Elemental Claims of the Gospel

“What could be more important than the elemental claims of the Gospel? And who better to walk us through them, the main issues, and central players (God, humanity, and their dialogical interrelationships) than Walter Brueggemann? At ninety-one years young, he continues to lap the field—outpacing, outperforming, and outthinking the rest of us mere mortals. His mastery of the entire biblical text (Paul and Revelation included!), his unflinching honesty, and his unmatched insight—all crafted with a beautiful pen—never cease to amaze.”


—Brent A. Strawn, distinguished professor of Old Testament and professor of law, Duke University





“Walter Brueggemann’s gift lies in his remarkable ability to mediate between us (inheritors of mainline Protestant thought) and the text. He takes our deepest yearnings, our limited imaginations, and our most pressing questions to the Gospel and demands a response, making ‘the Word’ speak afresh over and over again. The result is a work of astonishing wisdom.”


—Amy Erickson, professor of Hebrew Bible, Iliff School of Theology





“Walter Brueggemann, foremost biblical interpreter for our time, assesses newer methods and biblical correctives to the history of individualistic ‘freedom,’ which systemically ignores and silently exploits the poor and the ‘other,’ for whom the living God passionately cares. Yet Brueggemann also critiques God’s own violence in biblical accounts, and calls readers to rectify faith communities’ greatest historic failure—racism, built upon ideologies of chosen-ness and white supremacy—to fulfill the commandments to love God and neighbor.”


—Nancy C. Lee, professor of religious studies, Elmhurst University





“In Elemental Claims of the Gospel, Walter Brueggemann distills a lifetime of biblical scholarship into an accessible exploration of the Old Testament’s enduring relevance—and demonstrates why he remains one of the church’s most vital interpreters of Scripture. Brueggemann’s reflections on divine holiness, human identity, and fearlessly forthright communication challenge readers to rediscover the radical ethics of neighborly love at the heart of biblical tradition.”


—Brennan W. Breed, associate professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary





“A gift from the greatest, most boldly imaginative, and critically incisive biblical theologian I know. Walter Brueggemann invites us to engage with a ‘wild otherness’ that is both close at hand and impossible to accommodate within our little systems of control. He does so at the ‘risky edges’ of the biblical text, which still cut through our world of global techno-capitalism, opening our imaginations to new possibilities rooted in emancipation and neighborliness.”


—Timothy Beal, distinguished university professor, Case Western Reserve University