Lament That Generates Covenant

This collection of essays pertains to matters that urgently concern our faith. My work consists in recognition that our various systems of meaning, power, and control are decisively penultimate, even though we conduct ourselves as though they are ultimate. Thus, our articulation of theology and faith are momentary and require endless rearticulation. Our various expressions of nation, race, class, and gender are momentary arrangements that give us assurance, but that are sure to be, yet again, unsustainable claims. The idiom in which biblical faith is given us is inescapably poetic, an exercise in imagination, elusive imagery, and playful phrasing. The long history of the church consists in the seductive practice of trying to ""catch"" such poetic utterance in settled prose that we parse with logic and precision. Such efforts are always less than adequate, as the poetry of testimony always surges beyond our best prose. Thus, as a case in point, the church has engaged much energy in parsing the creeds. But in the end, the creeds are poetry designed for liturgic affirmation, rather than reduction to cold rationality bereft of context. For much too long the church has focused on private, spiritual, other-worldly matters. In fact, the biblical reportage and advocacy concern the continuing struggle for an alternative economy that is governed by neighborly generosity, an economy that eschews private accumulation by the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable. On all counts it is my hope that this collection of essays will serve all those who do the continuing work of faithful study, faithful worship, and faithful action in the world.

"Reading these insightful and incisive interventions is nothing short of watching a master at work in the studio. Everything that crosses Brueggemann's desk, is read by his eyes, or occurs to his incomparable brain is sieved through Scripture--all for our betterment with equal measures of judgment and hope. Taste and see, watch and learn. Then go and do likewise."
--Brent A. Strawn, D. Moody Smith Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law, Duke University

"In this fascinating and generative new collection of essays, Walter Brueggemann seamlessly moves from the world of the text into the world we inhabit today, fearlessly telling the difficult truths and proclaiming the gospel with wild abandon, refusing to get caught in meaningless minutiae or waste anyone's time with 'small gains in yardage.' From new economic theories to fresh takes on contemporary political issues and innovative interpretations of biblical texts, Brueggemann yet again freely shares the fruits of his voracious mind, compassionate heart, and faithful spirit."
--Brennan Breed, associate professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary

"Brueggemann critiques today's political gaslighting, perpetual debt servitude, petty self-absorptions, and self-serving systems, but then pivots to that lamp unto our feet, of prophetic lyrics illumining our way forward, calling us to join divine urgency for justice, righteousness, and compassion for all our neighbors. Following a more indigenous path, listening to nature's praise, Walter laments for the languishing earth, but assures her dawn will come."
--Nancy C. Lee, professor of Hebrew Bible, Elmhurst University

"Required reading for these critical times. In these remarkable reflections, Walter Brueggemann invites us to relinquish faith in our vain 'little systems, ' to rediscover the deep relationship between grief and imagination, and to embrace a biblical theology that is alive and responsive and refuses to settle."
--Timothy Beal, distinguished university professor, Case Western Reserve University

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He has published widely on the Old Testament as well as contemporary hermeneutical reflections, including, from Cascade Books: David and His Theologian (2011), A Pathway of Interpretation (2008), Embracing the Transformation (2014), The Practice of Homefulness (2014), Truth-Telling as Subversive Obedience (2011), Virus as a Summons to Faith (2020), A Wilderness Zone (2021), and Resisting Denial, Refusing Despair (2022).

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