World-renowned biblical interpreter Walter Brueggemann invites readers to take a closer look at the subversive messages found within the Old Testament. Truth Speaks to Power explores the radical and subversive political implications of the Bible. Brueggemann asserts that the Bible presents a “sustained contestation” over truth, in which established institutions of power do not always prevail.
But this is not always obvious at first glance. A closer look reveals that the text actually contradicts the apparent meaning of an innocent, face-value reading. Brueggemann invites the reader into this thick complexity of the textual reading, where the authority of power is undermined in cunning and compelling ways. He insists that we are—as readers and interpreters—always contestants for truth, whether we recognize ourselves as such or not.
Walter Brueggemann was a beloved and prolific writer, astute biblical theologian and Old Testament scholar, and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He was the author of dozens of books, including Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now, Interrupting Silence: God’s Command to Speak Out, and Truth and Hope: Essays for a Perilous Age. Often heralded as a prophetic voice in our time, Brueggemann constantly reminded readers of God’s covenantal love and God’s call to speak truth to power, to remember that grace abounds, and to loosen the bonds of injustice.
