TJieodore W. Jennings, Jr. The Meaning of ... - Quarterly Review

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Brueggemann's discussion of royal vs. alternative bread (Brueggemann, 121-23) begins with the Dan. 1 text as the main focus but also cites Isa. 55:1-3 and Mark 8:14-21 as extended examples. Perhaps the key difference between Achtemeier's and Brueggemann's views of the Hebrew Bible's connection to the New Testament centers on the question of necessity. Must the New Testament be used to make a point from the Hebrew Bible, or is that simply one option in the effective, Christian presentation of the ancient Word? Achtemeier answers that the New Testament must be used in every circumstance to make the Hebrew Bible acceptable in Christian circles. Brueggemann uses the Hebrew Bible to make its own points and supports these in several places with New Testament references. It is clear that for Brueggemann the Hebrew Bible can stand on its own; New Testament interpretation can help to develop the ideas, but it is only one method of doing so. There are great advantages to Brueggemann's historical approach. When it works best, it widens a chain of thought. Different parts of the canon are related, but they are not equated and thus reduced. The rich variances and the chronological development allow the preacher to find a new, fuller range of ideas in the text. The Sabbath Commandment The best comparison between Achtemeier and Brueggemann can be made in their treatments of the Ten Commandments. Achtemeier focuses on these commandments in her chapter on "Preaching from the Law" (Achtemeier, 93-108). Achtemeier defines law, or torah, as "God's teaching about how to live" (Achtemeier, 94). The commandments are given in divine love in order to lead to life; our obedience is a loving response to God's prior love (Achtemeier, 98-99). Because Jesus has delivered us from the law, "the specific laws simply do not apply," but "the intention of Israel's laws remains very pertinent to our lives as Christians" (Achtemeier, 105). There is one notable exception: those laws from the Hebrew Bible that are repeated or affirmed in the New Testament are binding upon Christians today. Achtemeier gives the most specific attention to the fourth commandment, concerning the Sabbath. She cautions against turning 84 QUARTERLY REVIEW/SPRING 1993
this into a legalistic injunction. Like other passages throughout scripture, this is mercy, a gracious gift from God. Here, the gift is rest. The reality of commandments as "gracious guidance for us in the way of abundant life" is paramount in both parts of the canon. Such gracious guidance should be the base for our ethical life today (Achtemeier, 107). Brueggemann also focuses on this fourth commandment (Brueggemann, 91-99). Like Achtemeier, Brueggemann deals with the theme of rest, which he contrasts to resdessness in congregations. Brueggemann traces this commandment through the development of the Bible, commenting upon the theological statements about the Sabbath. In Exod. 20:11, God's resting on the seventh day of creation becomes our motivation for resting, but in Deut. 5:15, the motivation is God's salvation in the Exodus. Sabbath keeps together both of these strands of Hebrew Bible thought. In Exod. 16, Amos 8:4-6, and Isa. 56:4-7, Brueggemann finds the Sabbath to be a critique of greed and a call to inclusive rest. Finally, Brueggemann investigates Mark 2:23-27 and Matt. 12:9-14, in which Jesus returns to the original emphasis of Sabbath as rest and protection, expressed as healing and eating. Brueggemann allows the different emphases to speak their own variations on the theme of Sabbath. Whereas Achtemeier gives directions about how to preach this text and offers one example of a part of a sermon, Brueggemann provides a theological interpretation of several Sabbath texts packed with insights that can then be used in preaching. There are significant strengths to both approaches. Achtemeier's perspective on the commandments as gracious guidance with implications for modern ethics is a good hermeneutical principle with which to interpret other legal texts of the Hebrew Bible. Thus, Achtemeier's discussions of method may well be more able to be generalized to other texts and themes within the Hebrew Bible, but Brueggemann's treatment provides more content for sermons on this one issue. Limitations of the Books All interpreters and writers have biases that shape their works. Though these are inevitable, at times these biases can produce THE MINISTER'S BOOKSHELF 85
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Quarterly Review/Spring 1993 55.00
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Quarterly Review A Journal of Theol
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VOL. 13, NO. 1 SPRING 1993 Contents
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I have always rather liked the gruf
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of discipleship in the New Testamen
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imagine a week without visiting the
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transform all of life, and all that
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Contemporary North American Christi
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We must now see what it is that cha
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saying "call no one your father in
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13:12). There is no following of Je
Page 24 and 25:
Both New Testament discipleship and
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17. "The Duty of Constant Communion
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earliest Christian congregations be
Page 30 and 31:
his baptism to the experience of Ch
Page 32 and 33:
Holy Spirit comes down willingly fr
Page 34 and 35:
The Sacramental Nature of the Bapti
Page 36 and 37:
to save them from "the wrath to com
Page 38 and 39:
aptism—for mature youth and adult
Page 40 and 41: purpose of a rite of maturity is to
Page 42 and 43: church, namely, thatbaptism-chrisma
Page 44 and 45: 31. John Wesley, Works, X: 151. 32.
Page 46 and 47: In Baptismal Covenant I, in the "In
Page 48 and 49: of God without being born of water
Page 50 and 51: they urged a stronger claim for a p
Page 52 and 53: After analyzing how American Method
Page 54 and 55: eferred to as "a symbol of an inner
Page 56 and 57: of baptism is "the washing away the
Page 58 and 59: Although there is only scant likeli
Page 60 and 61: ut the inner man, where we have put
Page 62 and 63: Notes 1. Lawrence Hull Stookey, "Th
Page 64 and 65: 44. Borgen, 159f.; Stein, 319, f, 1
Page 66 and 67: I am not a liturgical scholar or pr
Page 68 and 69: ounden duty...to consecrate our chi
Page 70 and 71: formed in the gospel not only by le
Page 72 and 73: life, for one could always lose gra
Page 74 and 75: However, I have focused on human ac
Page 76 and 77: Osborne, Kenan B. The Christian Sac
Page 78 and 79: It was raining pretty hard one Satu
Page 80 and 81: the same time a young man came to s
Page 82 and 83: theologically unpacked. A pastoral
Page 84 and 85: Elizabeth Achtemeier's Preaching fr
Page 86 and 87: prophets by the traditions of ancie
Page 88 and 89: eading; it seems as if one is heari
Page 92 and 93: limitations, even in quite valuable
Page 95 and 96: M. Eugene Boring Interpreting 1 Pet
Page 97 and 98: particular way. The particularity o
Page 99 and 100: in the capital of the empire felt m
Page 101 and 102: location but about the way we relat
Page 103 and 104: answer: Read. Interpret. Examine. B
Page 105 and 106: in liturgical settings. Yet all of
Page 107 and 108: word accomplished by Jesus, who cal
Page 109 and 110: community that does what priests do
Page 111 and 112: kings, slavery as a divinely author
Page 113 and 114: wives and husbands. To each it migh
Page 115 and 116: etained some of the oral style appr
Page 117 and 118: Brox, Norbert. Der erste Petrusbrie
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