Customer Reviews

Worship in Ancient Israel: An Essential Guide (Essential Guide (Abingdon Press))

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This renown professor of Columbia Seminary gives his clearly simple yet layered picture of Israel's Worship & Theology. I felt totally comfortable with his simple statement of "This book...intends to consider some of the leading motifs of ancient Israel's worship traditions in the Old Testament."

In his creativity, he easily states his theme as being, "those trustworthy utterances & gestures...thru 'word and sacrament.'" Brueggemann names the Worship of OT Israel as directed to "the elusive presence and inscrutable purpose of the holy God!" What familiar words to students present when John Claypool introduced WB as "one who can explain the inexplicable, he can describe the indescribable, and unscrew the inscrutable."

Immediately, he gives footnotes of credit for Patrick Miller, Gerstenberger, Muilenburg, and Walter Harrelson! Most of whom may agree with Harrelson's quotation: "I would insist that man cannot live a fully human life without acts of celebration!" From such an inclusive theme, WB briefly discusses the accents of Deuteronomic and Priestly traditions from within Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Numbers, as offerings of "Word and Sacrament."

From these statements he proceeds to graphically describe events that illuminate Hebrew Festivals of celebration from the "Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) to Jubilee, to Purim, to the Festival of Hanukkah!" Somehow from his ample beginning, may we endeavor to experience our profound Hebrew scholar and articulate professor playfully relate themes of Ancient Israel's Worship to Theology of Israel within his Old Testament resources! My most favorite chapter comes entitled, "Worship: Israel At Play" with emphasis upon his favorite Lament and Royal Psalms in summary as 13, 22, 42, 46, 51, 96, 137! (7- a holy numer)

My shortest, yes hopefully clearest review yet: retired Chaplain Fred W Hood