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Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community beyond Us and Them
A Christian of Jewish origins and the founding pastor of a thriving new church that intentionally resurrected itself from the wounded remnants of a previous congregation that tore itself apart over issues of human sexuality, Ken Howard brings a unique perspective and unusual sensitivity to the challenge of creating Christian community whose sense of "US" doesn't require a "THEM." Adroitly avoiding both oversimplification and academic jargon, Howard examines the many ways the Church currently finds itsef stuck, explains how we got here, and lays out seven Biblically-grounded principles that church leaders can employ to lead their congregations and their denominations into the future into which God is calling them.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Ken Howard
4 books8 followersThe Rev. Kenneth W. "Ken" Howard is an author, speaker, pastor, and church futurist.
Grandson of an Orthodox Rabbi, Ken grew up Jewish, became a Christ follower as a young adult, joined the Episcopal Church because it was "the most Jewish church" he could find, and after 20 years left a successful career in human resources consulting to become an ordained Episcopal clergy leader with a focus on transforming the Church for its future while preserving the heart of the faith.
His books include: Excommunicating the Faithful: Jewish Christianity in the Early Church, Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community Beyond Us and Them, and FaithX: Experimental Faith Communities for an Undiscovered Future.
Grandson of an Orthodox Rabbi, Ken grew up Jewish, became a Christ follower as a young adult, joined the Episcopal Church because it was "the most Jewish church" he could find, and after 20 years left a successful career in human resources consulting to become an ordained Episcopal clergy leader with a focus on transforming the Church for its future while preserving the heart of the faith.
His books include: Excommunicating the Faithful: Jewish Christianity in the Early Church, Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community Beyond Us and Them, and FaithX: Experimental Faith Communities for an Undiscovered Future.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 12, 2012
The Rev. Ken Howard brings a new eye to the old church issues beginning with the only answer to the question "Who's right and who's wrong?" is "Jesus." The Left vs. Right/Conservative vs. Liberal wars are not worth fighting because there are no winners. A great message for a time of church schism. It's only about relationship.
October 7, 2015
Finally, there is a name for the approach I have toward religion and Ken mentions others at the end of the book. It is good to see practical ways to "be the church" without marginalizing others for their approach. Engaging and well defined, Paradoxy is a book I will recommend to my mission partnership congregations.
July 26, 2012
I wrote it. So of course I like it.
But I am also interested in what my readers think about it.
Review by Phyllis Tickle on ExploreFaith.org ExploreFaith.org
With a Foreword by Brian McLaren and an Afterword by Paul Zahl, this one has all the bona fides any book could want, and both of them are richly deserved. Howard offers both a sharp-eyed analysis of how the Church has arrived at its present permutation followed by a very accessible and kindly-inclined diagnosis of what Her condition presently is. More importantly, perhaps, Howard gives us one of the clearest and most concise commentaries presently available about where the Church may reasonably be seen as going in this time of paradigmatic shift. Additionally, each chapter concludes with some penetrating questions about the implications of what has just been presented, a boon not only to individual readers, but also to leaders of small-groups.
Review of pre-publication version by Jonathan on Goodreads.
Recommends it for: anyone who loves or hates religion
In a nutshell, it's the quote by Ghandi: "I love your Christ. I do not like your Christians. If your Christians were like your Christ, all of India would be Christian" and how to bring that change about
It's hard to describe how refreshing it is to hear a "man of the cloth" talk about all the things I dislike about Christianity, and how it needs to drop those things in order to survive and be at all relevant in the future. In a time where the concept of "Christianity" is cornered by a minority of divisive -- and I might add increasingly extreme right-wing -- elements, everyone needs to hear what this book has to say.
But I am also interested in what my readers think about it.
Review by Phyllis Tickle on ExploreFaith.org ExploreFaith.org
With a Foreword by Brian McLaren and an Afterword by Paul Zahl, this one has all the bona fides any book could want, and both of them are richly deserved. Howard offers both a sharp-eyed analysis of how the Church has arrived at its present permutation followed by a very accessible and kindly-inclined diagnosis of what Her condition presently is. More importantly, perhaps, Howard gives us one of the clearest and most concise commentaries presently available about where the Church may reasonably be seen as going in this time of paradigmatic shift. Additionally, each chapter concludes with some penetrating questions about the implications of what has just been presented, a boon not only to individual readers, but also to leaders of small-groups.
Review of pre-publication version by Jonathan on Goodreads.
Recommends it for: anyone who loves or hates religion
In a nutshell, it's the quote by Ghandi: "I love your Christ. I do not like your Christians. If your Christians were like your Christ, all of India would be Christian" and how to bring that change about
It's hard to describe how refreshing it is to hear a "man of the cloth" talk about all the things I dislike about Christianity, and how it needs to drop those things in order to survive and be at all relevant in the future. In a time where the concept of "Christianity" is cornered by a minority of divisive -- and I might add increasingly extreme right-wing -- elements, everyone needs to hear what this book has to say.
January 9, 2015
Ken Howard is an Episcopalian of Jewish origin who came to faith in Jesus thirty years ago when challenged to search the scriptures by a conservative Christian friend. While he has moved n a more progressive direction he has an appreciation for his conservative sisters and brothers. This book is about finding a middle way between theological liberalism and conservatism.
Howard argues that conservatives emphasize doctrine and have a broad amount of dogma that they want believers to subscribe to. The problem is that they alienate and exclude anyone who deviates from their pristine doctrinal position. So conservative churches splinter.
Conversely, Liberal churches emphasize unity, subjective-inner-light kind of religious experience with many voices on the table. They also emphasize right-action--concern for social justice, etc. Yet they can be 'weak soup' with very little substance at the core.
