Lament: Reclaiming Practices in Pulpit, Pew, and Public Square

by Sally A. Brown, Patrick D. Miller

Overview

Lament, so prominent in the Christian canon, is neglected in the public worship and witness of most North American congregations. These essays by Princeton Theological Seminary faculty attest to the diverse ways in which lament is understood and practiced, and invite their recovery in all elements of the church's ministry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664227500
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	03/03/2005
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Sally A. Brown is Elizabeth M. Engle Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. She is the coeditor of Lament: Reclaiming Practices in Pulpit, Pew, and Public Square.

Patrick D. Miller is Charles T. Haley Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. He is the author of numerous books, including The Religion of Ancient Israel. He is coeditor of the Interpretation commentary series and the Westminster Bible Companion series. In 1998, he served as President of the Society of Biblical Literature. He was also editor of Theology Today for twenty years.

Table of Contents

	Contributors	ix
	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	xiii
Part I	Reclaiming Lament in Christian Prayer and Proclamation	1
Chapter 1	Recovering Lamentation as a Practice in the Church	3
Chapter 2	Heaven's Prisoners: The Lament as Christian Prayer	15
Chapter 3	When Lament Shapes the Sermon	27
Chapter 4	The Shepherd's Song: A Sermon	38
Part II	Loss and Lament, Human and Divine	45
Chapter 5	The Persistence of the Wounds	47
Chapter 6	Rending the Curtain: Lament as an Act of Vulnerable Aggression	59
Chapter 7	Nervous Laughter: Lament, Death Anxiety, and Humor	70
Chapter 8	Jesus' Cry, God's Cry, and Ours	80
Chapter 9	May We Trust God and (Still) Lament? Can We Lament and (Still) Trust God?	95
Part III	Reclaiming the Public Voice of Lament	109
Chapter 10	When Feeling Like a Motherless Child	111
Chapter 11	Woes of Captive Women: From Lament to Defiance in Times of War	121
Chapter 12	4 Ezra's Lament: The Anatomy of Grief	135
Chapter 13	Breaking Point: A Sermon	145
	Conclusion	155
Chapter 14	Till God Speaks Light: Devotional Reflections on Lamentation with Verse	157