Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy

by Walter Brueggemann; Rebecca J. Kruger Gaudino

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2005

Overview

In this foundational textbook, Walter Brueggemann moves the discussion of Old Testament theology beyond the dominant models of Walter Eichrodt in the 1930s and Gerhard von Rad in the 1950s. Brueggemann focuses on the metaphor and imagery of the courtroom trial in order to regard the theological substance of the Old Testament as a series of claims asserted for Yahweh, the God of Israel. This provides a context that attends to pluralism in every dimension of the interpretive process and suggests links to the plurality of voices in our time.

Walter Brueggemann’s magisterial and influential Theology of the Old Testament now contains a study guide prepared by Rebecca J. Kruger Guadino with chapter summaries, questions, and links to helpful material, along with the text of Brueggemann’s interpretive program, Texts under Negotiation. Brueggemann, one of today’s most respected Old Testament scholar’s, takes the study of the ancient Hebrew Bible to new and exciting levels with this incredible work. This product also contains a study guide.

Key Features

• Foundational text of Old Testament theology
• Key work by one of the most influential Old Testament scholars
• Companion study guide for greater comprehension

Endorsements

Walter Brueggemann shows that Old Testament theology is alive and well. . . . This monumental endeavor offers an abundance of ideas that will carry Old Testament theology well into the twenty-first century.

—Phyllis Trible, associate dean, Wake Forest University School of Divinity

Fresh, comprehensive, and stirring, Theology of the Old Testament is the marvelous culmination of Walter Brueggemann’s years of study, writing, and teaching the Bible. Here we have the most comprehensive and important Old Testament theology to arise out of the American scene in this century. . . . Brueggemann’s passion and often abrasive edge, coupled with interpretive skill of the highest order, produce surprising insights into the biblical text. Pastors will grab this book for their study and preaching, and theologians will want to engage it wherever there is a genuine interest in what the Scriptures teach for faith and life.

—Patrick D. Miller, Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

This truly remarkable book is the first ’postmodern’ Old Testament theology, comparable in stature to Eichrodt and von Rad, but in a totally new idiom. Walter Brueggemann seizes the present pluralism of methods and interpretations, which has paralyzed large-scale theologizing, as an opening to the rich pluralism of Israelite witnesses who offer core testimony and counter testimony concerning Yahweh, the Central Character of the Old Testament. It is an accomplishment that will both enthrall and alarm attentive readers as they become members of the ’jury’ who are invited to weigh this astonishing testimony.

—Norman K. Gottwald, professor emeritus of biblical studies, New York Theological Seminary

After a brilliant introduction that clearly defi nes the position of his work within the present scholarly and theological situation, Walter Brueggemann unfolds ’Israel’s testimony’ in a far-reaching and thoroughgoing manner. This book will undoubtedly become a milestone in the field of Old Testament theology.

—Rolf Rendtorff, professor emeritus of Old Testament, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Walter Brueggemann’s weighty volume, done in his own engaged and often compelling style, is a landmark in the field. . . . Brueggemann stands out as a theologian with an open and critical eye on today’s reality. . . . All in all, this is a formidable, exciting, new, and immensely rich approach to a theology of the Old Testament, which—admitting contextual limitations—ponders the texts in ecumenical perspective, Jewish and Christian dimensions, and current world-prospect. . . .

—Erhard Gerstenberger, professor of Old Testament, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany

About Walter Brueggemann

Walter Brueggemann through his teaching, lecturing, and writing, has effectively demonstrated the significance of the Old Testament for our fractured world today. Recognized as the preeminent interpreter of the ancient texts in relation to questions posed by a variety of academic disciplines, he has shown the way toward a compelling understanding of the major components of the faith and life of ancient Israel, especially in the Psalms, the prophets, and narrative texts of the Hebrew Bible. His award-winning Theology of the Old Testament quickly became a foundational work in the field.

Professor Brueggemann holds a ThD from Union Theological Seminary in New York and a PhD from St. Louis University. Now professor emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, he was formerly the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Before that, he was professor of Old Testament at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. His many Fortress Press books, including The Threat of Life: Sermons on Pain, Power, and Weakness, exhibit a fruitful combination of imaginative power, sound scholarship, and a passion of justice and redemption.