A Wilderness Zone
- Ethics, Culture & Social Issues
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2021
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Publisher's Description
In these several pieces I have worked to trace out possible interfaces between specific scripture references and matters at the forefront of our common social life. It is my hunch that, almost without fail, such an interface creates a very different angle of vision for any element of our common social life, because it situates such a topic in the context of the biblical narrative that is occupied by the holy agency of God. Such an alternative angle of vision helps to defamiliarize us from our usual discernment according to the master narrative of democratic capitalism that is most widely shared across the spectrum of conservatives and progressives. Because our common angle of vision shared by progressives and conservatives has a very low ceiling of human ultimacy, we (all of us!) easily come to think that our particular reading of social reality is absolute and beyond question, even if dominated by a tacit ideology. It is my bet that an interface with biblical testimony can and will deabsolutize our excessive certitude and permit us to look again at the social "facts" that are in front of us. I do not think and do not suggest that such interfaces with scripture are inevitable; they are rather suggestive, impressionistic, and fleeting, the kind of linkage that is available in the matrix of faith that is not fixed on certitude.
Endorsements (5)
“With prophet-like compassion and fresh turns of phrase, Brueggemann offers a no-holds-barred assessment of urgent US crises in light of biblical truths . . . . Brueggemann’s venerated voice in our midst affirms protest and calls the faithful to trust and hope in God making the impossible possible, to cocreate an alternative, just world of generous care for all.”
“Time and again, Brueggemann shows us that, wisely read, the Bible is too powerful to leave to those who abuse it, especially at this moment of vulnerability, dislocation, anger, and fear. In A Wilderness Zone, Brueggemann leads us through Exodus (with excursions into the Psalms, Prophets, and other scriptures) in ways that illuminate not only the biblical text but also our path through these times. Brueggemann is one of our greatest sages, and this book is a treasure.”
“There is no better biblical theologian who can ‘connect the dots’ so well between ancient biblical texts and the North American church and culture than Walter Brueggemann. For such a time as this, a time of multiple pandemics, Brueggemann lifts up the wilderness accounts of the Bible . . . for renewed consideration. This viral moment, Brueggemann proves, is cause for self-critical review that is honest and courageous, and an opportunity for hope that is equally courageous and subversive.”
“A Wilderness Zone is Walter Brueggemann’s powerful read of our current ‘moment.’ The Israelites escaped Pharoah by fleeing into the wilderness, where they encountered vulnerability, dislocation, and fear/anger. COVID-19 and its concomitant economic setbacks and the current crisis in criminal justice name the analogous contemporary realities. Brueggemann portrays wilderness then and now, and along the way reveals informative interpretive sources. This meditation is a brilliant commentary on our ‘moment’ and its search for hope.”
“Simply put, we have no one like Walter Brueggemann. . . . Here, he outpaces all others once again, amazes us once more, as he ranges easily across the full span of Christian Scripture with not-infrequent, equally dexterous engagements with economic and political theory, race relations, philosophy, liberation, migration, and much, much more. And so, again, I repeat: we have none like Walter. Take and read!”
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