Barbara and I both avidly admire The Psalms and Dr. Brueggemann. Our greatest expectation for the summer is to hear him preach and teach at the Presbyterian Conference on Music and Worship at Montreat. I am deeply indebted to him for his keenly inspired commentary on GENESIS. For two quarters of Preaching Genesis, I have tuned-into his studies in depth to prepare several sermons and hear young students at MERCER/McAFEE School of Theology preach their sermons inspired by Brueggemann.

This little gem of a book is the abridged version of The Message of Psalms. In his final chapter of the shorter version, he focuses on God's Justice. There he sites his thesis of three dimensions of 'orientation, disorientation and reorientation:'
* It is pathological to challenge the present order of economic and political power.
* It is pathological to suggest that God may be unjust.
* It is pathological to speak, as some of these psalms do, in a voice of disorientation.

Brueggemann inserts 'imprisonment' as one crisis in which the seven psalms of disorientation are best addressed. Here is the one place in all of his books on Psalms where I have read his clearest views on the issue of theodicy. "The struggle of the oppressed against the unjust, when cast theologically, is the issue of theodicy."

Only recenty in someone's sermon I read that, "God prefers the losers in life." While serving as the Chaplain in Georgia's Diagnostic Center, I often wondered if this is not the case for a very few of the choicest and often long-termed inmates. I did often repeat the points of Brueggemann's sermons to the inmates for the Sunday evening sermons. One or two were read back to me by inmates in their rehabilitation group discussions. When I repeated that incident one day in a chance meeting with Prof. Brueggemann, he smiled and replied: "Gee, Thanks!"

Never before as minister, chaplain or teacher have I discovered so many profound yet simple books by one commentator, especially focused upon the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. Thanks and WOW!
Chaplain Fred W. Hood

Our distinguished Prof begins with his familiar theme,"preaching from the Old Testament raises the sticky christological issue about finishing-up Old Testament texts in reference to Jesus." This sounds familiar to those former students who heard his oft-repeated differences with Prof Brevard Childs by closing each OT sermon with connecting texts to Jesus' words. Without wasting time in the next paragraph Prof Bruegge relegates his familiar christological question to one of the ecclesial question. "I understand preaching to be the chance to summon and nurture an alternative community with an alternative identity, vision and vocation..."

Following his repeated fashion from OT Theology class he sets-up the unique parallel for an either/or alternative. His first dominant statement begins at Mount Carmel when Elijah challenges Israel: "How long will you go limping with two different opinions?" He cruises thru several texts from Joshua in dialogue about "church growth" and the community! Prof Bruegge always delivers multiple texts to support his major point of emphasis!

One of his distinguished hosts at Mercer-McAfee Self Lectures on Jeremiah, introduced him as "One who can describe the indescribable, who can explain the unexplicable and scrutinize the inscrutable!" It was John Claypool who introduced our OT Professor. He earlier noted him as a great role model who sets the example of writing the sermon text as the Interpreter and then acts out the prepared script as the Actor who speaks!

When we hear his recital of Elijah's mighty works we're likely to name our current role-models and carriers of "the Otherwise either/or alternatives, such as Clarence Jordan, who defied racism in the South; Nelson Mandela, who did not grow weary or cynical while waiting in prison; Martin Luther King, who dreamed beyond hatred..." Bruegge continues to capture the essential themes of both OT and NT in teaching thru exegesis whether class lectures or in his many-faced books which focus upon Preaching!
Recommended Highly...Retired Chaplain Fred W. Hood

Recently I asked Prof Brueggemann for one of his lesser known writings on Justice or Injustice. This request came for a friend who as a non-violent protester at Ft. Benning GA was convicted to serve a six months sentence at a Kentucky Federal Prison. Without hesitation our good professor came up with the single chapter in this little gem of 65 pages! He simply repeated the names of the writers - Sharon Parks and Thomas Groome and their conference on Spirituality in Portland Maine in 1983. His valued contributions are the Preface written in May of 1984 and the first Chapter with the title of "Voices of the Night - Against Justice."

Since Brueggemann is the Theologian of three writers he sets the stage with the technical issues and background of Micah's tradition among the Old Testament prophets of Justice, Mercy and Compassion. As only our favorite OT Prof can accomplish he makes the case for Micah's program of poetry as a guide for our ways in education. As in his teaching he outlines the texts with headings of Economically, Epistemologically and Linguistically. Along the way he briefly focuses on Torah of Yahweh and the Exodus Memory: "Micah offers a vision of the nations submitting to the torah of Yahweh." He relates theology behind textual interpretation with doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. As one of my Chaplain friends notes, "most every exposition of Brueggemann comes out like poetry!" He is first and foremost a Poet.

