Books by Walter Brueggemann

Walter Brueggemann offers a guide to the first half of Exodus, drawing out "pivotal moments" in the text to help readers untangle it. Throughout, Brueggemann shows how Exodus consistently reveals a God in radical solidarity with the powerless.

In this updated edition of the popular textbook Introduction to the Old Testament, Walter Brueggemann and Tod Linafelt introduce the reader to the broad theological scope of the Old Testament, treating some of the most important issues and methods in contemporary biblical interpretation.

This collection features sixty sermons by Walter Brueggemann, preached mostly in the last five years. For his final public appearances, he preached at various churches and the Festival of Homiletics, including his last address there in 2018. Most of these are based on lectionary texts, with numerous sermons on Advent-Christmas and Lent-Easter...

What is materiality?Jesus practiced materiality when he healed the bodies of the sick, proclaimed Jubilee to the poor, and fed the five thousand. He practiced materiality over materialism. In Materiality as Resistance, Walter Brueggemann defines materiality as the use of the material aspects of the Christian faith, as opposed to materialism...

In this varied collection of essays, Walter Brueggemann provides a lens into biblical teachings concerning the present age of fake news, lies, and alternate realities. Compiled and edited by Louis Stulman, professor of religion at the University of Findlay, these essays carry a common theme of truth and hope. As Brueggemann writes in the...

While conservative interpreters might believe that prophets were predictors and progressives believe the prophets to be simply social advocates, Walter Brueggemann argues that the prophets were emancipated imaginers of alternative. Emancipated from the dominant thinking of their societies, the prophets imagined an alternative...

Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann has always excelled at making the Bible approachable and engaging. Drawn from a series of public conversations with Brueggemann and his former student and longtime friend Clover Reuter Beal, An On-Going Imagination explores Brueggemanns most influential biblical-theological concepts and methods: Why...

Walter Brueggemann bietet in diesem Band die Konturen seiner viel diskutierten theoretischen und methodologischen Überlegungen zu einer Neugestaltung der alttestamentlichen Theologie anhand der aktuellen Texte des Alten Testaments. Es kommen mehrere Perspektiven zum Verhältnis von Gesellschaft und alttestamentlichem Text unter die Lupe. Der Verfasser bemüht sich, in einer exemplarischen Entwicklung von Detailthemen sowohl die theologische Relevanz von Motiven wie Gebet, Gehorsam und Gotteslob, als auch die gefährlichen und anstößigen Aspekte des prophetischen Verständnisses vom göttlichen Wort aufzuzeigen. Das Buch ist ein programmatischer Versuch, Theologie als Vergegenwärtigung von spezifischen Texten statt als Systembildung anläßlich solcher Texte zu verstehen.

The Christian practice of hymn singing, says renowned biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann, is a countercultural act. It marks the Christian community as different from an unforgiving and often ungrateful culture. It is also, he adds, an "absurd enterprise in the midst of the hyper-busy...

In this thoroughly revised edition of a classic in spirituality, Walter Brueggemann guides the reader into a thoughtful and moving encounter with the Psalms. This new edition includes a revised text, new notes, and new bibliography."The movement and meeting of God with us is indeed a speech-event in which new humanness is evoked among us. Being attentive to language means cultivating the candid imagination to bring our own experience to the Psalms and permitting it to be disciplined by the speech of the Psalms. And, conversely, it means letting the Psalms address us and having that language reshape our sensitivities and fill our minds with new pictures and images that may redirect our lives." --from Chapter 3"I am so glad to see this second edition of Praying the Psalms. In it Walter Brueggemann reveals the ways in which the Psalms teach the mother tongue of biblical speech by inviting us to the risk of daring candor with God.The contemporary church in North America regularly suffers collective amnesia in the face of the languages of techno-speak, market share and sentimental cliche that shape the world we inhabit. Praying the Psalms offers a surprising antidote to this chronic forgetfulness. It invites us to recover our ancient memory and true identity by learning again to pray the Psalms. I know of no better book for introducing a congregation to the Psalms than this one."--Edwin Searcy, Pastor, University Hill Congregation, United Church of Canada, Vancouver, BC"'The Psalms just don't speak to me.' Anyone who has ever felt this way should read Brueggemann's book. . . . He shows how these ancient prayers can lead us from the disorientation of our chaotic lives into a reorientation of transformation. His treatment of both the post-Holocaust Christian use of these very Jewish prayers and the troublesome call for vengeance is most timely. This book shows how the Psalms can indeed speak to us."--Dianne Bergant, CSAauthor of Preaching the New Lectionary". . . Brueggemann pushes me and other readers to recognize the full gamut of passions reflected in the Psalms: joy and exultation but also disappointment, sorrow, anger, resentment, even the desire for vengeance. . . . I am grateful to Brueggemann for making me more alert to what the Psalms are saying about our common human relation to God and more honest about my own feelings as I pray the Psalms every day as part of the Liturgy of the Hours."--Joseph A. Bracken, SJcoauthor of Self-Emptying Love in a Global Context"Few persons have so lived in and with the Psalms as Walter Brueggemann. Here he takes us into their depths, which are so clearly the depths of our human existence. The piety of the Psalms is strong medicine. Brueggemann bids us take it for the cure of our souls."--Patrick D. Millerauthor of Interpreting the Psalms and They Cried to the LordWalter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is the author of numerous works including Theology of the Old Testament, Inscribing the Text, Prophetic Imagination, and David's Truth.

