Truth Speaks to Power: The Countercultural Nature of Scripture

by Walter Brueggemann

Overview

World-renowned biblical interpreter Walter Brueggemann invites readers to take a closer look at the subversive messages found within the Old Testament. Brueggemann asserts that the Bible presents a "sustained contestation" over truth, in which established institutions of power do not always prevail. But this is not always obvious at first glance. A closer look reveals that the text actually contradicts the apparent meaning of an innocent, face-value reading. Brueggemann invites the reader into this thick complexity of the textual reading, where the authority of power is undermined in cunning and compelling ways. He insists that we are—as readers and interpreters—always contestants for truth, whether we recognize ourselves as such or not.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664239145
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	03/08/2013
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, he is 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.

Table of Contents

Foreword Thomas Breidenthal v

Introduction 1

1 Truth Speaks to Power: Moses 11

2 Visible Power, Truth Cunningly Subversive: Solomon 43

3 Truth Has Its Day: Elisha 81

4 Truth Transforms Power: Josiah 113

5 Power and Truth among Us 149