Fortress Press

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 LifeA 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

Walter Brueggemann (Author)

$39.00

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In this book Walter Brueggemann raises a variety of contemporary and intriguing questions on the relation of society and text in the Old Testament, among them—the hidden agendas that underlie the making and reading of Scripture
  • the conflictual tension in ancient Israel
  • the cry to God of the oppressed and God's response
  • the political dimension of mercy
  • theodicy, violence, horses, and chariots

Brueggemann opens to a variety of readers a compelling picture of subversive paradigm and social possibility in the Hebrew Bible.
  • Publisher Fortress Press
  • Format Paperback
  • ISBN 9780800627348
  • Dimensions 5.5 x 8.5
  • Pages 336
  • Publication Date October 1, 1994

Endorsements

"Raises a variety of intriguing questions related to the relation of society and text in the Old Testament. "Brueggemann's social reading is a constant awareness of the social dimensions of every text."
— Patrick D. Miller

Excerpts

Our reading of the presentation of God in the Bible is very much shaped by our social situation, and one of Walter Brueggemann's aims is to shatter our picture of the biblical God by the reality of God. This is a crucial matter. It is also an indication of his implicit conviction that the Bible may be the one thing—despite its own social character—that can break through and criticize our socially shaped view of God.
— from the Introduction

Table of Contents

    Abbreviations
    Introduction

    Part One: Guidelines and Approaches
  1. Trajectories in Old Testament Literature and the Sociology of Ancient Israel
  2. Covenant as a Subversive Paradigm
  3. Covenant and Social Possibility

    Part Two: A Social Reading of Particular Texts

  4. Social Criticism and Social Vision in the Deuteronomic Formula of the Judges
  5. "Vine and Fig Tree". A Case Study in Imagination and Criticism
  6. At the Mercy of Babylon: A Subversive Rereading of the Empire
  7. A Poem of Summons (Isaiah 55:1-3) and a Narrative of Resistance (Daniel 1)

    Part 3: A Social Reading of Particular Issues

  8. Israel's Social Criticism and Yahweh's Sexuality
  9. Theodicy in a Social Dimension
  10. The Social Nature of the Biblical Text for Preaching
  11. The Prophet as a Destabilizing Presence
  12. The Social Significance of Solomon as a Patron of Wisdom
  13. Rethinking Church Models through Scripture
  14. Reflections on Biblical Understanding of Property
  15. Revelation and Violence: A Study in Contextualization

    Credits
    Index of Scripture References
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