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558 - A Social Reading of the Old Testament: Prophetic Approaches to Israel's Communal Life |
A Social Reading of the Old Testament: Prophetic
Approaches to Israel's Communal Life
By Walter Brueggemann
Minneapolis, Fortress, 1994. 328 pp. $17.00
Walter Brueggemann's well-known passion for covenantal wholeness and prophetic justice characterizes this collection of essays written between 1975 and 1991. The material is grouped under three rubrics: historical periodization and covenant, an examination of particular texts (narrative and prophetic), and an exploration of particular issues (for example, theodicy, wisdom, church models, property, and violence). This impressive range of texts and themes is theologically elucidated through the lens of literary criticism and sociological analysis. While Brueggemann respects (and uses) historical-critical study, he constantly interweaves texts, even though he knows that such connections may "not be allowed by pure historical criticism."
The net result is a stimulating series of studies that demonstrate how an ancient sacred text powerfully addresses our present moment. But in the very clarity and directness of these focused pieces there is a danger. We could draw analogies between the past and the present too simplistically. I believe Brueggemann would not want us to do this. For example, the paradigmatic contrast between centralized and decentralized states is a very complex issue for North American countries that want to decentralize but in ways that run in a very different direction from Brueggemann's view of premonarchic Israel. Accordingly, these pages urge two kinds of study: fresh and careful reading of biblical texts, and extended examination of and critical reflection on our own present moment.
Arthur Van Seters
Knox College
Toronto School of Theology
Toronto, ON.