Like Fire in the Bones: Listening for the Prophetic Word in Jeremiah

by Walter Brueggemann, Patrick D. Miller

Overview

"No scholar of this generation has had a greater fire in his bones for communicating the word of God than Walter Brueggemann. These essays on Jeremiah exemplify his insistence that criticism should lead to interpretation, and remind us again why prophets like Jeremiah still matter in the 21st century."
– John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament, Yale

"Like Fire in the Bones is a gift to the churches and to anyone interested in prophetic literature with its harsh rhetoric, blazing visions, and demanding yet merciful God. Jeremiah may have had fire in his bones, but Brueggemann sets fires with his pen. He shows how Jeremiah speaks into the abyss of historical catastrophe with speech that matches experience. He underlines the disputatious political character of theological speech. He reiterates Jeremiah's call to covenant loyalty even in the face of religious and government forces that suppress and silence words of life. He illuminates Jeremiah's bare-boned hope for a world in the thrall of empire and social amnesia. If ever there was need for imaginative rereading of Jeremiah and of the texts of common life, it is now. At this, Brueggemann is a master."
– Kathleen M. O'Connor, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary

"Jeremiah, the longest book in the Bible, is neglected much too often by preacher and teacher alike. That neglect is due, in significant part, to the prophet's often-sharp words that strike too close to home, in his own generation and in ours. It is telling that the prophet Jeremiah, the focus of these essays that span much of Walter Brueggemann's prophetic ministry, has been in his head and heart for such a long time. Again and again, Brueggemann's own words have mirrored Jeremiah to us, and the times in which we presently live could profit from hearing them again."
– Terence E. Fretheim, Elva B. Lovell Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780800698287
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	12/01/2011
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, he is regarded as the premier Old Testament interpreter and biblical theologian of today. Among his many publications are Prophetic Imagination and Old Testament Theology.

Patrick D. Miller is Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and the author of two Fortress Press volumes: They Cried to the Lord: The Form and Theology of Biblical Prayer (1994) and Interpreting the Psalms (1986).

Table of Contents

Editor's Foreword vii

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

I The Word Spoken through the Prophet

1 Jeremiah: Portrait of the Prophet 3

2 The Book of Jeremiah: Meditation upon the Abyss 18

3 Recent Scholarship: Intense Criticism, Thin Interpretation 29

4 Theology in Jeremiah: Creatio in Extremis 41

5 Next Steps in Jeremiah Studies 56

II Listening for the Prophetic Word in History

6 The Prophetic Word of God and History 74

7 An Ending That Does Not End 86

8 A Second Reading of Jeremiah after the Dismantling 99

9 A Shattered Transcendence: Exile and Restoration 116

10 Haunting Book-Haunted People 132

III Carrying Forward the Prophetic Task

11 Prophetic Ministry: A Sustainable Alternative Community 142

12 A World Available for Peace: Images of Hope from Jeremiah and Isaiah 168

13 "Is There No Balm in Gilead?": The Hope and Despair of Jeremiah 180

14 Prophets and Historymakers 189

15 Why Prophets Won't Leave Well Enough Alone: An Interview with Walter Brueggemann 199

Abbreviations 213

Notes 215

Index of Names 249

Index of Biblical References 251