Howard suggests a way of combining the strengths of the two approaches to faith--Paradoxy. Paradoxy is a dogmatic assent to a narrow selection of Christian dogma, the paradoxical beliefs in the Trinity, the incarnation, etc. He essential limits his doctrinal beliefs to Nicene Christianity with charity in all other doctrinal issues. He moves towards a spirituality that emphasizes the mind and is biblically rooted (conservatives' domain) and the religion of the heart (liberal domain).
Like all such book, Howard has some really interesting things to say and the way he frames it it is hard to disagree with him. The liberal-conservative continuum is more complicated than what Howard pictures, but he has some interesting things to say.
Howard argues that conservatives emphasize doctrine and have a broad amount of dogma that they want believers to subscribe to. The problem is that they alienate and exclude anyone who deviates from their pristine doctrinal position. So conservative churches splinter.
Conversely, Liberal churches emphasize unity, subjective-inner-light kind of religious experience with many voices on the table. They also emphasize right-action--concern for social justice, etc. Yet they can be 'weak soup' with very little substance at the core.
Howard suggests a way of combining the strengths of the two approaches to faith--Paradoxy. Paradoxy is a dogmatic assent to a narrow selection of Christian dogma, the paradoxical beliefs in the Trinity, the incarnation, etc. He essential limits his doctrinal beliefs to Nicene Christianity with charity in all other doctrinal issues. He moves towards a spirituality that emphasizes the mind and is biblically rooted (conservatives' domain) and the religion of the heart (liberal domain).
Like all such book, Howard has some really interesting things to say and the way he frames it it is hard to disagree with him. The liberal-conservative continuum is more complicated than what Howard pictures, but he has some interesting things to say.
September 24, 2015
In the churches I have served as a United Church of Christ pastor I have most often found a political divide.
Ken Howard's book, Paradoxy, takes us beyond gridlock and dualistic thinking to appreciating paradox and mystery. It moves us beyond red and blue states to a broader, more nuanced vision. Here are some of my favorite sentences from the book:
"I count among my circle of Christian friends both tolerant conservatives and biblically rigorous liberals."
"How much we need the insights of those who disagree with us."
"An incarnational orthodoxy (is) anchored in the love of Christ (not dogma in the traditional sense of the word)." The parenthesis are my own.
Through different means Ken Howard arrives at the same truth that I have discovered.... If we want the Right or Left to be totally right or America to be perfect or our religion to be the only way, we're incapable of deep truth.
I highly recommend this book!
-Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)
Ken Howard's book, Paradoxy, takes us beyond gridlock and dualistic thinking to appreciating paradox and mystery. It moves us beyond red and blue states to a broader, more nuanced vision. Here are some of my favorite sentences from the book:
"I count among my circle of Christian friends both tolerant conservatives and biblically rigorous liberals."
"How much we need the insights of those who disagree with us."
"An incarnational orthodoxy (is) anchored in the love of Christ (not dogma in the traditional sense of the word)." The parenthesis are my own.
Through different means Ken Howard arrives at the same truth that I have discovered.... If we want the Right or Left to be totally right or America to be perfect or our religion to be the only way, we're incapable of deep truth.
I highly recommend this book!
-Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)
September 17, 2013
This book begins with the observation that the old conservative-liberal theological paradigms that have divided the church for decades is out-dated. His analysis of the origins of these two traditions was also insightful. He proposed a third middle way, seeking to bridge the conservative-liberal divide which he calls "paradoxy." While theoretically interesting, his discussion of the details seems strained at points. He does not engage the increasing diversity of religion beyond Christianity, nor does he really break free from the traditional mode. He mentions the debates about sexuality in many church cirlces but does not address what is at stake there. He mentions political differences, but again sees them as ancillary to the discussion. So in the end I found his solutions disappointing. Based on his experience in the Episcopal church he pastors, I was left wondering how much of what he describes can actually be replicated.
February 10, 2009
In a nutshell, it's the quote by Ghandi: "I love your Christ. I do not like your Christians. If your Christians were like your Christ, all of India would be Christian" and how to bring that change about
It's hard to describe how refreshing it is to hear a "man of the cloth" talk about all the things I dislike about Christianity, and how it needs to drop those things in order to survive and be at all relevant in the future. In a time where the concept of "Christianity" is cornered by a minority of divisive -- and I might add increasingly extreme right-wing -- elements, everyone needs to hear what this book has to say.
It's hard to describe how refreshing it is to hear a "man of the cloth" talk about all the things I dislike about Christianity, and how it needs to drop those things in order to survive and be at all relevant in the future. In a time where the concept of "Christianity" is cornered by a minority of divisive -- and I might add increasingly extreme right-wing -- elements, everyone needs to hear what this book has to say.
June 28, 2012
A friend recommended Paradoxy to me ... reading us led to having the author come to our congregation and our diocese for a week of presentations and workshops. While many of the ideas in this book were familiar to me, I really appreciated Ken's ability to bring together a good analysis of history and a solid presentation of an option for a way of being Christian going into the future. As one who works from a philosophy of "both/and" rather than "either/or" I found this book to be an easy and happy read!
October 4, 2020
Author's Note
This book is the pre-publication version of Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community Beyond Us and Them. It was re-titled after it was picked up for publication by Paraclete Press.
Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community beyond Us and Them
Ken Howard
This book is the pre-publication version of Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community Beyond Us and Them. It was re-titled after it was picked up for publication by Paraclete Press.
Paradoxy: Creating Christian Community beyond Us and Them
Ken Howard
July 15, 2011
Awesome book. I highly recommend it!!!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews