While conservative interpreters might believe that prophets were predictors and progressives believe the prophets to be simply social advocates, Walter Brueggemann argues that the prophets were “emancipated imaginers of alternative.” Emancipated from the dominant thinking of their societies, the prophets imagined an alternative reality and invited listeners to join them in their commitment to that new reality.
In this collection of studies, popular biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann explores the Major Prophets, the Minor Prophets, and the prophets of the Persian Age. By highlighting the common themes of judgment and hope found in the prophets’ messages, Brueggemann invites readers to consider what those messages mean for us today.
Questions for reflection conclude each chapter, making From Judgment to Hope perfect for individual or group study.
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.