I will send my friend this powerful, mediating, spiritual force for supporting those who stand-up for the rights of those who are dis-enfranchised. Another parallel book title that comes to mind is "Jesus and the Disinherited" by Howard Thurman! It was said to have been constantly carried around by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

Brueggemann's analysis of Isaiah and its application to our times gives one time to ponder and question our personal and communal roles in the decisions of our culture and our society. It gives rise to questions on how to reform our very lives in order to live more prosperous lives in just manner the way God intended. I can only say, I am looking forward to annually visiting this treastise for growth in my adventure of life!

Peace.....

Very well written discussion about how the postmodern imagination can bring new life to the Bible. Postmodernism is not an enemy of Christendom, but an opportunity. Good discussion on how scripture can be authoritative for Christians today. Defines and discusses the origins of modernism and postmodernism. The Bible has its own worldview. By telling all the Bible stories, people can place themselves into the greater Story.

After being hooked by "Prophetic Imagination" and "Finally Comes the Poet," I became enamored with two books based upon studying the Psalms: "Psalms and Life of Faith...The Message of Psalms."
Hearing Bruegge in Columbia Seminary teach Psalms, his Survey of Old Testament plus Theology of Old Testament, I became hooked by nearly every book he referred to in Lectures. More than once he named both...Counterworld of Imagination and his Counterdrama!
When he commented upon these 2-3 chapter titles, I began to read what I expected to be his simplest. Yet I discovered even more psychological depth than any earlier example.

"In the Old Testament, it is especially the intimate psalms of lament that voice this unfinished self." (Earlier he paints the finished self.) Rainer Albertz: "He shows the believing self turns to God in profound need and in profound trust, asking God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves." The very pastoral eschatology is sounded most often in "the voice of petition that cedes one's life over to the purpose and power of God." This quite poetic and profound thought creeped often into his final class lectures at the close of Theology of the Old Testament.

"Inside the Counterdrama," Bruegge suggests the dama is a good metaphor appropriate to present time and place: especially as an analogy with Freud's program of psychotherapy! Using his usual multiple variety of Old Testament texts he states that we are "in fact characters in many dramas, sometimes trying to bring the parts into a coherent whole..." He often connects his more potent conclusions to discovering an alternative world!
With grateful appreciation to Bruegge, Retired Chap. Fred W Hood

After getting familiar with our Professor's earlier books from Fortress Press, I discovered his best hidden jewel! As he refers to the Counterworld of Evangelical Imagination, he states his thesis negatively: "If this evangelical infrastructure is not carefully constructed the congregation will rely on the dominant infrastructure of consumerism..." Positively, the open situation of the postmodern condition makes such an evangelical construal possible when the church works orally, locally, and in timely ways..." These positive and negative statements lead to more specific themes for his final chapter, "Inside the Counterdrama."

This general thesis becomes Bruegge's early approach to pastoral care, which he calls his discovery of "the finished self." As he often connects the intimate lament psalms of the Old Testament in giving voice to "the unfinished self" he refers to these in notes from both Rainer Albertz and Reinhold Niebuhr: "when the believing self turns to God in profound need & profound trust." This opens the door for him to use the pastoral psycho-therapy of Freud as "pastoral eschatology sounding the voice of petition that cedes one's life over to the purpose and power of God." This is a familiar theme of Prof Bruegge's class lectures!

His most gripping statement comes on page 67: "I submit this way of reading the text (and reading our life) contains enormously helpful access points for pastoral care. The Bible provides a script (not the only script available) for a lived drama that contains all the ingredients for a whole life."

From my intro into "Finally Comes the Poet," until my tenth trip into Bruegge's "Theology of the Old Testament" ...This gripping statement provides his bluntest, simplist, clearest formula for personal change and therefore spiritual growth!
Enough said for my whole-hearted vote of five stars!
Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