Throughout Walter Brueggemann''s career, he has repeatedly found his way back to the David and royal traditions. From some of his earliest articles and essays to monographs, commentaries, and sermons, he has explored this rich field in literary, social, and theological depth. As he has said, ""My preoccupation with David rests on the awareness that David occupies a central position in the imagination of ancient Israel and in the rendering of ''faith and history'' by that community. As the genealogies locate David, he stands mid-point between the rigors of Mosaic faith and the destruction of Jerusalem; as a consequence he becomes, in the artistry of Israel, the carrier of all the ambivalence Israel knew about guarantees and risks in the world YHWH governs."" This volume brings together some of Brueggemann''s key essays on the David traditions, as well as their interrelationships with traditions in the book of Genesis.--from the Foreword""This volume usefully brings together a powerfully argued body of material from Walter Brueggemann relating to David and the development of Israelite theology. Its chapters feature the typical hallmarks of Brueggemann''s scholarship: strong arguments on important themes, a very sharp eye for exegetical detail, a profound sensitivity to the theology of the narratives and a remarkable freshness of style. Students of the Bible encountering these contributions for the first time, or established scholars revisiting them, will find this book deeply enriching.""-Philip F. Esler DD (Oxon) FRSESt Mary''s University College, Twickenham""Various critical studies of the imposing figure and theological importance of David, written throughout the remarkable career of Walter Brueggemann, are brought together in this volume. Attentive to literary and historical matters, Brueggemann is always concerned about the impact the theological message can have on the church today. Grounded in the scholarship we have come to expect from this prolific author, this very readable book will appeal to a broad audience.""-Dianne Bergant, CSACatholic Theological Union""Walter Brueggemann is unexcelled in his ability to discern historical, literary, and theological connections between the Bible and our common work. This is amply demonstrated in this welcome collection of his essays on David, ''the carrier of all the ambivalence Israel knew about guarantees and risks in the world YHWH governs.'' For a focused probe on the royal establishment, and on the man who most enigmatically embodied it, there is no better place to begin than by reading David and His Theologian.""-Samuel E. BalentineUnion Presbyterian Seminary Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is past President of the Society of Biblical Literature and the author of numerous books, including Truth-Telling as Subversive Obedience, Praying the Psalms, A Pathway of Interpretation, and Ichabod toward Home.

""Those who serve as truth-tellers in the church, like those who listen to the truth-telling in the church, are a mix of yearning and fearfulness, of receptiveness and collusion. In the end, the work of truth-telling is not to offer a new package of certitudes that displaces old certitudes. This truth to be uttered and acted, rather, is the enactment and conveyance of this Person who is truth, so that truth comes as bodily fidelity that stays reliably present to the pain of the world.""--from the Preface""Although Truth-Telling as Subversive Obedience addresses preachers, it also calls urgently to anyone who desires to hear and do God''s word. With characteristic eloquence, Brueggemann dares us to believe in new life amidst the sexual, financial, and political lies that surround us. He finds hope in the truth coursing through Scriptures and invites us to become courageous, obedient speakers of truth ''because our lives depend on it.''""-Kathleen M. O''ConnorColumbia Theological Seminary""The provocative essays in this volume are yet another reminder that no one prods the consciences of preachers more effectively, discomfortingly, and profoundly than Walter Brueggemann. With imagination, resolve, and a comprehensive grasp of the issues, Brueggemann summons us once again to have the courage to speak ''truth that subverts our best self-deceiving certitudes.''""-Thomas G. LongCandler School of Theology""Walter Brueggemann has inspired more pastors and congregations than anyone else of our generation. And he continues this good work in a compelling collection of essays and sermons rooted deeply in the text and in prophetic imagination. Truth-Telling as Subversive Obedience trades in a sort of primal candor that dares to confront our most cherished conventions. Perhaps even more strikingly, this little book creates space for the loving embrace of God. Extraordinary stuff that we have come to depend on!""-Louis StulmanUniversity of Findlay""The persuasion of a book that dares to address ''truth-telling'' about God, the world, and humankind, rests largely on its author''s capacity to discern and communicate clearly truths that may be easily overlooked or minimized by others. In this collection of articles . . . Walter Brueggemann demonstrates yet again his prescient theological skills. For those who linger over Pilate''s question to Jesus, What is truth?, Brueggemann''s contention that truth about God is relentlessly connected to the pain of this world is and remains an imperative in search of a faithful response.""-Samuel E. BalentineUnion Presbyterian SeminaryWalter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is past President of the Society of Biblical Literature and the author of numerous books, including David and His Theologian, Praying the Psalms, A Pathway of Interpretation, and Ichabod toward Home.

