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Invasion of the Dead: Preaching Resurrection
Our world and our churches are neither sinful nor lost, they are dead. This dead world is the one that God engages and into which Jesus invaded with a radically different vision of life. In this groundbreaking work, based on his 211 Yale Beecher lectures, Brian K. Blount helps preachers effectively proclaim resurrection in a world consumed by death. Recognizing that both popular culture and popular Christianity are mesmerized by death and dying, Blount offers an alternative apocalyptic vision for our time--one that starts with a clear vision of life that obliterates death and reveals life's essence. Blount explores the portrait and meaning of resurrection through the New Testament (the Book of Revelation, the letters of Paul, and the Gospel of Mark) and explores how to biblically and theologically reconfigure apocalyptic preaching for today. With three illustrative sermons, this book is an ideal resource to help preachers proclaim the power of resurrection.
- GenresNonfictionTheology
156 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 2014
23 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Brian K. Blount
15 books11 followersBrian K. Blount is president and professor of New Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA, and Charlotte, NC. He was called to this position in 2007, after serving for 15 years as the Richard J. Dearborn Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Princeton Theological Seminary.
An M.Div. graduate of Princeton Seminary in 1981, he obtained his B.A. from the College of William and Mary in 1978. After graduating from Princeton Seminary, he went on to become the pastor of the Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church in Newport News, Virginia from 1982-1988. William and Mary’s first African-American to receive membership in the Alpha Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, he received his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Emory University in 1992. He returned to teach at Princeton Seminary the same year.
Professor Blount’s primary work has been in the Gospel of Mark, the Book of Revelation and in the area of cultural studies and hermeneutics. He is the author of six books.
His most recent work, Invasion of the Dead: Preaching Resurrection (WJK 2014), is based on his 2011 Yale Beecher Lectures. In 2010, his Revelation commentary was voted the 2009 top reference work by the Academy of Parish Clergy. He has also edited a volume of essays on worship with Leonora Tubbs Tisdale entitled Making Room at the Table: An Invitation to Multicultural Worship (WJK, 2000). He is also the coauthor of a book with Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann and theologian William C. Placher entitled Struggling With Scripture (WJK, 2001). He has also co-authored the book Preaching The Gospel of Mark in Two Voices (WJK, 2002) with Gary W. Charles, the pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA. He is an editor of The Discipleship Study Bible, also by Westminster John Knox (2008). As a part of his work for the Bible, he has also written the introduction and notes for Mark and Matthew. He is an associate editor of the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible for Abingdon Press. He is also the general editor for True To Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary by Fortress Press.
The author of numerous articles, he also preaches and directs adult education classes in local congregations. He is married, and he and his wife, Sharon, have two children, Joshua and Kaylin.
http://www.upsem.edu/academics/facult...
An M.Div. graduate of Princeton Seminary in 1981, he obtained his B.A. from the College of William and Mary in 1978. After graduating from Princeton Seminary, he went on to become the pastor of the Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church in Newport News, Virginia from 1982-1988. William and Mary’s first African-American to receive membership in the Alpha Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, he received his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Emory University in 1992. He returned to teach at Princeton Seminary the same year.
Professor Blount’s primary work has been in the Gospel of Mark, the Book of Revelation and in the area of cultural studies and hermeneutics. He is the author of six books.
His most recent work, Invasion of the Dead: Preaching Resurrection (WJK 2014), is based on his 2011 Yale Beecher Lectures. In 2010, his Revelation commentary was voted the 2009 top reference work by the Academy of Parish Clergy. He has also edited a volume of essays on worship with Leonora Tubbs Tisdale entitled Making Room at the Table: An Invitation to Multicultural Worship (WJK, 2000). He is also the coauthor of a book with Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann and theologian William C. Placher entitled Struggling With Scripture (WJK, 2001). He has also co-authored the book Preaching The Gospel of Mark in Two Voices (WJK, 2002) with Gary W. Charles, the pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA. He is an editor of The Discipleship Study Bible, also by Westminster John Knox (2008). As a part of his work for the Bible, he has also written the introduction and notes for Mark and Matthew. He is an associate editor of the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible for Abingdon Press. He is also the general editor for True To Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary by Fortress Press.
The author of numerous articles, he also preaches and directs adult education classes in local congregations. He is married, and he and his wife, Sharon, have two children, Joshua and Kaylin.
http://www.upsem.edu/academics/facult...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 8, 2024
4.5 stars. Very thought provoking, and I’d recommend to people who preach and want to do it in reliance on God to accomplish something through their preaching.
