Walter Brueggemann: 1933-2025

Walter Brueggemann has died and once again I’m staggered by the loss of a giant.

Brueggemann was the foremost Old Testament scholar of the 20th and 21st centuries, with a particular emphasis on the prophets.

He taught us that “prophetic imagination” was needed in the presence to navigate social and cultural trends in light of our faith.

He not only produced scholarly works, he wrote books of magnificent prayers…soaked in Scripture and inspired by his own prophetic imagination.

Sometimes, a teachers influence on you is so pervasive that you don’t know where in your thinking it begins or ends…and Walter was one of those teachers to me.

Like the work of many great thinkers, much of his work was beyond what my small intellect could understand…but what I could comprehend…changed my life.

I commend his work to you…it has never been more needed by the church.