Reality, Grief, Hope

Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks

By: Walter Brueggemann

Narrated by: Tom Taverna

Walter Brueggemann is one of the most highly regarded Old Testament scholars of our time; talk-show host Krista Tippett has even called him "a kind of theological rock star." In this new book Brueggemann incisively probes our society-in-crisis from the ground up.

Pointing out striking correlations between the catastrophe of 9/11 and the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, Brueggemann shows how the prophetic biblical response to that crisis was truth-telling in the face of ideology, grief in the face of denial, and hope in the face of despair. He argues that the same prophetic responses are urgently required from us now if we are to escape the deathliness of denial and despair.

Brueggemann's Reality, Grief, Hope boldly confronts the dominant forces of our time, taking on principalities and powers that vie for our souls, and calls the church to courageous action.

©2014 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (P)2017 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

A Tilt Against Exceptionalism

Using the Jewish experience of Babylonian exile and destruction of the Temple, the author examines the Hebrew Scripture to help us understood how the problems of Jewish Chosenness intersects with American Exceptionalism … where both lead to a destructive nationalism that is unable to see the reality of their vulnerability (highlighted by US response to the 911 attack on NYC). Brueggemann begins by pulling from Psalms and the Prophets examples of the Jewish world view as God’s chosen people and compares this with the modern American culture of exceptionalism that seems to be its spiritual heir where both give rise to the hubris of elites that denied their vulnerability and fostered an increasing injustice to those on the margins as those same elites began to feel safe ignoring their plight. The author generally sticks to what can be extracted from scripture without any other historical context, so there is an obvious bias that comes through in the analysis; however, you don’t have to look very hard to find this same debate in today’s world … and for some readers may hit a little too close to home for them to accept the author’s judgement here.

And then the world ends … the Temple is destroyed … the Towers fall … the unthinkable happens and each society suddenly feels vulnerable and abandoned. They each ask the same question … How could this happen if God is with us? It is a good question … and the author makes the point that what happened is that instead of us walking with God, we were walking on our own expecting God to keep up. In other words, God did not abandon us, we abandoned God. Here to Brueggemann uses scripture to capture the grief and despair evident in the lamentations of Israel and the prophetic tasks demand of us to get back on track. Here is where the author more fully develops the social justice aspect demand of us by God’s law to love … and where those who still retain some shred of pride and superiority of being God’s chosen might take offensive at the extreme nature of this call to action.

The narration was decent for that type of academic genre; however, the sound quality was not consistent and at times you could hear a phone faintly ringing in the background.

The chapters and sections in this work are:
Chapter 1/0 - Forward (10m)
Chapter 2/1 - Three Urgent Prophetic Tasks (4m)
Chapter 3/2 - Reality Amid Ideology (72m)
Chapter 4/3 - Grief Amid Denial (85m)
Chapter 5/4 - Hope Amid Despair (78m)
Chapter 6/5 - Living Amid Empire As Neighborhood (57m)
Chapter 7/6 - Concluding Summary (16m)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#RealityGriefHope #FreeAudiobookCodes

Dry, dense, fascinating, insightful, clever

This book does an amazing job of contemporizing the prophetic voices with a fascinating take on our society. Not light reading.

Church as the antidote to Empire

This book delves into the ways empires throughout history have contributed to our collective denial, and how the church can actively engage in mourning and expressing grief amidst widespread loss. It is a valuable read for anyone looking to rebuild their Christian faith, especially after a period of doubt or deconstruction, within the context of North American society.

Not Great Audio

The presenter did well enough, but the recording wasn’t great. At times, you could hear a phone ringing in the background. Other times, it sounded like disparate recordings on different machines in different settings. And still at other times, the recording sounded so different that one could think it was a different narrator.

Overall, it wasn’t bad enough to not listen to, but I’m glad I didn’t pay money for it (I obtained this copy via a trial credit).

Very good book, reading was mediocre at best

If you could sum up Reality, Grief, Hope in three words, what would they be?

This is Brueggemann’s sequel to the Prophetic Imagination in light of what has happened in our country since he wrote that book, especially the attacks on 9/11. He compares the current culture of denial of reality, massive injustice and American exceptionalism to the situation in Jerusalem before the Babylonian exile. In a profound study of the books of Jeremiah, Lamentaions and 2 Isaiah, he offers models for how we can begin to face our current reality, grieve the inevitable coming loss of our unsustainable culture, and seek hope.

What didn’t you like about Tom Taverna’s performance?

It was very sloppy. He tended to drone on without inflection or seeming understanding. The transitions from one reading to another were very noticeable and badly done. At a couple of points you could hear a telephone in the background. He mispronounced words and didn’t seem to understand what he was reading. It was irritating.