Journey to the Common Good: Updated Edition (Walter Brueggemann) -- Review

 

JOURNEY TO THE COMMON GOOD. Updated Edition. By Walter Brueggemann, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021. Xxiv + 119 pages.

                The first edition of Walter Brueggemann’s book Journey to the Common Good came out just as the nation was emerging from the economic crisis of the late 2000s. At the time Barack Obama was early in his first term as President. This updated edition comes as the nation reels from a combination of crises that includes a deadly coronavirus pandemic, racial unrest, the economic downturn related to the coronavirus, and the disruptive nature of the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. Brueggemann always has something wise to say, even though it is often challenging. Having an updated edition that draws our attention to his message of the common good is a good thing!

                The core chapters of this updated edition are essentially the same as what one can find in the first edition. What this updated version offers is Brueggemann’s  “A Reintroduction.” Brueggemann, who is the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, tells us that he wrote this reintroduction on the day of George Floyd’s funeral in Houston. He writes that the crisis at hand “is deep, thick, and complex.” It has three faces: 1) the virus that “outflanked our scientific capacity; 2) the economic downturn; 3) “a skewed criminal justice system for which police misconduct is the visible front” (p. ix). These three crises have significant implications for us. First, regarding the virus, it has left us vulnerable to unforeseen dangers. Secondly, the economic downturn has left “many people in deep dislocation. Finally, “the crisis in criminal justice evokes anger and fear” (p. x). These social realities—vulnerability, dislocation, anger, and fear—are all present in the wilderness tradition that he had explored in the first edition of the book.

                Since the chapters of the book remain essentially unchanged, Brueggemann uses the “reintroduction” to situate the message of the wilderness tradition encountered in the remainder of the book to the current situation. Thus, he invites us to explore the message found in Exodus, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. He hopes that these explorations will assist us in navigating our current situation, even as they gave guidance in earlier crises.

                The good news that Brueggemann wants us to hear is that the biblical narratives and oracles offer words of hope and guidance for our times of crisis because they emerged in times of crisis. Indeed, he writes that “we face a crisis about the common good because there are powerful forces at work among us to resist the common good, to violate community solidarity, and to deny a common destiny” (p. 1). At our mature best, we might be able to transcend these challenges, but the question is: Can a church that is deeply ingrained in the contemporary culture break free from the constraints to offer a different word to the world?

                Brueggemann begins the core of the book with a discussion of the Exodus story, which pictures Pharaoh as the “paradigmatic enemy of the common good.” We learn here that Pharaoh’s grip on society is rooted in a principle of scarcity. Pharaoh stood at the head of the world’s breadbasket, and thus its superpower. By creating a situation of scarcity, Pharaoh could produce anxiety, which in turn fed his power. In our day the “kingdom of paucity” is kept alive by our consumerism, which pushes us further into the grip of scarcity and anxiety, and thus puts us at the mercy of those in power. God breaks this monopoly of power by calling the Hebrews into the wilderness, where they can learn a different principle – that of the neighborhood and the common good. To break free of Pharaoh’s reach, one must trust in God’s abundance, as seen in the manna and the Eucharist. Unfortunately, at both tables, scarcity makes itself felt through exclusion.

                To experience this common good, we must embrace a subversive alternative social ethic, one that is focused on care for the alien, orphan, and widow. This triad is comprised of those lacking access to the commodities of life because access is defined by Pharaoh’s categories. He writes that “the tradition of Deuteronomy intends to resituate the economy of Israel into the fabric of the neighborhood” (p. 41). That is, the new paradigm subverts the status quo by embracing a love of neighbor that carries specific economic implications. While God would have our economies serve the common good, there are points of resistance, counter-narratives that reinforce the principle of scarcity. The Pharaonic ideal reappears with Solomon, who focused on a triad of wealth, power, and wisdom.

                It is to such a world that Jeremiah speaks, offering an alternative vision that is rooted in Deuteronomy. As a descendant of the exiled priest Abiathar, Jeremiah speaks of a trajectory of death that is rooted in a commitment to Solomon’s triad of wealth, power, and wisdom, offering in its stead an alternative vision rooted in YHWH’s triad of steadfast love, justice, and righteousness. It is in these that God takes delight, not the Temple worship that defined the Solomonic vision.

                From subversion, the story moves to reconstruction, a vision witnessed to in the texts of Isaiah. In this set of oracles written over several centuries, the word from God moves from harshness to tenderness – there is both judgment and hope for Jerusalem. Words of loss and grief give way to words of restoration, with Cyrus serving as the agent of God’s work. In extending the oracle to our own day, Brueggemann suggests to a world facing economic collapse that we cannot simply return to normalcy. In the words of Third Isaiah (chapters 56-66), we find our way forward into a new age, one that is broad, inclusive, and welcoming. In this new reality, true worship of God is defined by justice and freedom, especially for the poor, the hungry, and the marginalized, and in this vision, knowledge of God is found in the love of neighbor.

                While this edition offers a reintroduction, Brueggemann removed the afterword that was part of the first edition. The afterword spoke to the world he encountered at the beginning of the Obama administration. In the afterword, he spoke of his hope that America was entering a new day. Obviously, the optimism that was present in the afterword has given way to deeper division. So, that he has had to write a new introduction to the book serves as a reminder that we have yet to move beyond the Pharaonic dimensions of American exceptionalism. Thus, there is still work to be done.

                While Brueggemann’s Journey to the Common Good is a rather brief book, its message is powerful. It reminds us that the Bible might be an ancient book, but it still speaks to the concerns of our day. It challenges the status quo and invites the church to embrace its calling to be guardians of the common good. For Christians, this book is especially helpful because it invites us to embrace the narratives and oracles found in the Old Testament—not without critical judgment, for there is more than one voice present in the text. But, having said that, there is, Journey to the Common Good serves as a powerful call to embrace God’s steadfast love, justice, and righteousness, which pushes us to embrace the common good. That call will, however, require much of us.

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