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Karl-Henrik Wallerstein: in Search of Solid Ground Karl-Henrik Wallerstein In Search of Solid Ground Understanding the Epistemology, Hermeneutics, and Theology in Walter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament, Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy For Walter Brueggemann, the postmodern situation offers a new perspective on biblical interpretation that forges its way between the historical-critical method and classical church theology. In Karl-Henrik Wallerstein his masterly Theology of the Old Testament, Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (1997) Brueggemann present a new trajectory for the | In | 2019 of Solid Ground Search Karl-HenrikWallerstein discipline of the Old Testament which is based on a new epistemo- In Search of Solid Ground logical and hermeneutical ground. Understanding the Epistemology, Hermeneutics, and Theology in Wal- However, Brueggemann’s conclusion of a concept of God in the fray has been a challenge for the discipline. This thesis offers an ter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament, Testimony, Dispute, analysis of his approach from the backdrop of his concept of God Advocacy and its relationship between the biblical text and Brueggemann’s own epistemological and hermeneutical presuppositions as pre- sented in Theology of the Old Testament. The argument in this thesis is that it is possible conclude a theo- logical counter-testimony without a tension within YHWH. Instead of a concept of God in tension this thesis suggest that Bruegge- mann’s distinction of God above the fray and God in the fray could be labeled God above the fray and Israel in the fray. 9 789517 659307 Åbo Akademi University Press | ISBN 978-951-765-930-7 Karl-Henrik Wallerstein Born 1977 Master in Theology, one year, in Lund University, 2003 PhD-dissertation in Old Testament Theology defended at Åbo Akademi Unversity, 2019 Åbo Akademi University Press Tavastgatan 13, FI-20500 Åbo, Finland Tel. +358 (0)2 215 4793 E-mail: [email protected] Sales and distribution: Åbo Akademi University Library Domkyrkogatan 2–4, FI-20500 Åbo, Finland Tel. +358 (0)2 -215 4190 E-mail: [email protected] IN SEARCH OF SOLID GROUND In Search of Solid Ground Understanding the Epistemology, Hermeneutics, and Theology in Walter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament, Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy Karl-Henrik Wallerstein Åbo Akademis förlag | Åbo Akademi University Press Åbo, Finland, 2019 CIP Cataloguing in Publication Wallerstein, Karl-Henrik. In search of solid ground : understanding the epistemology, hermeneutics, and theology in Walter Brueggemann’s Theology of the Old Testament, testimony, dispute, advocacy / Karl-Henrik Wallerstein. - Åbo : Åbo Akademi University Press, 2019. Diss.: Åbo Akademi University. ISBN 978-951-765-930-7 ISBN 978-951-765-930-7 ISBN 978-951-765-931-4 (digital) Painosalama Oy Åbo 2019 PREFACE This project began during my final theological studies at Lund University way back in 2003. It was suggested that I read the American theologian Walter Brueggemann. Reading his Theology of The Old Testament was an overwhelm- ing experience. I was then - and continue to be - formed both by a passionate love of the Bible as Scripture, but also by the sovereign majesty of the histor- ical-critical method passed on to me by my professors Tryggve Mettinger, Sten Hidal, and Fredrik Lindström. There is, however, often quite a tension between passion and sovereignty and the two readings of Scripture mentioned above do not always converge. The groundwork leading to my way of reaching towards a harmonious balance between academic scholarship and a passionate love for the Scripture was laid by the academic student society Theofil, a student Centre for theological studies, situated in the heart of Lund. This house has helped to shape many priests within Church of Sweden and continues to be a source of inspiration and academic education. My thanks go to Henrik Gustavsson, who supported me to combine reason and faith and to love the Bible with my whole heart, soul, and mind. My reading of Brueggemann has positively challenged my theological think- ing. I finished my masters program in 2003 and after ordination in the Church of Sweden, (the Diocese of Växjö and the Parish in Älmhult) in 2006 I became acquainted with the Swedish speaking university in Finland, Åbo Akademi University Finland and subsequently began my doctoral studies there in 2007. It was and still is wonderful to take the overnight ferry from Stockholm and wake up in the morning in Åbo/Turku. The education program in Finland, the excellence of performance at the Åbo Akademi University under the charge of Professor Antti Laato has been a blessing. As a priest in the Church of Sweden, I have related Brueggemann to my pastoral reality. This reality is often marked by exile and amnesia, but, by help of a prophetic imagination, latent in the Catholic Church, a transformation of the word of God can change reality so 3 that new horizons can be caught