Customer Reviews

A good and faithful study... - By: Kurt Messick, 09 Jan 2004
I have been a fan of Walter Brueggemann, professor emeritus of biblical studies from Columbia Theological Seminary, since I encountered him through his text 'Theology of the Old Testament', which formed the basis of a course I took my first yearin seminary. Brueggemann has a clear & strong writing style, coupled with definite & innovative ideas about the development of the Hebrew Scriptures as they have come to us.

Brueggemann looks at things from a canonical perspective, ordering the books differently from what most Christians would be used toin their Bibles. Starting with the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, he then proceeds through the prophets & then to the writings. following the canon of the Hebrew bible, & a more likely ordering of original authorship. While all texts have gone through a processes of being handed down, often edited/redactedin the process, their original ideas or events occurredin a particular order.

Brueggemann gives due respect to Brevard Childs & his ideas of canonical criticism while recognising that this can become a limiting tool, & so Brueggemann introduces the idea of imagination as a counter. True to form from his early text 'Theology of the Old Testament' & other texts, Brueggeman looks for the truth that residesin the tension between,in this case,in the tension between the normative & the imaginative becoming of the community.

Brueggemann bringsin the wide range of biblical scholarsin the course of his study, ignoring very few noted names along the way. This makes his text an ideal book for introductory coursesin Hebrew Bible/Old Testament for undergraduates & seminarians. Brueggemann also puts forward his own interesting arguments & interpretations for consideration. The study of the text requires considerations that are historical, theological, literary, social/cultural, & more. These are all dealt with, butin a manner different from most texts.

The three broad sections of the text follow the Tanakh --Torah, Prophets, & Writings. This presents yet another tension for Brueggemann -- the tension between the historical claims & the canonical claims, which also become different from Jewish & Christian perspectives, & even within different Christian traditions. The development of scripture over time, Brueggemann states, is not a neutral academic process, but onein which formative processes & intentions have played a key role, butin which many of these underlying pieces have disappeared from historical view, & are generally absent from the direct text. Brueggemann sets up yet another tension between the ideas of imagination, ideology & inspiration, showing how ideas of these change over time, forming our interpretative paradigms along the way.

Brueggemann calls upon the church to take up a traditioning process, one that is disciplined & faithful, one that avoids both 'confessional closure' on the one hand & 'rationalistic impatience' on the other. In his conclusion, Brueggemann's faithin the scriptures comes through as one that continues the idea of re-imagining & traditioningin a decidedly Reformed framework; nevertheless, he finds fellow travelersin the likes of Roman Catholic Fr. Raymond Brown, who is quoted near the end as saying 'in the scriptures we arein our Father's house where the children are permitted to play.'