Walter Brueggemann
Encyclopedia
Walter Brueggemann is an American Protestant Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

 scholar and theologian.

Life

The son of a minister of the German Evangelical Synod of North America, he was ordained in the United Church of Christ. Brueggemann received an A.B. from Elmhurst College
Elmhurst College
Elmhurst College is a comprehensive private liberal arts college in Elmhurst, Illinois with a tradition of service-oriented learning. It has a rich affiliation with the United Church of Christ.- History :‎...

 (1955), a B.D. from Eden Theological Seminary
Eden Theological Seminary
Eden Theological Seminary is a seminary of the United Church of Christ in Webster Groves, Missouri, near St. Louis, Missouri.The seminary was established in 1850 by German pastors in what was then the American frontier. The pastors soon formed the German Evangelical Synod of North America. This,...

 (1958), a Th.D. from Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...

, New York (1961), and Ph.D. from Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a private, co-educational Jesuit university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by the Most Reverend Louis Guillaume Valentin Dubourg SLU is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River. It is one of 28 member institutions of the...

 (in 1974). He was professor of Old Testament (1961–1986) and Dean (1968–1982) at Eden Theological Seminary. Beginning in 1986, he served as William Marcellus McPheeters professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary
Columbia Theological Seminary
Columbia Theological Seminary is one of the ten theological institutions affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . It is located in Decatur, Georgia. Dr. Stephen A. Hayner is the seminary's president.-Description:...

, from where he retired in the early 2000s.

Brueggemann is an advocate and practitioner of rhetorical criticism
Rhetorical criticism
Rhetorical criticism is an approach to criticism that is at least as old as Plato. In the Phaedrus, Plato has Socrates examine a speech by Lysias to determine whether or not it is praiseworthy...

. He has authored more than 58 books, hundreds of articles, and several commentaries on books of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

. He is also a contributor to a number of the Living the Questions DVD programs and is featured in the program "Countering Pharaoh's Production-Consumption Society Today." Brueggemann participated in Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...

' 1990s PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 television series on Genesis (documented in Genesis: A Living Conversation. Main Street Books, 1997. ISBN 0-385-49043-7).

Originally a strong supporter of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and its Biblical claims, Brueggemann later repudiated Israel for its exploitation of "ancient promises" to create a "toxic ideology", and now claims that it's not anti-Semitic to stand up for justice for Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

s.

Dr. Brueggemann is known throughout the world for his brilliant method of combining literary and sociological modes when reading Bible. V. S. Parrish categorized Brueggemann as being an exegete and theologian. As an exegete he has composed several commentaries (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, 1 and 2 Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah). His most notable work was on the Psalter. As a theologian he has performed work as an editor for the Fortress Press series Overtures to Biblical Theology . In addition, Brueggemann development of OT theological methods consists of literary mode social function, and dialectical approach. Dr. Brueggemann’s work of commentary, especially on the Prophets and Writings, is buttressed by an overwhelming number of monographs and articles on specific portions of the Hebrew Bible. Titles like David’s Truth in Israel’s Imagination and Memory (1985), Power, Providence and Personality (1990), 1 Kings and 2 Kings (1982c), The Prophetic Imagination (1978), and Hopeful Imagination (1986) reflect his interest in the prophetic corpus.

An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...

, Dr. Brueggemann currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio (2008).

Honors

Among his honors are:
  • LL.D., DePauw University, 1984
  • D.D., Virginia Theological Seminary, 1988
  • D.H.Litt., Doane College, 1990
  • D.D., Jesuit School of Theology, 1993
  • D.Litt., Colgate University, 1997
  • D.H.Litt., Elmhurst College, 1997


There is also a festschrift in his honor: God in the Fray: A Tribute to Walter Brueggemann (eds. Tod Linafelt and Timothy K. Beal, Minneapolis: Fortress Press).

Publications

  • In Man We Trust: The Neglected Side of Biblical Faith. John Knox Press, 1972. ISBN 0-8042-0199-4.
  • The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith. Fortress Press, 1977, 2002. ISBN 978-0800634629.
  • The Prophetic Imagination. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1978. ISBN.
  • Genesis: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982. ISBN-X.
  • The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984. ISBN.
  • Hopeful Imagination: Prophetic Voices in Exile. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986. ISBN.
  • Hope Within History. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1987. ISBN.
  • To Pluck Up, to Tear Down: A Commentary on the Book of Jeremiah 1–25: International Theological Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988. ISBN.
  • Finally Comes the Poet: Daring Speech for Proclamation. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1989. ISBN.
  • First and Second Samuel: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1990. ISBN.
  • To Build, to Plant: A Commentary on Jeremiah 26–52: International Theological Commentary on the Old Testament. Continuum International Publishing Group, 1991. ISBN.
  • Interpretation and Obedience: From Faithful Reading to Faithful Living. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991. ISBN.
  • Abiding Astonishment: Psalms, Modernity, and the Making of History. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1991. ISBN.
  • Texts under Negotiation: The Bible and Postmodern Imagination. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. ISBN.
  • "The Book of Exodus". In The New Interpreter's Bible. Vol. 1. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. ISBN.
  • A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998. ISBN-X.
  • Isaiah 1–39. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998. ISBN.
  • Isaiah 40–66. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998. ISBN.
  • 1 & 2 Kings: Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary. Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 2000. ISBN.
  • Deuteronomy: Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries. Abingdon Press, 2001. ISBN.
  • Prophetic Imagination. 2d ed. Fortress Press, 2001. ISBN.
  • David's Truth: In Israel's Imagination and Memory. 2d ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002. ISBN.
  • The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith. 2d ed. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Fortress Press, 2002. ISBN.
  • Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes. Westminster John Knox Press, 2002. ISBN.
  • An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination. Westminster John Knox Press, 2003. ISBN.
  • Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth: Prayers of Walter Brueggemann. Fortress Press, 2003. ISBN
  • The Book That Breathes New Life: Scriptural Authority and Biblical Theology. 2005. ISBN.
  • Theology of the Old Testament. Fortress Press, 2005. ISBN.
  • The Theology of the Book of Jeremiah. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006. ISBN.
  • Praying the Psalms. 2d ed. Cascade Books, 2007. ISBN 978-1-55635-283-6.
  • Prayers for a Privileged People. Abingdon Press, 2008. ISBN 0687650194.
  • An Unsettling God. Fortress Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8006-6363-6.
  • Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land. Synergy Books, 2010. ISBN 978-0984076079. Foreword to the book by Mark Braverman.

External links

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