Abiding Astonishment : Psalms Modernity And The Making Of History

This examination of the “Psalms of Historical Recital” reviews this portion of Scripture’s social-political intention and function. Focusing on Psalms 78, 105, 106, and 136, Walter Brueggemann considers these psalms on their own terms and then takes up two issues that move in opposite interpretive directions: the Psalms in relation to the historical writing of modernity and the Psalms in relation to the voices of marginality. Brueggemann attempts to enter Israel’s past as that past is experienced, voiced, and advocated in the Psalms both as liberating affirmation and as controlling censure. Contains notes, bibliography and indices. Walter Brueggemann is Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia.