Ancient Echoes

Walter Brueggemann’s Ancient Echoes: Refusing the Fear-Filled, Greed-Driven Toxicity of the Far Right would be a timely addition to the library of a Christian or Jewish faith leader concerned about the state of American politics. Brueggemann addresses the eight right-wing claims that Kurt Anderson lays out at the end of his book, Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America: A Recent History (Random House, 2020) Anderson believes these claims to distill the far right’s ideology.  Brueggemann, through biblical interpretation, responds to Anderson’s list for two primary reasons. First, Brueggemann believes that the Bible can be a guide for how to interpret and respond to recent politics.  According to him, the Bible provides a foundation for resisting right-wing ideology as well as hope for US society. Second, Brueggemann argues that this is an urgent issue. “The work now is to mobilize the courage and sensibility to make the social choice that must be made in order that the coming ‘otherwise’ can be life-giving and not death-dealing,” he writes (67).

In Brueggemann’s view, synagogues and churches are responsible for critiquing current governmental shortcomings and encouraging practices more in line with what the Christian and Jewish God wishes for society. Thus, this book is primarily written for faith leaders and laity, and Christians in particular, as the text also draws from New Testament scriptures and the life and work of Jesus. Brueggemann writes from a strong leftist standpoint, espousing ideas mostly in line with progressive theologies. While the book often reduces right-wing ideology to simple, bite-sized bits and Brueggemann sometimes stretches so that his biblical theology responds to Anderson’s claims, it accomplishes its goals and would be ideal for a faith-based book study.

The short text, only 132 small pages, succinctly lays out each of Anderson’s claims by chapter and uses biblical evidence and Brueggemann’s own theological insights to respond to each. One right-wing claim Brueggemann takes on is that “government is bad” (2). In response, he turns to the prophetic proclamation in Ezekiel 34:2-24 to make the argument for the prospect of “good governance.” The failure of the Davidic dynasty, according to the declaration, comes directly from its leaders’ (“shepherds”) self-absorption and indulgences and blindness to the needs of their people (“sheep”). “You eat the fat, you clothe yourself with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings,” the passage reads, “but you do not feed the sheep.” The passage does not end in despair, however. Verses 12-16 provide a blueprint for what “good governance” might look like: “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and strong I will destroy.” For Brueggemann, this vision for a good government is one concerned with restorative justice. He strengthens his point by turning to the New Testament and argues that Jesus embodies what good governance might look like in the Kingdom of God.

Another right-wing claim Brueggemann takes up is that “establishment experts are wrong, science is suspect” (25). He responds to this claim in two primary ways. First, he makes a connection between biblical claims and scientific knowledge by appealing to Ben Sirach 38:1-15. Using this text, he argues that healing from YHWH and healing from medical science go hand-in-hand. "Our best learning about global warming and our best learning about vaccines are to be seen as gifts made possible by the creator God,” Brueggemann writes (35). Second, he furthers this idea critiquing what he believes to be the Right’s often tenuous relationship with truth. He looks to Absalom’s conspiracy to take power away from his father, David, presented in 2 Samuel 16:15-17:23. Brueggemann details how in this passage, Hushai presents “alternative facts,” refusing to trust David’s military experts. He believes the narrative ultimately shows how "neither right-wing fantasy nor absolute elitism can escape the long, slow, hidden work of holiness that will, sooner or later, have its way" (52).

While Brueggemann often succeeds in his use of biblical interpretation to respond to the right-wing claims outlined by Anderson, some of his arguments show signs of strain. In trying to counter the claim that “universal healthcare is tyranny” (103), for example, he turns to the Elisha narrative in 2 Kings 5 to argue that healthcare is either freely given or received through market forces. This forced dichotomy, and the accompanying argument that Elisha advocates for free healthcare, is perhaps a symptom of his desire to perfectly line up each right-wing claim with a relevant biblical response. While this is a fair, if not overly literal, interpretation, equating Ancient Near Eastern miraculous healing practices to contemporary, Western healthcare policy is perhaps too anachronistic to work beyond an interesting thought exercise. 

Still, Brueggemann stands firm in the idea that “God’s transformative work = human transformative work” (118), as he does in much of his work. In using biblical text, his Christian imagination, and common progressive theological tropes, he is able to show how each right-wing claim is a “distortion of political reality” (2). Brueggemann further argues that this distortion works against what he interprets as the will of God and thus, ultimately, the potential flourishing of the United States and its people. He also convincingly makes the case, at least for other left-leaning Christians, that the church is tasked with working toward a more just future that resembles the “new Jerusalem” of Isaiah 65: 7-25. While the “how” is left for other projects, Brueggemann’s description of this future—a world with no predatory economic practices, infant mortality, or violence, couple with the “full reconciliation of all parts of the environment (20)”—is a hopeful call to action.

Mary Page Wilson-Lyons is a PhD student at the Boston University School of Theology.

Mary Page Wilson-Lyons

Date Of Review:

March 13, 2024