Money and Possessions by Walter Brueggemann

Abstract

Reviewed by: Money and Possessions by Walter Brueggemann Penny Wheeler walter brueggemann, Money and Possessions (Interpretation: Resources for Use of Scripture in the Church; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016). Pp. xxii + 319. $40. Brueggemann analyzes several scriptural premises regarding money and property. Although money and possessions certainly can be seductions that lead to idolatry, both are God’s gifts, neither achievements nor accomplishments, but rewards for obedience, held in trust by human persons in community. Because both are sources of social injustice, money and possessions are to be shared in a “neighborly” manner. The author devotes nine chapters to money and possessions in the Hebrew Scriptures: the Torah in general, Deuteronomy in particular; the historical books; the books of the Persian period; Psalms, Proverbs and Job; the major and minor prophets; and the scrolls of Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther. He dedicates the final six chapters to the New Testament: the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Pastoral Epistles, the Letter of James, and the Apocalypse. The author contends that the heart of Israel’s message is “You shall not covet.” Deuteronomy sets the tone, emphasizing civic social regulations that promote economic “neighborliness” as the core value. B. holds that the community has a profound stake in the man agement of debt so that debt has no ultimate role to play in the economy. He interprets the sweep of the historical books—from the entry into the promised land to the captivity— as a contest between the old Torah tradition/Deuteronomy and the promissory tradition of David’s dynasty. On the one hand, Deuteronomy’s covenant makes obedience to the Torah the condition of prosperous life in the land. On the other hand, God’s promise to David offers unconditional assurance of support for Israel. Anointing Solomon as the King Midas of Israel, the author points out that this supposedly wise king imitates the confiscatory policies of Pharaoh, his father-in-law. Brueggemann’s chapter on the Psalms concentrates on the theme of Torah obedience. He cites Psalms 1 and 2 as exemplars of the Torah tradition and the royal tradition, respectively. Psalm 1 emphasizes obedience to the Torah, promising positive outcomes for faithful observers of the Torah, as opposed to the nonobservant—the wicked—who will fail. Psalm 112 strongly evokes this sentiment, describing the delights of the Torah keepers, [End Page 682] while Psalm 10 catalogues the failures of the unfaithful. In contrast to these themes, Psalm 2 homes in on the royal line of David, bolstered by Psalm 72 directing the conduct of a human king who, as regent of God, must be the realm’s chief practitioner of economic justice. Brueggemann finds the book of Proverbs to be permeated with reflections on money and possessions. He argues that, for those who would be not merely smart but actually wise, money must be deeply contextualized by love of God and love of neighbor. Proverbs admonishes the hearer to avoid the twin dangers of wealth—the imagining of autonomy— and of poverty—the temptation to steal. The teaching of Proverbs can be encapsulated in the proposition that in the natural order deeds do indeed produce consequences. The prophetic writings warn that a predatory economy permits moneyed interests to prey upon the vulnerable. The prophets rail against the Davidic dynasty, which failed to learn from its own mistakes. Rulers of the royal house allowed the economy to decline into an unbearable dichotomy of wealthy urban elites, on the one hand, and vulnerable peasants working the land, on the other. Amos describes the self-indulgence of the privileged, while Isaiah points to the distorted economy centered around Jerusalem, bemoaning its soothsayers, its surplus wealth extracted from the peasants, its military forces used to protect this surplus, and its idols. Micah’s poetry laments an economy based on covetousness, imagining its total collapse. For Jeremiah, the scoundrels are those who violate Torah and disregard the common good. Habakkuk decries reliance on wealth, while Ezekiel speaks of respect and economic justice toward one’s neighbor Brueggemann regards the story of Ruth, dominated as it is by economic matters, as a delicate balancing act between the “haves” and...