The Prophetic Imagination

200 Pages·2018·2.45 MB·English

by  Walter Brueggemann

WALTER
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A classic text in biblical theology—still relevant for today and tomorrow R
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In this fortieth-anniversary edition of the classic text from one of the most influ- E
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ential biblical scholars of our time, Walter Brueggemann offers a theological and G BRUEGGEMANN
ethical reading of the Hebrew Bible. He finds there a vision for the community of E
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God whose words and practices of lament, protest, and complaint give rise to an
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alternative social order that opposes the “totalism” of the day. N
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Thwoirsd e bdyit iBornu begugiledms oanffn t haen dre av inseedw afnodre uwpodradt ebdy 2D0a0v1i se Hditainokni nans.d includes a new after- T THE
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Praise for The Prophetic Imagination
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“Years ago, as I struggled to envision a ministry that would engage both the
prophetic and the pastoral, Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination PROPHETIC
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gave the world a fresh vision of the role of imagination in the inevitable con-
R
frontation between what Howard Thurman terms ‘the religion of Jesus’ and
what Brueggemann calls ‘the royal consciousness.’ In the years since that O
revelation, yesterday’s dilemmas birthed today’s crises, which now loom as
P IMAGINATION
tomorrow’s catastrophes. Even amid these shadows, Brueggemann still em-
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boldens us to endure and even to overcome these troubles, not merely by the
tenacity of blues lamentation and the transcendence of gospel communion but E
also by prophetic improvisations that jazz the song of Joshua and crumble the T
walls thrown up by the politics of domination.”
I
—William J. Barber II, author of The Third Reconstruction C

“Few authors have influenced my spiritual formation more than Walter I
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Bruegge mann, and few books more than The Prophetic Imagination. Bruegge-
mann is one of the greatest theologians we have alive today. If you have not
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read this book, please do. If you have read it before, read it again. The Prophetic
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Imagination is precisely what the church needs right now.”
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—Shane Claiborne, activist and author of Executing Grace and Red Letter Revolution
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“When I first read The Prophetic Imagination in college, it changed my life. A
Now, forty years after its initial publication, Brueggemann’s book remains as T
timely as ever, retaining all of its power, insight, and daring. This anniversary
I
edition—beautifully introduced by Davis Hankins—ensures that this classic O
work is available to inspire another generation to resist the static triumphal-
N
ism of Pharaoh (in countless contemporary incarnations), to criticize the
dominant totalizing consciousness, and to energize the people of God in the
face of profound grief.” 4
—Brent A. Strawn, Emory University 0
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Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament n
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Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary and the author of numerous books iv
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including, from Fortress Press, Theology of the Old Testament and The Creative Word. rsa
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BIBLICAL STUDIES E
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it
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40th Anniversary Edition
THE PROPHETIC IMAGINATION
Praise for The Prophetic Imagination,
40th Anniversary Edition
“Years ago, as I struggled to envision a ministry that
would engage both the prophetic and the pastoral,
Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination gave
the world a fresh vision of the role of imagination
in the inevitable confrontation between what Howard
Thurman terms ‘the religion of Jesus’ and what
Brueggemann calls ‘the royal consciousness.’ In the
years since that revelation, yesterday’s dilemmas
birthed today’s crises, which now loom as tomorrow’s
catastrophes. Even amid these shadows, Brueggemann
still emboldens us to endure and even to overcome these
troubles, not merely by the tenacity of blues lamentation
and the transcendence of gospel communion, but also
by prophetic improvisations that jazz the song of Joshua
and crumble the walls thrown up by the politics of
domination.”
— William J. Barber II,
author of The Third Reconstruction
“Few authors have influenced my spiritual formation
more than Walter Brueggemann, and few books more
than The Prophetic Imagination. Brueggemann is one of
the greatest theologians we have alive today. If you have
not read this book, please do. If you have read it before,
read it again. The Prophetic Imagination is precisely what
the church needs right now.”
— Shane Claiborne, activist and author
of Executing Grace and Red Letter
Revolution
“When I first read The Prophetic Imagination in college,
it changed my life. Now, forty years after its initial
publication, Brueggemann’s book remains as timely
as ever, retaining all of its power, insight, and daring.
This anniversary edition—beautifully introduced
by Davis Hankins—ensures that this classic work is
available to inspire another generation to resist the
static triumphalism of Pharaoh (in countless
contemporary incarnations), to criticize the dominant
totalizing consciousness, and to energize the people
of God in the face of profound grief.”
— Brent A. Strawn, Emory University
“Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination has
drawn many a student, seminarian, preacher, and more
than a few laypeople on the strength of the title alone,
resonant with much of black preaching where the
‘sanctified imagination’ is regularly engaged. This text
has guided generations of biblical interpreters to take
the prophetic encounter and vocation as more than
protest or religiopolitical disagreement in and beyond
the text. The book remains relevant—eminently
readable and teachable.”
— Wil Gafney, Brite Divinity School
“At a time when tradition seems to have become the
property of the status quo, this book is more relevant
than ever. As tradition shifts sides, it becomes subversive
of the dominant religious, political, and economic
developments, and so new energies are set free that push
toward liberation. While this has been going on for
thousands of years, the increasing challenges of the past
forty years since this book was written—threatening to
destroy both humanity and the planet—underscore its
ongoing importance.”
— Joerg Rieger, Vanderbilt University
“Essential reading for generations of scholars and
pastors, The Prophetic Imagination has been catalytic
for those yearning to understand biblical prophecy
and strengthen their own prophetic witness. Over
against the hopelessness generated by repressive
ideology, Brueggemann insists that we can choose
as the prophets did: neither denial nor acquiescence,
but visionary resistance. Brueggemann presses a
brilliant case for prophetic imagination as the only
choice that will not leave us co-opted by the relentless
manipulations of empire.”
— Carolyn J. Sharp, Yale Divinity School
“Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination
is timeless; yet, at the same time, it feels as if he wrote
it ‘for such a time as this.’ The convicting yet hopeful
voice of Brueggemann is much like the prophets he
writes of from the Hebrew Bible—indeed, he is the
conscience of our time.”
— Cynthia Shafer-Elliott,
William Jessup University
“The Prophetic Imagination opened our eyes and ears to
the power and purposiveness of the prophets’ vision.
Practicing prophetic imagination is no less urgent a
vocation today, in the face of the omnipresent calculus
of human expendability. That this slender book seems
both as inspiring and as unerringly realistic today as
forty years ago is testament that Walter Brueggemann
has described that vocation with precision; this new
edition frames his argument as a word on target for a
time that critically needs it.”
— Neil Elliott, author of Liberating Paul
and The Arrogance of Nations

THE PROPHETIC IMAGINATION
4oth Anniversary Edition
WALTER BRUEGGEMANN
Foreword by Davis Hankins
FORTRESS PRESS
Minneapolis
THE PROPHETIC IMAGINATION
40th Anniversary Edition
Copyright © 2018 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief
quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be
reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the
publisher. Email [email protected] or write to Permissions,
Fortress Press, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209.
Biblical quotations are translated by the author.
Cover design: Brad Norr Design
Frontispiece: Door jamb figure of Jeremiah. St. Pierre, Moissac, France.
© 2001 Giraudon/Art Resource, NY. Used by permission
Print ISBN: 978-1-5064-4930-2
eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-4931-9
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
For sisters in ministry
who teach me daily about
the power of grief
and
the gift of amazement