Truth-Telling as Subversive Obedience

""Those who serve as truth-tellers in the church, like those who listen to the truth-telling in the church, are a mix of yearning and fearfulness, of receptiveness and collusion. In the end, the work of truth-telling is not to offer a new package of certitudes that displaces old certitudes. This truth to be uttered and acted, rather, is the enactment and conveyance of this Person who is truth, so that truth comes as bodily fidelity that stays reliably present to the pain of the world."" --from the Preface ""Although Truth-Telling as Subversive Obedience addresses preachers, it also calls urgently to anyone who desires to hear and do God's word. With characteristic eloquence, Brueggemann dares us to believe in new life amidst the sexual, financial, and political lies that surround us. He finds hope in the truth coursing through Scriptures and invites us to become courageous, obedient speakers of truth 'because our lives depend on it.'"" -Kathleen M. O'Connor Columbia Theological Seminary ""The provocative essays in this volume are yet another reminder that no one prods the consciences of preachers more effectively, discomfortingly, and profoundly than Walter Brueggemann. With imagination, resolve, and a comprehensive grasp of the issues, Brueggemann summons us once again to have the courage to speak 'truth that subverts our best self-deceiving certitudes.'"" -Thomas G. Long Candler School of Theology ""Walter Brueggemann has inspired more pastors and congregations than anyone else of our generation. And he continues this good work in a compelling collection of essays and sermons rooted deeply in the text and in prophetic imagination. Truth-Telling as Subversive Obedience trades in a sort of primal candor that dares to confront our most cherished conventions. Perhaps even more strikingly, this little book creates space for the loving embrace of God. Extraordinary stuff that we have come to depend on!"" -Louis Stulman University of Findlay ""The persuasion of a book that dares to address 'truth-telling' about God, the world, and humankind, rests largely on its author's capacity to discern and communicate clearly truths that may be easily overlooked or minimized by others. In this collection of articles . . . Walter Brueggemann demonstrates yet again his prescient theological skills. For those who linger over Pilate's question to Jesus, What is truth?, Brueggemann's contention that truth about God is relentlessly connected to the pain of this world is and remains an imperative in search of a faithful response."" -Samuel E. Balentine Union Presbyterian Seminary Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He is past President of the Society of Biblical Literature and the author of numerous books, including David and His Theologian, Praying the Psalms, A Pathway of Interpretation, and Ichabod toward Home.