...so Brueggemann begins the 5th chapter of "Deep Memory..." This is the third book in a series focussed on using Old Testament scriptures to illuminate problems in our post-modern society. As in the previous two books, each chapter will appeal to different readers in diverse ways. Some are of mostly theological interest; some are more visceral. The theme explored in all of them is the similarity between the culture of Isreal in Exile (ca.587BCE)and our own shattered society 26 centuries later.both they and we can no longer trust the institutions or the God that defined and dominated our communities until very recently. Brueggemann says that "...denial and despair are powerfully at work to prevent any serious engagement of the crisis of dislocation into which we are now plunged." These lead to self-preoccupation and self indulgence, words that aptly describe the "winner-take-all" world I see around us today. The author asks us to return to the Exilic scriptures (Samuel, the Psalms and Isaiah are used as examples) to see what help we can draw from the Hebrew relationship with Yahweh. In the past we have often set aside some of these verses because they cause conflict and pain to our post-enlightenment sensabilities. Brueggemann argues that we need to wrestle with these also; there is much to be learned from exploring why they wound us so deeply. These texts would not have been passed on unless they were of importance to the identity of both Isreal and the Christian community. This testimony by a people in exile about their relationship with their God can give us language with which to confront the narcissistic, neighbor-sacrificing culture that surrounds us.

A fair amount of attention is devoted to describing how our relationship with Yahweh has devolved since the Reformation (and later the Enlightenment), but the blame is spread evenly and not dwelled upon. Instead it provides a map with which to get back to the words and relationship we have lost and are desperate to recover. An alternative community, living in communion with God's steadfast-love, is the kingdom that all believers are called to. Dr. Brueggemann's final thoughts urge us to use Old Testament theology to turn away from the brutality of our self-centered society long enough to examine the possibilities of a deeper relationship with God.

I found that reading the noted scripture texts in my own Bible greatly enhanced the meaning of each chapter and made this good devotional as well as educational reading.

After classes with the Master Teacher of Old Testament, I felt a need to dig around in his more recent essays: "The Role of Old Testament Theology in Old Testament Interpretation" ; "Preaching As Sub-version" ; Both his last and first essays!

In his current lectures in Old Testament Theology, Bruegge has progressed from Reformation and Enlightenment through Barth, Eichrodt and von Rad bringing up his issues of historical criticism and post modernism...landing squarely on page 115 with his repeated description of Theo-ology is "speech about God." Then as he does often conclude lectures: It may be from another source can come an alternative to this dominant construal of reality, "perhaps from what Robert Bellah terms the 'republican' tradition... If we work from the ground-up it is entirely possible that lived reality reimagined from this Character (God) who lives on the lips of these witness could offer a wholesale and compelling alternative."

This alternative world is clearly marked out in the first essay "Preaching as Sub-version"..."We say these things to one another because...the utterances mediate the Easter option" as possible, in our practice, imagined in public policy, stated again on pages 17, 25 and 49.

My favorite essays land on the first, "Preaching as Sub-version" and the final two out of nine Jewels of distilled Brueggemann!
One comment about Essay 8, "Crisis-Evoked, Crisis-Resolving Speech." "It is clear that OT Theology cannot effectively advance by focusing on conventional conceptual content in the text." In pointing out the "regresses" of Israel in times of crisis, YHWH both discloses and acknowledges the ways in which God fulfills, but also fails in his relationship to Israel. Here again as in most books and lectures, Bruegge gives the Hebrew words used in Exodus 34:6-7a ; Hosea 2:19-20 ; Isaiah 54:10: As
hesed, rahum, hanun, and 'emeth. I always thank him for using the English spellings.

Sincerely for both Bruce Day and Professor Bruegge.
Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

I have found this to be a very reliable resource to understanding the cultural background of the Old Testament. For me it gives a new, deeper meaning to the events of the Bible. It is clearly written, and a great book to have to begin your OT study...if you can find it.

There were two monumental Old Testament theologies translated from German into English in the early 1960's. One was Walter Eichrodt's _Theology of the Old Testament_ and the other, arguably the superior, was Gerhard von Rad's _Old Testament Theology_.

Using a keen sense of form criticism von Rad showed how the Old Testament grew out of the experiences of ancient Israel. Historical event was followed by layering of theological interpretation. These were arranged by ancient Israel in a cultic confession.

Von Rad noted that the destruction of the Hexateuchal framework made the discovery of the early history difficult. But the matter was very different if one took into consideration that the sequence of events conformed to a "canonical schema of a cultic nature."

The pre-Mosaic ancestors of ancient Israel were not always worshippers of Yahweh. Genesis mentions cults of the ancestors such as the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, and the Strong one of Jacob. Confessional formulae of which Deuteronomy 25.6 is most important coalesced these diverse traditions into the historiography of the Old Testament.

This is the starting point of von Rad's _Old Testament Theology_.

This review refers to the 1962 edition of Gerhard von Rad's _Old Testament Theology: the Theology of israel's Historical Traditions_.

Harrelson's scholarship I do not question. He exegetes each of the ten commandments with quite a degree of skill. His knowledge of the Hebrew grammar is impressive, and his grasp of Christian theology is adequate to his task.

What I object to is Harrelson's setting up of Moses as a sort of Thomas Jefferson figure. He bucks mainline scholarship by attributing much of the decalogue to Moses, but he does not go so far as to say the God of the Hebrews told him to say these things. The result is that Moses emerges as a sort of religio-political genius who set about to establish a new civilization. While this in itself is not objectionable as a story, it does lead to some misguided conclusions.

First of all, Harrelson "translates" the first commandment for the pluralistic masses, saying that for it to do work in our world it ought to read something like "You shall have only one ultimate master." This seems utterly misguided. The commandment comes in the context of a God rescuing a people from an oppressor. That God is not talking to the folks back in Egypt. I'm sure that there were plenty of single-minded folks back in Egypt. That's not the point of the commandment. By abstracting "principles" from the commandments, Harrelson strips them of their ability to speak to concrete historical situations. What we need is an act of imagination, not a disposal of history.

On the exegetical end I give Harrelson thumbs up. When he tries to make Moses head of the UN I have to object.

Harrelson, a scholar that exhibits expert knowledge of the 10 Commandments, offers valuable insight into the role of the guidelines in modern society. According to the author, these ten commandments can provide "ground rules" that may stabilize society. He offers clear definition of the intent of each commandment and looks at the implication that each could have in social ethics. Harrelson demonstrates excellent knowledge of the topic and a sensitivity to pluralism. This is not an evangelically driven text. This text centers on this issue of human rights ... not theology. He offers historical and cultural anecdotes that clarify his appreciation of the commandments and their role in society. In general, this is a great conversation piece that offers insights to people everywhere. The only caution I have is that the language used in the book, at times, gets somewhat complex. This is not leisure reading by any extent of the imagination.

Revered by many as one of our best biblical scholars, Walter Brueggemann prescribes a potent recipe for bringing Christ into the lives of the Unchurched, the Jaded Insider, and our at-risk Children. His advocacy for the narrow path between the legalistic Christian Right and the near Godless Secular Humanists comes, not from the gospels of the New Testament, but from the experiences of the Hebrew nation portrayed in the Old Testament. He shows us that maintaining a strong relationship with God was just as difficult for a thriving, aquisitive culture 3000 years ago as it it today. My current interest is in how to deal with the lack of support for spreading the "good news" in the old mainline churches in the Washington, DC metro area. I am a Presbyterian elder who is frustrated by the political, rather than biblical, focus of many members of our congregations. The first chapter is tough reading, lots of heavy theology terms. They are necessary to lay a foundation for the following chapters which contain the "meat" of his recipes. Each of the three covers one of the aforementioned groups. Because of my interest in the "Insiders", I found the last chapter on techniques for keeping our children close to Christ to contain much that also applies to adult believers-including myself. In the end, Brueggemann shows that one cannot choose a life in a love-of-neighbor covenant without giving up the anti-neighbor culture that surrounds us. The Christian church in America must "recover the nerve (courage and freedom) to say unambiguously that embrace of the news is pervasively transformative." He is very precise with his words. You can read it in an afternoon, but you will probably come back to it many times if you are struggling with issues of modern Christian life. Note: I knew of Brueggemann from sermon references but was drawn to this book by his commmentary in Bill Moyers PBS series "Genesis" and its companion book-still available I think. He has also written the definative theological commentary on Genesis.

Serious students of the Old Testament will enjoy searching out the 'truth' along with Walter Brueggemann, Bible scholar. I read this book as background for teaching a series on David for children and adults at my church. There were four sections, with references to the Bible verses they covered.

First, was the 'trustful truth of the tribe'--namely David's was the ultimate story of an outsider making it to the top: from obscure shepard to king of a united Israel. Those who feel themselves on the margins of society can take heart from David's ascent.

Next there is the 'painful truth of the man' as David sins and repents. David is a very human example of what God is looking for in us, which is different from what we are looking for in Him.

The third truth is the 'sure truth of the state' which includes the principles David upheld both as ruler and in our memory, shaping our heritage, and our opinions of rulers since.

Lastly there is the 'hopeful truth of the assembly' with emphasis on how David valued worship and relationship with God, making them the core of his life and being.

I took a slow, 2-week tour through this book; it is not an easy read, but well worth the effort.