The Theology of the Book of Jeremiah (Old Testament Theology) [Paperback]

Walter Brueggemann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2006 | Series: Old Testament Theology

The present study focuses on the theology of the Book of Jeremiah. That theology revolves around themes familiar from Israel's covenantal faith, especially the sovereignty of YHWH expressed in judgment and promise. The outcome of this theological nexus of context, person, and tradition is a book that moves into the abyss and out of the abyss in unexpected ways. It does so, in part, by asserting that God continues to be generatively and disturbingly operative in the affairs of the world, up to and including our contemporary abysses (such as 9/11). The God attested in the Book of Jeremiah invites its readers into and through any and all such dislocations to new futures that combine divine agency and human inventiveness rooted in faithfulness.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Walter Brueggemann's study of Jeremiah fits perfectly in this promising series. Writing with characteristic passion and lucidity, Brueggemann boldly approaches Jeremiah with deep prophetic conviction himself. His treatment leads the reader through the scholarly debates into the ancient world of exile to our world of shoah and terror, and in the process mines Jeremiah for all its theological worth." --William P. Brown, Columbia Theological Seminary

Book Description

* Written by one of the most well known Old Testament scholars in North America. * Mines the theological insights of this major prophet for its contemporary relevance in a post-9/11 world. * Specifies metaphorical and poetic modes of discussing as essential to critical reflection. * Discusses Jeremiah's stand-alone theological importance as well its relationship to the much of the rest of the biblical canon.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (November 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521606292
• ISBN-13: 978-0521606295
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary. He is the world's leading interpreter of the Old Testament and is the author of numerous books, including Westminster John Knox Press best sellers such as Genesis and First and Second Samuel in the Interpretation series, An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination, and Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theological shaping of Jeremiah, January 19, 2009

By 

Robert Spender (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Theology of the Book of Jeremiah (Old Testament Theology) (Paperback)

I really enjoyed Brueggemann's book and highly recommend it to anyone who wants an overview of Jeremiah and a snapshot of how recent scholarship has shifted in viewing this book.

While shaped, Dhum's three literary sources (voices) are still accepted. For Brueggemann three traditions ("rootage") are most significant, the covenant at Sinai (Sinai pericope), Hosea (the Northern emphasis), and Deuteronomy (the later shaping of all). These are referenced through out this book.

Recent overemphasis on prophetic literature and its late scribal development often creates a bit of despair when approaching Jeremiah. Bruggemann, unlike a number of current scholars, holds to a real Jeremiah but admits that very little can be known about him leaving a subjective guess through filtered readings of the book.

The work is concise but comprehensive in its discussion of Jeremiah's message. There is greater emphasis on tensions about how God is viewed than Israel's (Jeremiah's) understanding of the nature and person of God. In this Brueggeman tends to follow his own emphasis on the tension between continuity and discontinuity. Evident also is the author's emphasis upon verbs, especially the six infinitives of 1:10.

Brueggemann struggles to fully explain how opposing ideas and concepts survived later redactional work and community (re)composition. Areas like the royal perspective or Jeremiah's position as a trader in view of the preserved view of him as a great prophet of God are examples of such difficulties.

The work is helpful in that is combines essential points of many of the author's earlier writings. Discussion about the centrality of Jeremiah for the whole Bible and a section on Jeremiah and the New Testament are found toward the end. With Brueggeman's extensive work on Jeremiah I would recommend this book to any student of Jeremiah.