Old Testament Theology according to Walter Brueggemann Part 1

Introduction

            Walter Brueggemann is one of the premier Old Testament scholars writing today, and this book is no exception. While the book has serious flaws, this was one of the most enjoyable books I have read for quite some time, as well as the most inspiring and insightful. Brueggemann never explicitly states the purpose of the book, but the general tenor of the book indicates that Brueggemann desires to give an introduction to the Old Testament with a postmodern orientation. As Norman Gottwald  says in one of advertisements for the book in the beginning of the book, this is the first postmodern Old Testament theology. The postmodern stance shines through clearly in the book, as Brueggemann virtually ignores questions of historicity, sources, and chronology.

            Brueggemann also does not state the intended audience of his work. The book seems like it would be effective for an undergraduate or a graduate level class in Old Testament theology, although some chapters would most likely need to be cut for use in an undergraduate class. The first hundred pages provide a helpful survey of the history of the study of Old Testament theology, introducing students to the subject.

            Brueggemann centers his book on a courtroom theme and presents the Old Testament as presenting various types of testimony about YHWH. He begins with the core testimony of Israel: the main line of testimony about YHWH. This is followed by the counter testimony: the testimony about YHWH that is opposed to the main line of testimony. Then he move on to other topics, which he calls the unsolicited testimony. In this section he describes what Israel testifies in relation to topics other than YHWH: Israel, humans, the nations, and creation. The fourth part is a look at how the testimony is embodied: through Torah, kings, prophets, cult, and sages. Finally, the book ends with a look forward at theological interpretation of the Old Testament.

            The introduction (Brueggemann calls them “retrospects”) to the book is a brief survey of the history of the various interpretations of the Old Testament. The first chapter begins (in good Protestant fashion) with the Protestant Reformation (does no one before the Reformation study the Old Testament?).  After a few pages on the Reformation, he comes to the highlight (for some anyway) of OT research history: the critical enterprise, in which he details the rise of the historical critical method and biblical theology (Gabler). The third section of the chapter is an important topic for Brueggemann: the rise of theological interpretation, focusing on Karl Barth, Albrecht Alt and Martin Noth (Israel was theological from the very beginning and was distinct theologically), Walter Eichrodt (relationship with God through covenant a prevalent idea in the OT), and Gerhard von Rad (recital theology). The chapter ends with the end of the generative period (1970). Biblical theology was critiqued harshly, sociological approaches became popular and reminded us that Israelite faith “is not a disembodied set of ideas” (51) but is part of a living context, and rhetorical criticism has brought attention back to the text rather than trying to find the reality behind the text.

            The second retrospect deals with the contemporary scene of OT studies. Brueggemann places himself solidly within the pluralism and focus upon situatedness of postmodernism, although drawing a distinction between him and Clines by stating that each context needs to be in dialogue with other groups (63). But he still has a streak of modernism in him, as he desires to resist bringing in claims from elsewhere (65), a desire which seems very unpostmodern to me. He believes that the God of the Old Testament is primarily accessed through the rhetoric of the text (66). He also notes that he follows a postliberal approach to the text, as set forth by George Lindbeck (86). He presents four scholars whom he labels as centrist: Brevard Childs (whose canonical criticism Brueggemann thinks is highly reductionistic because of the importing of Christian ideas), Jon Levinson (who presents a strong Jewish claim for the text), James Barr (who studies the text itself more than the previous two but is more orientated toward the academic guild), and Rolf Rendtorff. He then presents three scholars at the margins: Phyllis Trible (feminist interpretations), George Pixley (liberation theology), and Itumeleng Mosala (black theology). The chapter ends with four questions that must be addressed by OT theology: historical criticism, church theology, the Jewishness of the OT, and public possibilities.

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