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"Tenacious Solidarity features essays and new writings from 2014 to 2018. As all of Walter Brueggemann's writing is, the chapters are deeply biblical while also concerned with the identities, practices, and obligations of religious communities in contemporary contexts within the United States. Brueggemann consistently attempts to weave the biblical texts--vested as they are with the authority of a storyteller--into the deep contours of his readers' experiences, in order to foster a tenacious solidarity that might overcome both the psychic numbness cultivated by a 24-hour news cycle as well as the anxious possessiveness nurtured by so many privatized spiritualities. Brueggemann brings the ""transformative potential"" of the biblical texts to bear on critical contemporary contexts, including but not limited to economic disparities, racial injustice and white supremacy, climate and care for creation, and the power of memory and mentoring. He delves deeply in the Psalms, which he says, ""provides a foundational script for living into the fullest and deepest realities of human existence."" And he draws from the Prophets his foundational concept of totalism, which he defines as ""automated fragmentation of social life such that we habitually and callously disregard our relations with others."""

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With an inquisitive eye, an invincible passion for truth and honesty, and a crackling imagination, Brueggemann invites us to think more deeply--in accord with the 'transformational potential' of the biblical witness--about contemporary social, political, and economic issues that would deny our agency and steal our hope for a better world. Who better to lead us into a tenacious solidarity with the God who lives in and beyond scripture than Walter Brueggemann. He has himself long been an exemplar of provocative testimony; we readers have long been and shall remain his grateful students. --Samuel E. Balentine, Union Presbyterian Seminary Tenacious Solidarity is a godsend. It's a call to an ethic of steadfast love that communities and individuals must exhibit. It shows that we are in solidarity with God through our loving obedience and in solidarity with others through mercy, compassion, and justice. Brueggemann writes in profound response to the Bible, clearly and eloquently developing an ethic of selflessness, goodness, justice, restoration, and mercy, giving incredible insight into questions of how to live alongside one another. His exposition is as instructional as it is enlightening--as always. For those of us who humbly try to be and occasionally are in the tradition of the biblical prophetic tradition, Walter is our teacher--a teacher for those whose vocation is prophetic imagination. --Jim Wallis, editor-in-chief of Sojourners, author of America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and the Bridge to a New America Tenacious solidarity indeed! Both words well describe Walter Brueggemann's entire career, not just this latest collection of essays--once again admirably edited and introduced by his major interpreter, Davis Hankins. These remarkable provocations range widely across our most urgent, pressing, and relevant issues: racism, the economy, the environment, and totalism. Brueggemann's profound, magisterial, and native fluency in Scripture is as much on display here as in any one of his countless other books. While he notes in the front matter that this collection may be his last outing, his faithful followers will pray that isn't the case. Either way, and despite his avoidance of the prophetic moniker, I, for one, am immediately reminded of the words of Deuteronomy 34:10: 'Never has a prophet arisen like Moses.' --Brent A. Strawn, Emory University With his characteristic skill and wisdom, Walter Brueggemann demonstrates again in this collection of recent essays the generative and transformative potentials of biblical texts to name and confront urgent challenges of our time. His interpretations model a compelling dialogue between biblical texts, interdisciplinary scholarship, and incisive, contemporary social, political, and economic analyses. The result utterly captures the imagination and urges and inspires the building of a far more welcoming, forgiving, generous, and sustainable future together. --Christine Roy Yoder, Columbia Theological Seminary I was taught to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. It was faithful advice. Of course, there are times (like now) when a steady tide of distressing newspaper headlines can overwhelm even the most biblically savvy of preachers. Do not fear, says Walter Brueggemann, pointing calmly to the book in our other hand. Tenacious Solidarity is unmatched in rifling through Scripture's pages and finding there wisdom and courage for the living of these days. --Scott Black Johnston, pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church

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Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, he is regarded as the premier Old Testament interpreter and biblical theologian of today. Among his many publications are Prophetic Imagination and Old Testament Theology. Davis Hankins is an assistant professor of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.

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