George Knight Lectures to Feature Dr. Walter Brueggemann

The George Knight lecture series, which is hosted by the Logsdon School of Theology every year, will take place on Monday, Nov. 7 this year. The first lecture will take place between 12-1 p.m. and will be about the relevance of the Old Testament. It will be followed by a lunch held from 1-2 p.m. in Moody 108. Students wishing to take part in the lunch should RSVP to 325-670-1287 or tammy.mantooth@hsutx.edu. The second lecture will take place between 7-8 p.m. and the topic will be “Psalms as the Offer of a Counter-World.” 

The speaker for the lectures this year is Dr. Walter Brueggemann. Brueggemann is one of the most influential Bible interpreters of our time. He is the author of over one hundred books and numerous scholarly articles. He continues to be a highly sought-after speaker.

Brueggemann’s primary method with the text is rhetorical criticism. Words matter to Brueggemann, and one can tell that by listening to him speak as he hangs on to particularly theologically significant words. His magnum opus, “Theology of the Old Testament,” is a rhetorical critical look at the Old Testament through the lenses of “testimony, dispute, and advocacy.”

Many have come to know Brueggemann through his book entitled “The Prophetic Imagination,” originally published in 1978. His best-known work, however, may be “Message of the Psalms.” Numerous church leaders have used this book as a new way of organizing and processing the Psalms. He has been writing about the Psalms since 1982, and he continues to this day with a commentary published in 2014.

Church leaders find a friend in Brueggemann, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. His work inspires, energizes and convicts, and he always makes time to interact personally with those to whom he speaks at large events.

Brueggemann attended Elmhurst College, graduating in 1955. He went on to Eden Theological Seminary in 1958. He completed his formal theological education at Union Theological Seminary in 1961, earning the Th.D. under the primary guidance of James Muilenburg.
  
While teaching at Eden, he earned a Ph.D. in education at St. Louis University. Brueggemann has served as faculty at two institutions in his career: Eden Theological Seminary from 1961-1968 and Columbia Theological Seminary from 1986-2003. He is currently William Marcellus McPheeters professor emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia.

Brueggemann was born in Tilden, Nebraska in 1933. He often speaks of the influence of his father, a German evangelical pastor. He and his wife Tia currently reside in Cincinnati, Ohio.