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Editor’s฀Foreword No฀person฀on฀the฀North฀American฀scene฀has฀contributed฀as฀much฀to฀ the฀enterprise฀of฀Old฀Testament฀theology฀as฀has฀Walter฀Brueggemann .฀That฀is฀indicated฀foremost,฀of฀course,฀in฀his฀monumental฀work฀Theology ฀of฀the฀Old฀Testament:฀Testimony,฀Dispute,฀Advocacy,฀surely฀the฀most฀ creative฀and฀original฀theology฀of฀the฀Old฀Testament฀since฀the฀work฀of฀ Gerhard฀von฀Rad฀over฀forty฀years฀ago.฀This฀deep฀commitment฀to฀a฀theological ฀understanding฀of฀the฀Old฀Testament฀is฀not฀confined,฀however,฀to฀a฀ single฀volume.฀It฀pervades฀his฀publications฀and฀in฀fact฀is฀never฀out฀of฀sight฀ in฀his฀scholarly฀work.฀Most฀of฀his฀efforts฀are฀directed฀toward฀a฀constructive฀ theological฀reading฀of฀the฀Old฀Testament,฀epitomized฀in฀the฀volume฀cited฀ above฀but฀evident฀throughout฀his฀work.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀he฀has฀sought฀ to฀make฀his฀proposals฀about฀the฀Old฀Testament฀and฀how฀we฀are฀to฀read฀it฀ and฀understand฀it฀in฀dialogue฀with฀and฀drawing฀upon฀the฀efforts฀of฀many฀ other฀persons,฀especially฀those฀who฀have฀been฀most฀influential฀and฀constructive ฀themselves.฀Once฀again,฀that฀is฀the฀starting฀point฀of฀his฀own฀Old฀ Testament฀theology,฀whose฀first฀hundred฀pages฀review฀and฀engage฀with฀ the฀history฀of฀Old฀Testament฀theology฀and฀the฀current฀scene. The฀purpose฀of฀this฀collection฀of฀Brueggemann’s฀essays฀is฀to฀bring฀to฀ the฀fore฀a฀much฀more฀extensive฀critical฀engagement฀on฀his฀part฀with฀the฀ current฀discussion฀about฀the฀Old฀Testament,฀its฀character,฀its฀authority,฀ its฀theology,฀and฀especially฀its฀God.฀These฀essays฀have฀the฀further฀value฀ of฀bringing฀us฀up-to-date฀on฀Brueggemann’s฀thinking฀about฀the฀issues฀ involved,฀most฀of฀the฀essays฀having฀been฀published฀after฀his฀Theology฀of฀the฀ Old฀Testament฀and฀all฀but฀two฀of฀them฀within฀the฀last฀decade.฀ There฀are฀two฀large฀foci฀in฀the฀collection.฀One฀of฀them฀is฀the฀authority ฀of฀Scripture,฀the฀subject฀of฀the฀first฀three฀essays.฀There฀Brueggemann฀ comes฀at฀this฀important฀task฀with฀particular฀attention฀to฀the฀Old฀Testament ฀but฀in฀full฀awareness฀that฀the฀question฀of฀authority฀is฀not฀finally฀a฀ testamental฀issue.฀Nor฀is฀it฀one฀that฀is฀“settled.”฀He฀comes฀at฀the฀issue฀ ix BookThatBreathes.finalinterior.indd 9 10/5/04 5:22:23 PM from฀three฀angles.฀The฀first฀is฀a฀sweeping฀look฀at฀the฀Bible’s฀authority฀in฀ the฀postcritical฀modern฀world.฀While฀Brueggemann฀could฀well฀have฀provided ฀a฀helpful฀overview฀of฀that฀question฀from฀a฀more฀historical฀perspective ,฀incorporating฀early,฀medieval,฀and฀Reformation฀perspectives,฀it฀is฀not฀ surprising฀that฀his฀focus฀is฀on฀the฀modern฀period.฀While฀he฀draws฀upon฀ the฀tradition฀in฀doing฀his฀theological฀work,฀his฀perduring฀concern฀is฀for฀ the฀contemporary฀world฀and฀how฀we฀are฀to฀understand฀it฀and฀ourselves฀in฀ the฀light฀of฀Scripture฀and฀how฀it฀is฀that฀we฀can฀claim฀that฀the฀Bible฀makes฀ sense—to฀use฀one฀of฀his฀book฀titles—in฀our฀world฀and฀our฀time.฀The฀third฀ essay฀takes฀up฀the฀question฀of฀the฀authority฀of฀Scripture฀in฀the฀context฀of฀ his฀own฀denominational฀location,฀sensing฀that฀the฀continuing฀liveliness฀of฀ Scripture฀in฀the฀United฀Church฀of฀Christ฀is฀at฀stake.฀He฀sees฀a฀church฀that฀ lives฀between฀the฀tendencies฀to฀be฀reductionistic฀or฀to฀be฀dismissive.฀Many฀ of฀us฀in฀other฀denominations฀may฀see฀ourselves฀in฀this฀mirror฀that฀he฀has฀ set฀before฀his฀own฀church.฀ Finally,฀Brueggemann’s฀third฀angle฀of฀approach฀to฀the฀issue฀of฀scriptural฀ authority฀is฀highly฀personal.฀I฀expect฀that฀this฀essay฀may฀capture฀readers฀ more฀than฀any฀other฀single฀piece฀in฀this฀book.฀Here฀one฀learns฀more฀about฀ this฀scholar’s฀own฀personal฀theological฀journal฀than฀one฀can฀find฀in฀any฀ other฀source.฀One฀should฀not฀anticipate,฀however,฀that฀the฀essay฀is฀simply฀ a฀personal฀reminiscence.฀On฀the฀contrary,฀the฀personal฀reflection฀leads฀into฀ several฀key฀issues฀of฀biblical฀interpretation฀and฀biblical฀authority.฀What฀is฀ especially฀interesting฀about฀the฀essay฀may฀be฀missed฀by฀the฀casual฀reader:฀It฀ was฀written฀for฀a฀conference฀on฀sexual฀concerns฀and฀how฀one฀reads฀Scripture ฀to฀think฀about฀sexual฀matters.฀Part฀of฀the฀genius฀of฀the฀essay฀is฀the฀way฀ in฀which฀that฀specific฀context฀is฀directly฀addressed฀in฀a฀manner฀that฀makes฀ the฀essay฀of฀use฀in฀totally฀different฀contexts฀as฀well. The฀second฀and฀third฀parts฀of฀this฀collection฀comprise฀essays฀that฀deal฀ with฀ Old฀Testament฀ theology,฀ more฀ particularly฀ Brueggemann’s฀ own฀ theology฀and฀how฀it฀fits฀into฀the฀larger฀scene฀as฀well฀as฀how฀it฀has฀been฀ received฀by฀others฀who฀have฀made฀large฀contributions฀to...

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