Worship in Ancient Israel: An Essential Guide

by Walter Brueggemann

In an engaging style--characteristic of the author, Walter Brueggemann--this Essential Guide describes the leading motifs of ancient Israel’s worship traditions in the Old Testament. The author guides the reader through the themes, central texts, prayers, festivals, and practices of that worship. He sees throughout the Old Testament a central emphasis on worship as a covenantal gesture and utterance by the community in the presence of God. In addition to being an essential guide to this subject, this book is intended to be in the service of current theological and practical issues concerning worship of the church in its ecumenical character.

Genres: Theology

108 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

Walter Brueggemann was an American Christian scholar and theologian who is widely considered an influential Old Testament scholar. His work often focused on the Hebrew prophetic tradition and the sociopolitical imagination of the Church. He argued that the Church must provide a counter-narrative to the dominant forces of consumerism, militarism, and nationalism.

Reviews

[Joshua Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I explored the themes in this book, so I was a little out of my depth. Not so much that I couldn’t keep up, but enough that it made me hungry to learn more. I enjoy the way Brueggemann handles the material.

[Barnabas 天国 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eyes opening...

[Ryan Dufoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very helpful guide to the principles of the norm of ancient Israeli worship, as well as plenty of specifics in the theology and practice of their doxology.

[Dave Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worshipping in the present both remembers God acting in history and anticipates what God will do in the future.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want me to dislike a book call it "an essential guide." This sets me up to be critical because whenever I pick up one of these 'essential' books, I say sarcastically to whoever may be listening, "How did I ever manage until now?!?"

So I was predisposed to not like this book even though I normally enjoy Bruggemann. Plus the first couple chapters I felt were good, but just okay. I was ready to give this a middle of the road review.

Then I read the last chapter and loved it. Bruggemann talks about seven aspects of "play" in Israel's worship. By "play," Bruggemann has in mind a sort of dialectic tension. He describes the tensions at play in the way that Israel's worship:


- requires both obedience AND freedom
- emphasizes both holiness AND justice
- consists of both the liturgy of the state cult AND the everyday worship of family and clan
- holds in tension an emphasis on Torah AND the expectation of a Davidic monarch
- deals with the reality of God's presence AND his absence
- has a place for both praise AND lament
- is informed by corporate memory of God's saving action AND the hope of future redemption

These tensions are not simply descriptive of Ancient Isreal's worship but are instructive in Christian worship as well. I found this tremendously helpful and insightful about how the Bible informs current worship practices and what we should continue to value.

This is vintage Bruggemann and worth a read.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rather analytical look at the worship practices of ancient Israel and a cursory comparison/contrast to the worship practices of other cultures and religions of its time (as in time when the practices originated). Not an easy read by any means. Though the pages are few the concepts and word choice make it extremely scholarly and heady. It was still an interesting read, and made clear especially the points that are held in delicate tension which many modern worshipers misunderstand as being either/or relationships.

[Biel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very brief and comprehensive overview of the basic structure of Israelite worship as outlined in the Bible. A lot of very interesting and challenging insights presented, worth recommending for those wishing for a quick and informative introductory read.