Deliver Us (Walter Brueggemann) - Review
DELIVER US: Salvation and the Liberating God of the Bible(The Walter Brueggemann Library). By Walter Brueggemann. Edited by Davis Hankins. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022. Xvi + 211 pages.
Walter
Brueggemann has been one of the most influential figures in biblical studies
and theology for decades. We know him to be one of the foremost Old Testament
scholars who has written important commentaries. He has written as well on
prophetic preaching and worship. Many of us have had the opportunity to hear
his lectures and speeches. So, if you had the privilege of reading, him,
meeting him, or listening to him whether it is a lecture or a sermon you need
no further introduction to his message and influence. You will know what you're
getting when you pick up a book with Brueggemann's name on it.
Now
that Walter Brueggemann, the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus at
Columbia Theological Seminary and an ordained United Church of Christ minister,
has largely retired from speaking and writing, efforts are underway to gather
his works, especially his less well-known works together to make them accessible
to new generations. In pursuit of this cause, Westminster John Knox Press has
created a new series of books titled The Walter Brueggemann Library. Deliver Us is the first volume in this series, edited by Davis Hankins, Associate Professor
of Religious Studies at Appalachian State University.
Deliver Us, the book under review here, carries the subtitle Salvation and the
Liberating God of the Bible. When we think of salvation, often our thoughts
go to traditional ideas about getting to heaven. Soteriology involves such
things, but it's a much broader category. In Deliver Us, Brueggemann
speaks to this broader understanding of salvation, especially as it reflects
God's actions in liberating people from bondage. Here we can see how his work
on the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) has influenced his view of salvation. Work
on texts such as Exodus, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, enables him to see how God might
be active in liberation efforts, especially on behalf of Israel. The very first
chapter of this collection is titled “Exodus from Egypt: Emancipation from
Anxiety and Exploitation.” In this chapter, Brueggemann reveals his
understanding of salvation: “When we come to the question of salvation in the
Bible, the exodus story is unquestionably the indispensable starting point” (p.
3).
What we
find present in this book is not new material. The editor, Davis Hankins, has
taken previously released materials and skillfully interwoven those materials
to create something new. So, in Deliver Us, Hankins draws material from
such books as Journey to the Common Good and Money and
Possessions: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church.
I've read some of the books from which Hankins has created the book, but not
others. What I discovered from reading the book is that I couldn’t distinguish
the sources. Perhaps someone skilled in redaction criticism could ferret things
out, but for the rest of us, this reads as if it is canonical (let the reader
understand).
Regarding
the series itself, Brueggemann writes in his preface that in creating the
series he has "settled on recurring themes (reflected in the organization
of this series) that I hope I have continued to treat with imagination, so that
my return to them is not simply reiteration but is critically generative of new
perspective and possibility" (p, ix). To make the series useful to
congregational study groups or personal reflection, each chapter includes
several questions for reflection. That is key. This is a book designed to be
used by congregations and not just scholars and preachers (though preachers
will find much of value).
Regarding
this specific volume, Davis Hankins, notes that he aimed to "create some
narrative cohesion across four parts." The first part "focuses on the
emancipatory event of the exodus and the circumstances of anxiety,
overproduction, explanation, and violent oppression in Egypt from which the
Israelites were liberated" (p. xv). The chapters in this section focus on
the exodus, with the first chapter subtitled "emancipation from anxiety
and exploitation." The second chapter "Plagues and Manna"
focuses on "Salvation through Divine Power and Abundant Generosity."
These chapters are expressive of themes one might connect with Brueggemann’s
works and emphases.
Part
two focuses on the Ten Commandments ("Initial Instructions at
Sinai"). Since the Commandments are often discussed in churches and public
life, having some guidance on interpreting and applying the commandments would
be helpful to many. So, in this section, Brueggemann covers the "The First
Commandments," the ones focused on "choosing one's God" (chapter
3). Then in Chapter 4, he speaks about the "Central Commandment," the
one regarding the Sabbath. As for why it is central, according to Brueggemann, it
reflects trust in God’s promise of abundance, which leads to anxiety. Thus,
“Sabbath is a total antidote to anxiety” (pp. 58-59). Finally, in chapter 4 he focuses on the
commandments concerning coveting. Brueggemann writes that "the choice of faithful
relationship over commodities is defining for Israel." The contrast he
lays out concerns how God would have us love people and use commodities, while
Pharaoh, loves commodities and uses people. (p. 72).
In Part
3, the book moves from the Ten Commandments to the larger legal materials found
in Torah. According to Hankins's construction of the section, Torah
develops "the baseline obligations in the Decalogue so that the entirety
of Israel's social life would be centered on the creator God who saved them in
the exodus event" (p. xv). The three chapters in this section focus on
"Israel's Liberatory Instructions for Alternative Community" (Ch. 6).
Here he takes us through the “Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 21:1-23:19). While the
“Book of the Covenant” might have had a life separate from the Decalogue, here
in Exodus it serves as a commentary on the commandments. So, in chapter 7 we
turn to a reflection on "Neighborly Compassion in the Book of
Deuteronomy." Finally, in chapter 8, we have more conversation about the
Deuteronomic Tradition. The message here is that "alternative life and
prosperity come from obedience to Torah commands, that is, to neighborly
practice, especially toward widows, orphans, and immigrants" (p. 118). For
those who envision the God of the Old Testament as being wrathful and violent, Brueggemann
reminds us that there is more to the story, requiring us to pay greater
attention to that broader story.
Finally,
in Part 4 we turn to "The Ongoing Imagination of Liberation.” We began
with liberation as a central definition of salvation, and we end with it as
well. In these final chapters, we read from Brueggemann about the prophetic
imagination he wrote about in earlier books, books many of us who are preachers
have imbibed. In this final section, we move from Torah to the narrative
and prophetic books, books such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. While much of the book
draws on Brueggemann’s work on the Hebrew Bible, he is, after all, a Christian
minister, thus, in the final chapter of the book we turn to "The Emancipating
imagination of Jesus." Here Brueggemann focuses on the life and teachings
of Jesus, connecting Jesus’ message with that of Moses. In doing this
Brueggemann shows us that "the way we love God is to love neighbors in
their fullness. Such love and neighborliness will well up in and through all
who respond to and strive for God's salvation" (p. 194).
When it
comes to salvation, it appears that soteriology is a much broader theological
category than simply getting to heaven. In Deliver Us Brueggemann, with
the skillful help of his editor, Davis Hankins, provides a corrective to narrow
thinking as to the nature of salvation. That is a welcome word in an age when
many have lost sight of the central biblical message of God’s liberating love.
We can be grateful not only to Walter Brueggemann for his breadth of interests
and accompanying writings that explore those interests on behalf of the church
and beyond. We can also share gratitude to Davis Hankins for skillfully
interweaving previously published works into something new and insightful that
will extend Brueggemann’s influence in the larger church. Through the years
Walter Brueggemann has offered guidance to the church, and with this volume and
subsequent volumes, we can benefit from that continued guidance as we engage with
the world of the Bible and the world of today.
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