Review: The Prophetic Imagination

The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up to read largely because our youth minister was using it in their series on the prophets with the youth, so I figured it might be helpful to read it. I'm glad I did because this is one of those books whose influence goes well beyond people who have actually read it.

The basic idea of this book is to look at the Hebrew Testament prophets in light of their relationship to Israel and, especially to the kings.. Starting with Samuel and his very critical warnings about kingship before he appointed the first king of Israel, Saul, Bruggemann charts the role of the prophet in Israel in challenging the royal vision of God and giving hope as that vision continues to fail time and time again. The applicability of that critique continues to this day and is one of the reasons why this book resonates among contemporary, often progressive Christians.

I think my only caveat is that I think Bruggemann makes the distinction between the often syncretistic, power-driven royal religion and the prophets sometimes too sharply. Yes, there are an awful lot of abusive, unfaithful rulers in Israel and Judaea, but, every once in a while, either an unfaithful one shifts or a faithful ruler appears, and for a while, royal religion becomes faithful again. I think, if we take the Hebrew Testament as whole, the intention was that royal religion would coincide with the prophetic and, in the best of the kings, it does (David getting as close as anyone could). The failure of the kings doesn't change that.

But that disagreement aside, I think this is a superb book and well worth reading, not only for those seeking to understand the Hebrew Testaments, but also those contemplating a prophetic role in todays much different, yet no so different political realms.

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