From Judgment to Hope: A Study on the Prophets

An excellent book to use with a study group which includes reflection questions at the end of each chapter. Walter Bueggemann is an excellent writer and scholar.

Thought it would be better!

Walter Brueggemann employs his preeminent status as a biblical scholar and his singular genius as master interpreter of the Hebrew Scriptures to open the eyes of his readers to the possibility that the Hebrew prophets in scripture were telling a unified story of sin, punishment, and restoration in relation to God's people, Israel. Rather than defaulting to the traditional and customary interpretations of the Hebrew prophets as predictors of the future or fierce advocates of social justice, the author proposes that all fifteen books of prophecy in the first testament are bound by the unity of a common narrative: judgment to hope.In a relatively brief volume, Brueggemann lays out a compelling case for the interconnectedness of the prophets' message over the course of multiple centuries and numerous national tragedies for the divided kingdom: Judah and Israel. The author includes a comparative timeline for each separate prophet, an explanation of the prohets' message and intended audience, and a description of the how each particular prophet meshes with the rest to create a cohesive overall story of judgment and hope for the people of God.I was pleased with the book and encouraged by Brueggemann's helpful correlation of the judgment and hope theme to contemporary concerns and challenges for today's religious person and student of scripture.