It’s a collection of lectures on preaching resurrection and sermons which preach resurrection. Which means you get to see both theory and practice. The title is misleading, it’s not about zombies, although “the living dead” is the image he uses for apocalyptic anthropology, so he’s using zombies as an illustration often (but not like you might think!).
One of the interesting points he makes is that we don’t have images for understanding the general resurrection - the cross is easy to see, carry around your neck, etc. suffering and death are commonplace, but preachers need to strain to image resurrection. So I don’t love the zombie thing, but he’s trying something cool.
Only short of 5 stars because he does a lot of “apocalyptic” exegesis (Revelation, Mark, Romans) that I can’t get behind wholesale, though I like a lot of what he does with scripture.
It’s a collection of lectures on preaching resurrection and sermons which preach resurrection. Which means you get to see both theory and practice. The title is misleading, it’s not about zombies, although “the living dead” is the image he uses for apocalyptic anthropology, so he’s using zombies as an illustration often (but not like you might think!).
One of the interesting points he makes is that we don’t have images for understanding the general resurrection - the cross is easy to see, carry around your neck, etc. suffering and death are commonplace, but preachers need to strain to image resurrection. So I don’t love the zombie thing, but he’s trying something cool.
Only short of 5 stars because he does a lot of “apocalyptic” exegesis (Revelation, Mark, Romans) that I can’t get behind wholesale, though I like a lot of what he does with scripture.
December 4, 2021
I heard about this book through an interview and I thought it sounded intriguing. The writing is a mix of theology and philosophy with a unique use of the Walking Dead motif used to bring to light an often negected aspect of our theology- resurrection. It was a transformative read for me simply for the ways it helps to articulate these two views, the transcendent and the earthly perspectives, exploring what it means to be alive and what it means to be dead. Reimagining what we coin as the living as the walking dead, Blount makes the case that reframing our perspective in this way can help us better understand the biblical narratives focus on moving from death to life amidst the dualing realities of life and death. It's a new way of seeing our present reality, and equally a way of imagining our future reality in the here and now.
February 26, 2016
This is a spectacular and highly necessary book about resurrection and the preaching thereof. Working from Revelation, Paul, and Mark, Blount reestablishes the centrality of apocalyptic in Christian thought and life. Christian faith is about resurrection, not just as a historical event, but as a future reality that breaks in -- invades -- our age of living death. Preaching, and ecclesial life, is called to articulate and practice this future reality in the present, by expressing the inclusion, justice, equality, and love revealed in Jesus. Some may be turned off by the military imagery, and the seeming transcendence implied by terms like "invade." That should be no obstacle to being fed by this wonderful book.
Near the end of the book, I started to get the impression that Mark should almost be read backwards, beginning with the resurrection and then following the risen Lord back to Galilee, where he builds a community of radical inclusion and healing. (To me, this feeds into ideas in writers as diverse as Lohfink and Schuessler-Fiorenza, who emphasize Jesus as less a Special Individual, and more representative of a new community.)
Blount spices his book with lots of cultural references, especially to Zombies, as the way we are trying secularly to deal with issues of living death. Blount suggests in different ways that the infection/invasion of a future resurrection into the present redeems some of these myths and turns them, interpreting this movement as one of life, hope, and revolution.
Blount effectively downplays the Cross as something inevitable (and necessary) because of who we humans are as the living dead under the grip of the principalities and powers of domination, but not as the locus of salvation. That happens at the resurrection, which must never be forgotten. The Cross is easy to be coopted by the forces of evil; while for resurrection this is impossible.
Finally, I am struck by Blount's reclaiming of this apocalyptic (and therefore anti-imperialistic, anti-colonialist) imperative within "Progressive" Christianity, especially when there are many popular writers seeking to write apocalyptic out of the narrative as "too violent." Comfortable academics may shy away from violence, but too many people in the world today know violence as a daily experience. To them apocalypticism's rendition of the violence of an imploding empire can only bring hope, especially because of the inevitable, and indeed already accomplished, triumph of love.
Near the end of the book, I started to get the impression that Mark should almost be read backwards, beginning with the resurrection and then following the risen Lord back to Galilee, where he builds a community of radical inclusion and healing. (To me, this feeds into ideas in writers as diverse as Lohfink and Schuessler-Fiorenza, who emphasize Jesus as less a Special Individual, and more representative of a new community.)
