My Review On Walter Brueggemann's The Prophetic Imagination

What is the role of a prophetic figure; to curse, to heal, to bless, to advise, to make aware, to summon all of this in some form or fashion, or is more than just a message? Moreover, what is a prophetic ministry? These are the central issues that Walter Brueggemann’s The Prophetic Imagination takes hold to. Walter Brueggemann, a Protestant Old Testament scholar and theologian walks the reader through this notion of a “royal consciousness” a phrase he uses to describe the issue of numbness in society. It is this need to understand the numbness or complacency factor in a society that Brueggemann makes a critical issue in his work. He argues in order to understand how a Monarchical figure or the people in a society act, think or even view the current situation they are placed and how prophets come about and delivers their message; one must grab hold to the idea set fourth of royal consciousness and replace it with an alternative one. He goes onto explain the need of an atmosphere in a society conducive to the prophetic figure to come about. Brueggemann goes on to speak about the four societal have to’s for a prophet to exist as well as how the prophetic figure operates in the forces around him/her in order to pierce the royal vial by evoking, nurturing, or nourishing the status quo so that the message sent from a deity can penetrate to the heart of the people and the situation.

Through this notion of piercing and breaking the complacency factor that the prophetic figure has to sever Brueggemann reveals factors such as the following to examine the ministry of an intermediary.

• Central vs peripheral intermediaries
• Bringing about an alternative consciousness
• Energizing vs criticizing techniques
• The looking at Jesus and his ministry as a prophetic ministry

The way in which the intermediary does this is relied upon the prophet’s prophetic imagination as is pointed out time and time again in this scholarly examination into the prophets of old and a foreshadowing of today’s complacency. It is through this imagination the prophet takes you out of you zone of comfort that the kingdom has invoked and inserts an alternative consciousness of viewing the current situation at hand.

Brueggemann takes the reader through the Hebrew children coming out of Egypt with Moses and the exodus to the rise of the Solominic period in Israel. He then takes the reader through the fall of the United Kingdom of Israel all the way to the life and ministry of Christ, and how he resembles a prophet in his daily life and messages.

I believe by Brueggemann starting his work with the breaking away from Egypt and the introduction of Moses he lays out a framework to America and our own, what will be later called, royal consciousness.

“The American Church is so largely enculturated to the American ethos of consumerism that it has little power to believe or act……..The internal cause of such enculturation is our loss of identity through the abandonment of the faith tradition.” (Brueggemann pg 1)

It is here he introduces the beginning idea to the alternative consciousness. He explores how the Israelites are no longer happy with the way in which Egypt is treating them and how the powers of Egypt can no longer keep them unaware of their unhappiness. He brings to light social issues of today and our own breaking away from the status quo with what he deems as a alternative consciousness.

It is also in the first chapter he hits the reader with the view of what a prophetic ministry should look like. He explains that a prophetic ministry should nurture, nourish, evoke this alternative perception, or give an alternate way of viewing the situation in order to criticize what is happening; but allowing the listener draw their own conclusions. (pg3) Another words the criticizing without directly having to mention the kingdom itself .

He then leaves the ministry of Moses and introduces what he calls the Solomonic period. Here he argues the lack of prophetic figures or voices of opposition shows the royal concussions. He explains that since the kingdom was operating to the advantage of most numbness set in and what normally would raise flags and be spoken out against silence had now set in. Issues such as; foreign wives, temples to other gods and so on were never opposed.

I see this to be a critical look at our own situation today. When looking at the way Brueggemann lays out the kingdom of Solomon it is clear the reason for this lack of acceptance of the way things are is not only this royal consciousness it goes deeper than that. It is this notion of the kingdom supplying all of your requests. In my opinion this is a seemly large flaw that Brueggemann does not address enough. Solomon not only used the temple and its center in Jerusalem to unite the kingdom around the throne, no it goes way beyond that. He essentially fulfills all of Israel’s requests made to kings ago to Samuel. In 1 Samuel 8 the people ask for a King; but, one crucial line that I feel Brueggemann either overlooked or did not emphasize enough was verse 19 and 20.

9 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

“We will be like other nations” this line is crucial. Israel’s request went way beyond wanting a King they wanted to be exactly like other nations. Brueggemann plays this off to Solomon doing all of this to create a royal consciousness; however I sincerely believe Israel already wanted this and had the consciousness set way before Saul let alone Solomon. By wanting to be like other nations Israel wanted a temple for their God, they wanted a capital city, the wanted a life where outsiders could come to one place and see the glory of their kingdom or a place that would be established throughout the near east where not only the anointed of Yahweh sat on his throne but Yahweh himself came down and rested his feet. This is exactly what Solomon fulfilled, and to say he created this royal consciousness and make it appear out of nowhere in my opinion is an overlooking of the peoples original request. The Hebrew children already had this mind set pre Saul.

On page 42 he introduces this idea that Monarchs or leaders introduce this word forever and try to establish this sense into the peoples mind as if a brainwashing is happening. But I have to disagree that the people want it in a sense. With Solomon he indeed instated the sense that their kingdom would be forever, that it would last from everlasting to everlasting. However the children of Israel already wanted this as pointed out in the previous paragraph. He goes to say it is the job of a prophetic figure is to incorporate this in their ministry. Now with most prophets this was done in a manner by predicting the end of forever in order to persuade the people to change their ways. However one man came along and used it in a different way.

Brueggemann then sums up with the life of Christ and its form as a prophetic ministry. He examines how everything form the life of Christ to the message he presented plays out in a prophetic way. He plays an authoritative role and destroys the notion of paying for forgiveness, the importance of the Sabbath, and the notion of all were created equal and should fellowship together. The most important aspect of Christ’s work is the encompassing of this forever sense and changing it from an earthly forever to a heavenly forever by doing this he then incorporates his whole life in the mission

Brueggemann lays out a simple point about forgiveness but takes on the point I made about changing the view of forever. He explains why Jesus’s action here was so grave.

“if a society does not have an apparatus for forgiveness then is citizens arte fated to live with the consequences of any violation. Thus the refusal to forgive sin amounts in a social control.” (pg 85)

This is dyer to the life and mission of Christ. By him forgiving who he could then while he was on earth it helps to establish this alternative consciousness of what forever means. Thus criticizing the authority that existed, and allowing people to be forgiven here and now showing no sin to big. This eliminates any social control by refusal to forgive. This is crucial to the ministry of Christ and a big deciding factor in why he was crucified for being a heretic.

So what is the role of a prophetic figure; to curse, to heal, to bless, to advise, to make aware, to summon all of this in some form or fashion, or is more than just a message? I contend that Brueggemann finds it to be all of these in some ways and one or two in others. Why is there no consistency? It is left to the Prophets own interpretation on how to reach the people. The prophet must decide what is more persuasive, what gets to the heart of the issue. He prophet decides how to use his prophetic imagination.