liked the section on grace. This is a meaty book but written in an easy to read way. Great for Christian and skeptic alike.

Let me just say this, the section on lament was worth the book. I think the book is excellent and to allow her voice to speak into our chaotic world today is so good...but the section on lament. Oh my! The Lord has just opened my eyes around the ideal of lamenting and so I was both shocked and thrill to have that section in this book. To allow Jen to speak into my life around that topic was so worth it. So blessed by this book. Thanks.

Surprised by Paradox
The Promise of “And” in an Either-Or World

by Jen Pollock Michel

InterVarsity Press

IVP Books

Christian , Religion & Spirituality

Pub Date 14 May 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Surprised by Paradox by Intervarsity Press and Netgalley:

I found by Surprised by Paradox to be a well written book, that would be great for personal use or in a Bible Study setting.

What if certainty isn’t the goal? In a world full of challenges many of us are searching for a belief system that provides straightforward answers to
help us through the difficult times. We want our faith to act like a neat set of truth claims designed to solve the problems life throws at them.

Jen Pollock Michel helps readers imagine a
Christian Faith that is open to mystery. There are certainties in Christian Faith at the heart of it there are paradoxes as well. Jesus invites us to abandon the polarities of either in order to embrace the difficult wondrous dissonance of and the incarnation. The paradox that God made humans teaches us to look for God made human teaches us to look for God in the 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 being active participants 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.”

I give Surprised by Paradox five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

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. Divided into four sections (Incarnation, Kingdom, Grace, Lament) that come with reflection questions, this book led with more questions than answers. It was refreshing to consider the great mysteries of the faith, and be invited into the wondering, as she writes "Mystery is inherent to the nature of the gospel, whose wisdom confounds more than assists."

The section on lament resonated with me most deeply, and I would appreciate an entire book on lament, hope, and suffering from the author. There are no easy, pat answers given, only the opportunity to see that lament leads us back to God: "Lament isn't the road back to normal. It's the road back to faith."

The subject of this book was very intriguing to me, but the actual writing left much to be desired. The chapters felt incomplete, like the author never actually made a point before wrapping each one up. Unfortunately, the book bored me the entire way through. I'm sad to say that and based on the author and topic, didn't expect that would be the case.

In the book Surprised by Paradox, Jen Pollock Michel examines four of the different paradoxes that are a part of the Christian faith. She argues that we need to learn to be comfortable with the word "and" when it comes to describing what we need and that accepting paradox does not mean that we are doubtful. Rather, it is a way to embrace the complexity of Christianity. I found the sections on grace and lament to be the strongest towards supporting the arguments of the book. Both of these sections deal with important paradoxes that are often overlooked on one side or the other in American evangelicalism. Michel supports her arguments with Scripture and thinkers both ancient and modern. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a deeper study of how the seeming paradoxes of Christianity can actually lead us into a deeper faith.

Surprised by Paradox is fantastic - Michel's chapters on grace have made me stop and contemplate my current views and practice of grace. I will be recommending this book to many, and pre-ordered a physical copy so I can I spend more time reading and underlining in it.

I enjoyed and was challenged by this book. She speaks to living in Christ in the everyday things of life.
I received this book free from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

Jen Pollock Michel’s “Surprised by Paradox,” is a provocative and inspiring breath of fresh air. As a Christian, I sometimes feel that I am going crazy. I think about God and look out at the world and think, “Things can’t be as black or white as some Christians want me to believe.” Jen’s book validates my experience and helps me appreciate even further the paradoxical nature of reality. As G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “In a paradox two opposite cords of truth become entangled in an extricable knot, but it is this knot which ties safely together the whole bundle of human life." But, Jen doesn’t just leave us in paradox for the sake of some rabblerousing deconstructionist venture. Her book leads us into awe and births within us a deep desire to delve and dive into the great mystery that is God. I am thankful for her voice and this book! It is truly a gift!