on the holy pilgrimage of the church to the new Jerusalem. My deepest thanks must go to Walter Brueggemann. For the last ten years, I have been able to stand on the shoulders of a giant, and if I have seen anything, it is from the position of his scholarly effort. The work on this dissertation has benefitted immensely from the input and support of various people. Sten Rydå (Ph.D.) has made my English more read- able. Johannes Börjesson (Ph.D.) has also been of the utmost importance in this regard and, as well, when it comes to theological conclusions. Finally, Lorna Koskela has proof read this work and polished it. They, as many others, have given me insights and comments that have positively affected this study. I extend my warmest thanks for their enduring support. Funding for this research came from Åbo Akademi University, Stockholm’s Kristliga Ynglingaförening, the Church of Sweden, the Diocese of Växjö, the Parish in Älmhult, the Vicarage in Göteryd, and the staff at the Library at Älm- hult. I offer my warmest thanks to each for their generous support. I am full of gratitude to the student theological society Theofil in Lund (part of IFES, In- ternational Fellowship of Evangelical Students), the staff at the C. Benton Kline, Jr. Special Collections and Archives, John Bulow Campbell Library at Columbia Theological Seminary. I express my deepest thanks to the members of the Old and New Testament seminary at Åbo Akademi University for many fruitful discussions. Finally, I am immensely grateful for the tireless support of my supervisor, Professor Antti Laato, who has guided me through this pro- cess with care, knowledge, wisdom, patience, and positive thinking. My wife Jenny! I stand in debt to her! I want to thank my wife for her faith in the enterprise and the sacrifices that she has made in order to ensure its accom- plishment. I dedicate this dissertation in memory of my parents, Agneta (1943- 2006) and Georg Wallerstein (1942-2009). The Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, above, in, with, and within the fray, remain to be thanked. Karl-Henrik Wallerstein, Diö, Sweden. August 2019. 4 ABSTRACT Every theological expression of the Old Testament stands in a search for an epistemology and hermeneutical approach that can match the feature of the Old Testament. In this study, Walter Brueggemann’s epistemology, hermeneutics, and theological conclusions are analyzed with specific attention paid to his Theology of the Old Testament, Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, published in 1997. The title of this study, In Search of Solid Ground, came as a conclusion of this study. Walter Brueggemann, since the beginning of his academical ca- reer, has been in search for a new solid ground after the collapse of history and ontology. The hymn that was sang at his inauguration as professor of the Old Testament, “The Church’s one Foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord…” reflects that for a Christian professor the foundation is in Christ alone.1 Nevertheless, Brueggemann challenged the academical guild and the pastoral society when he presented a concept of the God of the Old Testament that involves a tension The rhetorical tension in the text, according to him, also has a theological cor- respondence, so that God in the Old Testament, YHWH, cannot easily be de- scribed in classical dogmatic terms.2 In light of his position as a role model for the discipline of the Old Testament, his approach merits specific interest. Brueggemann’s theology as described in Theology of the Old Testament con- cerns the way in which the backbone in his theology – i.e. his epistemology and hermeneutics – paves the way for his theology. In this study I describe his epistemology as testimonial foundationalism which means that I argue that he has a weak foundational standpoint. His hermeneutics, based on the metaphor of the testimony, imagination and the Jewish traditions, is best described as simultaneously non-referential and extra-referential. His theology is based on the fact that there is no convergences between the various testimonies within 1 Walter Brueggemann, unpublished from Jon Bulow Campell Library, Box 22, Folder 163. 2 The Tetragrammaton is in this study transliterated as YHWH. When I quote from ToT I follow Brueggemann’s use of the Tetragrammaton, i.e. “Yahweh”. I use the name YHWH as refering to the God of Israel. Sometimes the term God is used in a more general sense. 5 the Old Testament. In the end, Brueggemann concludes that the rhetorical ten- sion also becomes a theological tension. Prior to Theology of the Old Testament Brueggemann presented a theological distinction between God above the fray and God in the fray where above stands for transcendence and in stands for immanence. In Theology of the Old Testa- ment there is an obvious shift towards stressing YHWH as distinctively in the fray. This study argues that Brueggemann’s tension between Soverginity and passion within YHWH could rather be formulated as God above the fray and Israel in the fray.
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