Blount spices his book with lots of cultural references, especially to Zombies, as the way we are trying secularly to deal with issues of living death. Blount suggests in different ways that the infection/invasion of a future resurrection into the present redeems some of these myths and turns them, interpreting this movement as one of life, hope, and revolution.
Blount effectively downplays the Cross as something inevitable (and necessary) because of who we humans are as the living dead under the grip of the principalities and powers of domination, but not as the locus of salvation. That happens at the resurrection, which must never be forgotten. The Cross is easy to be coopted by the forces of evil; while for resurrection this is impossible.
Finally, I am struck by Blount's reclaiming of this apocalyptic (and therefore anti-imperialistic, anti-colonialist) imperative within "Progressive" Christianity, especially when there are many popular writers seeking to write apocalyptic out of the narrative as "too violent." Comfortable academics may shy away from violence, but too many people in the world today know violence as a daily experience. To them apocalypticism's rendition of the violence of an imploding empire can only bring hope, especially because of the inevitable, and indeed already accomplished, triumph of love.
April 24, 2014
This book was somewhat of a disappointment to me, in a few different ways. The title and the cover photo imply that the book will draw on the contemporary media popularity of zombies. The author does in fact mention some of these, but not in ways that contribute much to the theological ideas. The best illustration of the problem is the opening paragraph of Ch 3 (p. 44) where a zombie TV show is described, and then the author goes on to discuss Paul, with no connection made. It seemed like the zombie theme was meant to attract readers, though I can't really believe it would attract people who want to read about theology.
Of the six chapters, three are sermons, the other three are lectures from a series. I thought the sermons were far better than the lectures. The final lecture, however, was better than the first two. While the author is not primarily a scholar, he did give a source, which I hadn't known of, for the MLK line about the moral arc of the universe bending toward justice. He cites it as having an origin in a 1853 sermon by Unitarian Theodore Parker.
The main idea of the book is that we are the walking dead and Jesus invades our lives with his redemptive and resurrective form of life. An interesting and probably controversial claim is that Jesus' death on the cross was not a necessary part of his redemptive message. Jesus was able to save people and forgive their sins (Mark 2:1-12) through his word and ministry. It did not (p. 93) require the shedding of his blood (on the cross). According to the author Jesus' death (on the cross) was more or less inevitable given his attack on the powers of the world, but not a necessary step in God's plan. Blount asserts (p. 95): "If…Jesus had died from cancer, or old age, or a broken heart, the invasive realities of the incarnation and empty tomb would remain real and visible. The cross showcases more about us than about God." I liked that twist.
Of the six chapters, three are sermons, the other three are lectures from a series. I thought the sermons were far better than the lectures. The final lecture, however, was better than the first two. While the author is not primarily a scholar, he did give a source, which I hadn't known of, for the MLK line about the moral arc of the universe bending toward justice. He cites it as having an origin in a 1853 sermon by Unitarian Theodore Parker.
The main idea of the book is that we are the walking dead and Jesus invades our lives with his redemptive and resurrective form of life. An interesting and probably controversial claim is that Jesus' death on the cross was not a necessary part of his redemptive message. Jesus was able to save people and forgive their sins (Mark 2:1-12) through his word and ministry. It did not (p. 93) require the shedding of his blood (on the cross). According to the author Jesus' death (on the cross) was more or less inevitable given his attack on the powers of the world, but not a necessary step in God's plan. Blount asserts (p. 95): "If…Jesus had died from cancer, or old age, or a broken heart, the invasive realities of the incarnation and empty tomb would remain real and visible. The cross showcases more about us than about God." I liked that twist.
January 12, 2015
Review is being reserved for spring issue of "Stone-Campbell Journal."
April 18, 2017
Invasion of the Dead
Preaching Resurrection
by Brian K. Blount
Westminster John Knox Press
Christian
Pub Date 31 Jan 2014
I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of Invasion of the Dead through the publisher and Netgalley:
In this book we are reminded that as Christians, we are people of the Cross, the cross marks us, identifies us.
The author points out that Ressurection is a weapon. It is not vindication for a life, it is reinstigation for a battle rightly fought.
The author points out though alive, we are often preoccupied with death.
In Invasion of the Dead the author reminds us that not only are we as Christians are people is the Cross, but he goes to talk about the Resurrection of Christ, and its meaning.
I give this one five out of five stars.
Happy Reading.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews