I met Richard P. Hansen when I was giving a set of lectures on missional Christian community at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia Missouri where he was then pastor. I was really excited to hear about Paradox Lost, a book he was writing about paradox in the Christian faith — and now it is in print!
May 3 is the official release day. To celebrate the launch, I asked Rich if I could interview him about the project. Check it out, here, on his website, and on Amazon. (For a chance at a free copy, see below…)
Paradox Lost
GNH: Rich, congratulations on your new book! What’s the back story? What was the initial germ of the project?
RICH HANSEN: I first became fascinated by paradox about 30 years ago. In the 1990’s I wrote my Doctor of Ministry dissertation on how preaching biblical paradox helps Christians re-connect with the true God of the Bible, who is far more paradoxical and mysterious than often portrayed by the “fill in the blank” preaching style popular at the time. I then began writing journal articles about biblical paradox, which led eventually to the book.
GNH: Now that your book is all grown up and heading out into the world, what would you say is its mission? What do you want to happen in your readers’ lives?
RICH HANSEN: My passion is to engage with the growing number of people who want to wrestle with the paradoxes of life and faith rather than be handed pat answers or simplistic formulas. Thus, my primary audience is “thinking Christians”—believers who sense there is more still out there for them and want to keep exploring their faith. My secondary audience I would call “seekers”—folks interested in spiritual questions who may have been turned off by an anti-intellectual style of Christianity that did not take their doubts seriously.
GNH: For some readers, a book about paradox may sound too impractical or esoteric to interest them. How do you respond?
RICH HANSEN: For a sizable segment of American Christians, faith is about “practical answers to meet my felt needs”—i.e. God exists to solve my problems and make my life better. While God certainly does meet our needs, our most basic need according to Scripture is simply “that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3 NIV). By wrestling with the paradoxes I write about, I hope my readers will come to know more deeply a God who is more awesomely mysterious than a consumer-oriented, problem-solving God.
GNH: When you encounter something paradoxical in your faith, how does it strike you emotionally? At first glance is it more problem or blessing?
RICH HANSEN: In the book, I say encountering paradox in our spiritual journey is like stopping to watch a street performer on a crowded sidewalk. He or she compels our attention: we stop and watch. Paradox in life and Scripture is intriguing to me in the same way: it draws me in, partly because I cannot explain or solve it. It’s like the piece of scotch tape stuck to your finger you keep shaking it to remove, but never can.
GNH: What would be an example of a paradox that has strengthened your faith or pushed you to grow as a Christian?
RICH HANSEN: Two that have helped me immensely are the paradox of the Trinity (God is Three, yet One) and the paradox of the Incarnation (Jesus is 100% human, yet 100% God). Both have forced me to not settle for easy, simplistic answers in my faith. Both, oddly enough, have immense practical value for daily living once we stop trying to “solve” them and instead look through them. This drive to use biblical paradoxes as windows through which we see God more deeply and truly is the theme of the book.
GNH: Is there more than one kind of paradox?
RICH HANSEN: Paradox exists in the tension created by two seemingly opposite ideas. A distinctive feature of my book is that I identify three different genres or “orders” of biblical paradox. Each order has a unique tension between its opposing ideas. For example, one is like the tension in a tuning fork: two individual tines must vibrate in tension with one another to produce the note. Much of the book explores biblical examples of these three kinds of tension.
GNH: Are some paradoxes good and some not so good?
RICH HANSEN: I discovered in my research that psychology uses paradox as a therapeutic tool in both behavioral modification and family systems theory. Paradox leads to health when it prods us to action or we learn to live within the tensions it creates. However, paradox can also create emotionally unhealthy “double binds” which can lead to neurosis or other problems. In the book I discuss the differences between healthy and unhealthy paradox.
GNH: We’ve been talking about paradox in Scripture. But do you also address paradox outside the Bible?
RICH HANSEN: Absolutely! I work hard using biblical paradox to shine a spotlight on all the paradoxical tensions everyone constantly lives within every day. Indeed, I think ordinary life is quite paradoxical today on any number of fronts. For example, America is tragically polarized today precisely because we have lost the paradox the ancient Greeks knew well—truth often exists in the tension between opposite extremes. To live successfully in the 21st century, we will all need to become more comfortable living within paradox.
GNH: I know you’ve been a pastor in America and a theology professor in Ethiopia. Do Christians in the two cultures find different things paradoxical?
RICH HANSEN: As children of the Enlightenment, reason is king in the American worldview. We expect to understand everything in the Bible and have it all make sense; if it doesn’t, we often assume it’s the Bible’s fault, not our faulty thinking. In Ethiopia, on the other hand, tradition is king. Most Ethiopians rarely question received tradition—including the Bible—which means intellectual paradoxes may not be as quickly recognized or as troubling to them.
GNH: What was one surprising story on the road to publication?
RICH HANSEN: While I was teaching theology in Ethiopia, Dr. John Walton from Wheaton College came as a guest lecturer. As we became acquainted, I ventured to ask Dr. Walton if he’d offer some feedback on my book proposal. Unknown to me, he instead took the initiative to send the proposal to both Zondervan and Intervarsity Press. Where before my contacts with publishers (including Zondervan) had been fruitless, this time I had a signed contract in a couple months! It is a great example to me that God can indeed do the impossible!
Any advice for pastors out there (and others) who think they have a book inside them?
I would say, “keep going and trust God.” I gave up several times and put the book on the shelf, only to take it down and work on it again, sometimes years later. As the story above indicates, God’s timing is perfect. Perhaps it’s the Calvinist in me, but I believe if I keep knocking, if God wills it the door will be opened.
Thanks Rich! All blessings on you as your book launches May 3rd.
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Richard Hansen has been a pastor in the PC(USA) for thirty years, and has taught theology at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology in Addis Ababa (2010-14), and as an adjunct professor at Mennonite-Brethren Biblical Seminary, Fresno, California. Connect with him online at his website, rich-hansen.com.
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You can get a copy of Paradox Lost on Amazon by clicking here.
I’m giving away one free copy of Paradox Lost! Leave a comment below to enter. On 5/10/16 I’ll randomly choose one name from those who leave a comment.
(This post contains affiliate links.)
Why did you call the book Paradox Lost?
Because when it comes to faith, the answers are often in the middle of two contradictory points of view
It’s amazing how many people seek out pastors, looking for answers to their questions of faith. Most, if not all, assume there is a definitive answer, and set of facts to define God. It is a disappointment to many to hear there are not necessarily answers… that God is more multi faceted, more immeasurable than our human brains can muster. It’s hard to convey the power of faith in a world full of paradox.
When you selected your title ” Paradox Lost” were you influenced by a comment that Martin Luther supposedly made about the Christian faith. He purportedly said that there are SEVEN great MYSTERIES in the Christian faith. We can discuss and debate them but we cannot ever understand them in this life.
Rich — Why did you call the book “Paradox Lost”?
So why did you call it Paradox Lost?
I too wonder why you used “Paradox Lost” as the title? I am interested in reading your book however I appreciate you giving one away but if you draw my name please give it to another. I plan to purchase it but I see Amazon is “Temporary out of stock” so will order the kindle version unless you have more going to them right away. Thanks for your work on this subject and I look forward to reading it.
Do you feel that you have made a connection with your secondary audience of seekers? If yes then has the response been positive, negative, or neutral?
Dear friends,
Thanks for your comments and interest! I am delighted that Gary offered this interview on his blog and will try to respond to your questions.
Several asked about the title “Paradox Lost.” Actually, my author friend Wayne Jacobsen suggested it–it’s a play on the title of the famous poem “Paradise Lost” by John Milton. One might also say it speaks to the issue that when we lose paradox, we are losing something essential about God–namely, an avenue into God’s mystery. But its primarily a word play.
I’m sorry that the book is temporarily out of stock at Amazon. Actually, that happened the evening of May 3, the day the book was released. Perhaps there were more books pre-ordered than Amazon expected…which, of course, is a good thing! I expect the book will be restocked very soon.
Regarding the response of seekers, since the book was just released this past Tuesday, I don’t have any real response yet. However, I have had several friends tell me that they are recommending it to a particular seeker friend they have in mind–so at least apparently some Christians are thinking their seeker friends may profit from it.
Thanks again and please feel free to share this interview with others you think might be interested.
Did you hear the one about the two physicians who went hiking and never came back?
I haven’t but am all ears!
Uh… “Pair o’ docs, lost”?
I think this is something I should really read. So many people want easy answers – it seems that this has become part of the culture we live in. Maybe that is why prosperity gospel and other feel good ministries has become so popular. I think that Jesus himself was a paradox, in the way he lived and taught and cared… maybe even a bit of a radical for his time. It is hard to deal with paradox and no straight answers, even in our faith. Is that why it is called Paradox Lost?
Rothea,
Yes, you have hit the nail on the head for why I wrote this book! Our culture indeed promotes easy answers and often sees everything through a pragmatic lens of “how can it help me?” God then is “dumbed down” to simplistic slogans, pat answers or a way to meet our needs rather than the mysterious God we meet in the Bible. God doesn’t always offer the straight answers we may want…but this is exactly an invitation to know the real God! Based on what you’ve written, I think you’d definitely like the book!
Some evangelical conservatives seem to see embracing paradox in scripture as a kind of attack on the inspiration/inerrancy of scripture. How do you respond to those people?
Scott, you are absolutely correct in your statement. A chapter in my book speaks exactly to the paradox of Scripture–for the Bible itself is a paradox, divinely inspired but written by human beings: “God’s word in human words.” I actually wrote a post on my blog called “What Do We See in the Bible?” about this issue, and in the post quote a few paragraphs in my book. If interested, you can find it at http://www.rich-hansen.com/923-2/
May 22nd we celebrate “Trinity Sunday.” …but the word is not even in the Bible!
A “holy paradox” to me is like:
“God’s Math: 3 =1!”
Is that what “Paradox Lost” is getting at?
Dear Rich,
Yes, the Trinity is one of the chief paradoxes they reveal to use the mystery of a God who is beyond human rational comprehension. St. Augustine said a very long time ago: “If I understand…it is not God.” My book has a chapter on the paradox of the Trinity which tries not so much to resolve the paradox, as to look THROUGH it to what it reveals about who God is. I hope you’ll get the book and join this journey! Rich
And the winner of the free book is…. JOE!
If you see this, Joe, I’ve sent you an email. Please zap me an address by return email so I can have your book on its way to you.
Thanks to all who commented — I love it when people comment for whatever reason, so do please come back again and let me know your thoughts on any of my posts.
Wonderful to hear about the work of Dr. Hansen. I am in computational logic working on circular rhetoric and logic of paradox in the Bible, unfolding some of these paradoxes in the Bible and very fascinated.
Thanks Richard. You should check out Rich’s blog, where he’s posting regularly. I’m sure he’d love to be in touch with you!
Blessings,
Gary
Some of the comments are interesting. I came across this site by accident as I have been writing about this very subject with a largely lifelong interest in the recognition or otherwise of paradox within culture. I decided to entitle my piece ‘Paradox Lost’ and then did a search to see if anyone else had used it. Thankfully I now see that I am not the only person thinking along these lines, but there should be far more people doing so in a world which craves ‘prism wisdom’ rather than ‘black and white views’ on everything, whether cultural, religious, political etc.
I notice in the comments above that some people think of paradox as a truth between two extremes, but my understanding rather, is that paradox is that place where two seemingly opposing positions are actually both true.
I wish the writer every success and will now order his book in order to appraise it, hoping that he says everything and more, that I have been thinking about on such a fascinating subject.
Thanks Ciaran. I’ll drop Rich an email to tell him of your interest. Or you can look up his blog yourself and make contact: http://www.rich-hansen.com