Reality, Grief, Hope: Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks
Shane Claiborne--author and activist"Walter Brueggemann is a legend. . . . With typical Brueggemann brilliance, here he brings the prophets of old into the contemporary world and dares us to look through their eyes. If you love Walter, you’ll love this. If you’ve never heard of him, get ready to get hooked."Brian D. McLaren--author/speaker/activist"For many of us, Walter Brueggemann has been a mentor from afar. We have learned to read the Bible in fresh ways because of his scholarly insight, pastoral wisdom, and prophetic imagination.Reality, Grief, Hopetakes us from the world of the Bible to the headlines of today, opening inconvenient but desperately needed truths. . . . If you’ve never read Brueggemann, here is your entry point. If you’ve been reading him for years, this one is not to be missed."Gale A. Yee--Episcopal Divinity School"Through a carefully nuanced analogy with the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E., Brueggemann’sReality, Grief, Hopepresents a passionate and timely exploration of the theological crises that have infected the U.S., particularly since the 9/11 attacks. . . . A splendid work of public theology!"Stanley Hauerwas--Duke Divinity School"It is one thing to call for a prophetic imagination; it is quite another matter to actually have a prophetic imagination. This book clearly shows Brueggemann to have the ‘unrelenting realism’ that possessed the imagination of the ancient prophets. . . . With steely-eyed observation he helps us see, amid the despair that has gripped American life since 2001, that there is hope -- a hope grounded in the everyday work of the church. This is Brueggemann at his very best."Richard Horsley--University of Massachusetts, Boston"Walter Brueggemann is widely appreciated as the most insightful and compelling interpreter of the Bible as it bears on current social and religious crises. Here he discerns how the arrogant American exceptionalism of ‘God’s new Israel’ has been powerfully informed by the biblical ideology of God’s chosen people and the exceptionalism of the ancient Jerusalem elite. . . .Reality, Grief, Hopeis timely, prophetic, and very well done."Carolyn J. Sharp--Yale Divinity School"Brueggemann’s connection of Israelite royal ideology with U.S. exceptionalism is provocative and courageous. His interweaving of modern poetry and political theory with Scripture texts powerfully amplifies the countercultural exhortation of the ancient prophets: covenantal faith must be lived in mutual relationship with the poor. Brueggemann calls communities gathered around Scripture to be catalytic in their dismantling of structures of social privilege, economic exploitation, and racism. This is a compelling and urgently needed book."John Barton--Oriel College, Oxford"Challenges the churches to a prophetic task in the face of the twin ills in American exceptionalism: complacency when things go well and self-centered despair when (as after 9/11) they go badly. Brueggemann shows how the witness of the Old Testament prophets can be a resource for faithful hope that does not rest on cynical self-concern. Calling for a wider vision of society and its possible futures than the imperialistic self-assertion of an elite, this book calls for inclusion and for justice."