Writing with the pastor and student in mind, Walter Brueggemann provides guidance for interpreting Old Testament texts. He offers both advice for the interpreter as well as examples of working with different sorts of passages: from narratives, prophecies, and Psalms. He also demonstrates how to work thematically, drawing together threads from different traditions. His goal is to work through the rhetoric of these passages to reach toward theological interpretation. These investigations indicate Brueggemann''s conviction that the process of moving from text to interpretive outcome is an artistic enterprise that can be learned and practiced.""One of the best and most esteemed interpreters of Scripture shows here how he does it. A ''how-to'' book with wonderful examples, it is vintage Brueggemann: incisive, penetrating, provocative, and always seeking to uncover the cutting edge of the text. He cares as much about pastoral responsibility as interpretive method. In fact, he doesn''t think you can separate them-one of the many gifts of this compelling and practical book."" -Patrick D. Miller, author of The Religion of Ancient Israel""We have become accustomed to the insightful reflections and the critical theological thinking of many contemporary biblical scholars. However, seldom has an author taken us step-by-step through the actual progression of that thought. This is precisely what Walter Brueggemann does in this book. Insisting that all believers, not merely scholars, should be able to critically read the Bible, he offers a modified, though still critical interpretive approach, that shows us how we might do it ourselves.""-Dianne Bergant, CSA author of Scripture: History and Interpretation""This is the book that those of us who have studied with Walter Brueggemann have been waiting for. Here is the teacher we have known in class: telling us how he has come to read scripture as he does and showing us how he does it. I have been using this method of interpreting scripture with my congregation for the past decade. Together we have found that Brueggemann''s three-step interpretive strategy opens us up to the biblical texts so that they speak to us in powerful new ways. What a wonderful gift this book is to the church.""-Edwin Searcy, University Hill Congregation, Vancouver, BCWalter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is the author of numerous works, including Praying the Psalms (2nd ed., Cascade Books, 2007), Theology of the Old Testament, and Prophetic Imagination.

From one of the world's leading Old Testament scholars, a selection of his most prophetic and inspiring writing.

In this 40th anniversary edition of the classic text from one of the most influential biblical scholars of our time, Walter Brueggemann, offers a theological and ethical reading of the Hebrew Bible.This edition builds off the revised and updated 2001 edition and includes a new afterword by Brueggemann and a new foreword by Davis Hankins.

In this volume, Walter Brueggemann writes on Isaiah 1-39, which many scholars believe had a single author, Isaiah, of the eighth century BCE, who wrote in the context of the Assyrian empire between 742 and 701.Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice...

In this unique volume, father-and-son team Walter and John Brueggemann take a close look at our fractured American society and suggest ways for improvement. Using six themes identified by some scholars as the moral foundations of societycare, fairness, liberty, loyalty, authority, and sanctitythey examine the unsustainable...

Lent recalls times of wilderness and wandering, from newly freed Hebrew slaves in exile to Jesus' temptation in the desert. God has always called people out of their safe, walled cities into uncomfortable places, revealing paths they would never have chosen. Despite our culture of...

In Isaiah 9:6, a divine utterance is given to us using four royal titles--Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Names for the Messiah ponders each title and how the people understood it then, how Jesus did or did not fulfill the title, and how Christians interpret Jesus as representative of that...

aEUROoeThe conflict is only aEURO~seemingly' beyond solution, because all historical-political problems have solutions, if there is enough courage, honesty, and steadfastness.aEURO In Chosen?, Walter Brueggemann explores the situation in modern-day Israel that raises questions for many...

This collection presents over fifty powerful sermons from one of the most trusted preachers today, Walter Brueggemann. In it, Brueggemann continues his task of making the biblical text available to the church. He sees preaching as a performance of God's good rule that, in an act of utterance and...