An Unsettling God by Walter Brueggemann

An Unsettling God is both provocative and timeline (5 out of 5!) as Walter Brueggemann dazzles us with a portrayal of God - both unsettling and exciting - as the ancient Hebrews testified of him.

When Brueggemann approaches the scriptures he does not ask, is the God of Calvin here or the God of Arminius or the God of Pinnock? Instead when he approaches the Old Testament he asks the question to the ancient Hebrews, “Who do you say that He is?” Sometimes we see the categories of Calvin and sometimes we see the categories of Arminius, this is partly what makes God “unsettling”, because YWHW cannot be made to easily fit into our “static categories of interpretation” – He is too big, and we are too fallible. Yet it is a fearful road Brueggemann offers, it is a road of discomfort; because in asking the Hebrews and not the Greeks “Who is YWHW?” he finds himself immediately at odds with classical Christian theology. “In… much classical Christian theology, ‘God’ can be understood in terms of quite settled categories that are, for the most part, inimical to the biblical tradition. The casting of the classical tradition… is primarily informed by the Unmoved Mover of Hellenistic thought… a Being completely apart from and unaffected by the reality of the world” [p.1]. Brueggemann insists that "a Christian reading of the Old Testament requires, in the present time, a recovery of the Jewishness of our ways of reading the text" [p.6].

The "big idea" of the Old Testament, according to Brueggemann is that "the God of ancient Israel (who is the creator of heaven and earth) is a God in relationship.... Such a notion of God in relationship that pervades the Old Testament is both a stark contrast to much classical theology that thought of God only in God's holy self, and to the modern notion of autonomy whereby God and human selves as well are understood as isolated and independent agents who are only incidentally related to each other" [p. xi].

According to Brueggemann the difining category for faith in the Old Testament is "dialogue" whereby "all parties - including God - are engaged in a dialogic exchange that is potentially transformative for all parties... including God". This reality holds as much relevance for believers today as it did for the ancient Hebrews: "The Old Testament is an invitation to reimagine our life and our faith as an on-going dialogic transaction in which all parties are variously summoned to risk and change" [p. xii].

Throughout his book Brueggemann explores the four partners whom God is in relationship with according to the Hebrew testimony; Israel, the Human Person, the Nations and finally, Creation itself. An Unsettling God is a fascinating and fairly accessible study of the God revealed in the Old Testament, and in today's day and age when it is becoming more and more appearant that many of the old categories of classical Christian theology can no longer ignore or be embarrassed by the anthropomorphic character of God [p. 2], Brueggemann's book is a breath of fresh air! Yet in the introduction Brueggemann puts in a single stroke both a challenge and a warning: "such an open and thick articulation of faith may be threatening to some and may require unlearning by us all" [p. xii].

If you are at all interested in biblical studies, in theology or in understanding the nature of God and the Old Testament this book is an absolute MUST HAVE for your library.

Derek Ouellette
ouellettedd@hotmail.com