Brueggemann, God and the Bible
The following is a brief interview with an academic mentor of mine about the God of the Bible and the call for the church today. Brueggemann says a few things that will be unsettling to some, but I think his points are thought provoking and important.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl0hK3ZTVyc
Walter Brueggemann on the Bible
Here are some of the key quotes in the interview:
- I believe the God of the Bible is implicated in the inherent violence of the Bible.
- I believe the God of the Bible is a recovering agent of violence… it (violence) is always latently there.
- Violence is intrinsic to our inheritance… the question is whether or not we can resist this inheritance.
- The big revelatory moments are characteristically departures from what has been taken for granted.
- There is no final reading to the text — we are always going to be led somewhere else.
Without doubt most Christians are uncomfortable with calling God a recovering practitioner of violence, but without some serious theological gymnastics, it is hard to dispute — The God of the Old Testament used violence to bring about his will. Let us not get caught up in this non-traditional description of God, but instead grasp the more important points Brueggemann is trying to make:
- The narrative of redemptive history is pointing us in the direction of love where violence is no more.
- Each generation is called to further the restoration of the world.
- We must often fight with the status quo in order to bring about a better world.
- While the next step is not always certain, the direction of the movement is. We must move away from violence and oppression and towards a world where all things are set right.
- We must be open to God’s will in these matters and be bold in our willingness to act.