Walter Brueggemann
American Protestant Old Testament scholar and theologian (1933–2025)
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Career
Walter Albert Brueggemann was born in Tilden, Nebraska, on March 11, 1933. The son of a minister of the German Evangelical Synod of North America, the family moved frequently throughout the Midwestern United States because of his father's work, before settling in Blackburn, Missouri. He received an A.B. from Elmhurst College (1955), a B.D. from Eden Theological Seminary (1958), a Th.D. from Union Theological Seminary, New York (1961), and Ph.D. from Saint Louis University (in 1974). He was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1958.
He was professor of Old Testament (1961–1986) and Dean (1968–1982) at Eden Theological Seminary. Beginning in 1986, he served as William Marcellus McPheeters professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, from which he retired in the early 2000s. Until his death, Brueggemann lived in Traverse City, Michigan. He and Erskine Clarke were the founding editors for Journal for Preachers for more than 40 years, and the Pentecost 2022 edition marked his transition from Editor to Editor Emeritus. The current editor is Theodore Wardlaw.
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Thought
Brueggemann was an advocate and practitioner of rhetorical criticism. He wrote more than 58 books, hundreds of articles, and several commentaries on books of the Bible. He was also a contributor to a number of the Living the Questions DVD programs and was featured in the program "Countering Pharaoh's Production-Consumption Society Today." Brueggemann participated in Bill Moyers' 1990s PBS television series on Genesis (documented in Genesis: A Living Conversation. Main Street Books, 1997. ISBN 0-385-49043-7).
Originally a strong supporter of modern-day Israel and its biblical claims, Brueggemann later repudiated Israel for what he believed to be its exploitation of "ancient promises" to create a "toxic ideology," and then affirmed his belief that it was not anti-Semitic to stand up for justice for Palestinians.
Brueggemann was known throughout the world for his method of combining literary and sociological modes when reading the Bible. V. S. Parrish categorized Brueggemann as being an exegete and theologian. As an exegete he composed several commentaries (Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, 1 and 2 Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah). His most notable work was on the book of Psalms, and he wrote many monographs and articles on specific portions of the Hebrew Bible. For example, he believed that lament is lacking in current religious faith and practice with detrimental results.
As a theologian, Brueggemann was an editor for the Fortress Press series "Overtures to Biblical Theology". His development of Old Testament theological methods consists of literary mode, social function, and dialectical approach. Titles such as "David's Truth in Israel's Imagination and Memory" (1985), "Power, Providence and Personality" (1990), "1 Kings and 2 Kings" (1982c), "The Prophetic Imagination" (1978), and "Hopeful Imagination" (1986) reflect his interest in the prophetic corpus.
Personal life and death
Brueggemann married Mary Bonner Miller in 1960; they had two sons. They divorced in 2005.
From 2011 until his death in 2025 he was married to Tia Ehrhardt Brueggemann. Brueggemann died at a hospice in Traverse City, Michigan, on June 5, 2025, at the age of 92.
Honors
Among his honors are:
- LL.D., DePauw University, 1984
- D.D., Virginia Theological Seminary, 1988
- D.H.Litt., Doane College, 1990
- D.D., Jesuit School of Theology, 1993
- D.Litt., Colgate University, 1997
- D.H.Litt., Elmhurst College, 1997
- D.D., Huron University College, 2014
There is also a festschrift in his honor: God in the Fray: A Tribute to Walter Brueggemann (eds. Tod Linafelt and Timothy Beal, Minneapolis: Fortress Press).