Theology of the testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy

Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy. By Walter Brueggemann. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997, 777 pp., $48.00.

A prolific writer and widely renowned scholar here offers a highly stimulating, although controversial, synthesis of the OT. Brueggemann is known for exegetical essays that have a theological edge and that press for current relevance. Both featuresattention to the theological nuances of single texts and his grappling with the text's address to the present situation-characterize this expansive treatise. For this contribution, so thoughtful and articulate and destined to give another large impetus to the endeavor of laying bare the OT are all in his debt: the church, academia and society.

Brueggemann's work capitalizes on the image of the courtroom with its testimony, counter-testimony and disputation. A third of the book deals with Israel's core testimony that is exposited with the help of the grammar used to tell of Yahweh: verbs, nouns and adjectives. The verbs include "create," "make promises," "deliver," "command" and "lead." Adjectives for God (e.g. "gracious," "avenging") come primarily from Exod 34:6-7 and some psalms. Nouns to speak of God are metaphors of governance (judge, king, warrior, father), about which Brueggemann is less than enthusiastic, and metaphors of sustenance (artist, healer, gardener-vinedresser, and shepherd).

In the description of Israel's counter-testimony in which her own witness is crossexamined (ca. 100 pages), the negativity of Yahweh is explored: his hiddenness and the ambiguity of his character. Brueggemann highlights tensions, even the possible "contradiction within the very character of Yahweh" (p. 249). Brueggemann also stresses the incongruity between Israel's core testimony and her lived experience. Here Brueggemann finds a place for wisdom literature. The entry of additional witnesses in Part 3 only slightly relieves the tension in the imaginary courtroom. Here the subject is the transactions, or better, altercations between Yahweh and conversation partners, primarily Israel, but also the human person, nations and even creation. A fourth section (ca. 40 pages) is about mediators between people and Yahweh: the king, prophet, cult, Torah and sage. Brueggemann's passionate concern to understand how Biblical texts impinge on the current situation is reflected in a 100-page introduction and a 50-page conclusion. In the first he astutely analyzes the driving forces in OT theology writing in the 20th century. In the latter he sets out the way in which a Biblical theology addresses post-modern culture.

Brueggemann's book is Biblical theology in a new trey! tie escftews noon the historical approach and the canonical approach. He dismisses, or at least brackets out, attention to ontology, reason and history (pp. 118, 125n., 708)-all characteristic concerns of the enlightenment. Christian faith as reasoned faith (a la Cartesian dualism) has failed (p. 715). Salvation history is not a rubric here; repeatedly it is stated that it is impossible to know what "really happened" (pp. 206, 714). Nor is the book keyed to historical periodizations, except that the time of the exile is identified as the matrix for Israel's faith (pp. 74-78). Sociology and literary rhetoric (grammar, rhetoric), rather than history are governing perspectives. Discrepancies are identified, not in order to be harmonized, but to be exploited for the tensions they elicit. The word "odd" occurs frequently (p. 622-623), and a repeated theme is that of tension, paradox and disjunction (p. 282). In earlier proposals for an OT theology (e.g. his articles in CBQ 1985) he tilted toward dialectic; here he plunges in that direction headlong.

The postenlightenment ethos is taken seriously. In the spirit of the philosopher M. Foucault (whom he cites) Brueggemann stresses the particular and often shows his aversion to universalistic claims (p. 325). He seeks to honor the variegated nature of the text. He fears reductionism, resists closure (pp. 149, 268-269, 717) and forever appeals to openness. High visibility is given to transactions and interactions. When introducing the NT he makes every effort to avoid supersessionism (pp. 449, 651). Brueggemann engages Israel's testimony about Yahweh with modem agenda: policy-dominated violence such as the Holocaust (pp. 263, 329), civil disobedience (p. 240), feminism, nationstates, homosexuality and economy. He hopes that his construal of the OT will be more pertinent to pastoral care than other more cerebral-oriented attempts. The lack of a topical index, unfortunately, reduces the reader's access to these topics.

Brueggemann's work, perhaps as seminal for the next generation as was von Rad's, is more radical than von Rad's, for Brueggemann essentially turns his back on the enlightenment project. He sees von Rad as trapped by history (p. 145n.). But like von Rad, Brueggemann represents the dynamic that is present in the Scripture, not in the interplay and development of traditions as did von Rad, but in the tensions that exist in testimonies. Unlike von Rad, he places creation up front, neglect of which, he charges, has contributed to the crisis of patriarchalism (p. 161). Brueggemann's book contrasts sharply with the recent work by H. D. Preuss, who in the tradition of historical-critical scholarship gives major attention to history, advocates God's election as a centering theme and like von Rad subordinates creation to redemption. Preuss has a large and compelling study on the names for God; Brueggemann does not treat the topic. Preuss leans heavily on Deuteronomy and Isaiah and so stresses God's election. His references to wisdom are minimal. Brueggemann also gives a privileged position to Second Isaiah (p. 120n.), but returns frequently to Exod 34:6-7 (see the Scripture index) as he elaborates on the tensions within Israel's testimony. For Brueggemann wisdom plays a large role.