THE PROPHETIC IMAGINATION

Second Edition

WALTER BRUEGGEMANN

FORTRESS PRESS

Minneapolis

THE PROPHETIC IMAGINATION

Second Edition

Copyright © 2001 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440–1209.

Biblical quotations are translated by the author.

Cover image: Photograph by Andreas Heumann. © 2001 Tony Stone. Used by Permission.

Cover design: David Meyer

Frontispiece: Door jamb figure of Jeremiah. St. Pierre, Moissac, France. © 2001 Giraudon/Art Resource, NY. Used by permission

Book design: Ann Delgehausen

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brueggemann, Walter

The prophetic imagination / Walter Brueggemann.—2nd ed. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.

ISBN 0-8006-3287-7 (alk. paper)

1. Prophets. 2. Pastoral theology. I. Title.

BS1198.B84 2001

221.1′5—dc21

For sisters in ministry

who teach me daily about

the power of grief

and

the gift of amazement

Contents

Preface to the Revised Edition

Preface to the First Edition

1. The Alternative Community of Moses

2. Royal Consciousness: Countering the Counterculture

3. Prophetic Criticizing and the Embrace of Pathos

4. Prophetic Energizing and the Emergence of Amazement

5. Criticism and Pathos in Jesus of Nazareth

6. Energizing and Amazement in Jesus of Nazareth

7. A Note on the Practice of Ministry

A Postscript on Practice

Abbreviations

Selected Bibliography

Scripture Index

Preface to the Revised Edition

The publication of The Prophetic Imagination in 1978 was my first publication in which I more-or-less found my own voice as a teacher in the church. Much has changed for me since then, but the basic thesis that I articulated there holds for me and continues to frame my ongoing work. There are indeed definitive continuities between what I said then and what I would say now.

I

At the same time, a great deal has changed since then. I mark three such changes. First, the changes in method and approach in the critical study of the Bible since then are immense. In 1978 or in the years just preceding when I wrote, scripture study was completely defined by historical criticism, even though the first hints of new approaches were on the horizon. For the study of the prophetic texts, this commitment to historical criticism meant understanding the prophetic personalities in their presumed historical contexts and then extrapolating from that text-in-context to general thematics. Derivatively, the practical use of prophetic texts in “prophetic ministry” meant rather regularly direct, confrontational encounter with established power in the way Amos seemed to confront Amaziah (Amos 7:10–17). Such an approach that, in retrospect, seems somewhat simplistic did indeed fund and authorize bold and courageous ministries.

At that time, however, scripture study generally ...