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Materiality as Resistance: Five Elements for Moral Action in the Real World
Named One of the 50 Best Spiritual Books of 2020 by Spirituality & Practice
What is materiality?
Jesus practiced materiality when he healed the bodies of the sick, proclaimed Jubilee to the poor, and fed the five thousand. He practiced materiality over materialism. In Materiality as Resistance, Walter Brueggemann defines materiality as the use of the material aspects of the Christian faith, as opposed to materialism, which places possessions and physical comfort over spiritual values. In this concise volume, Brueggemann lays out how we as Christians may reengage our materiality for the common good. How does materiality inform our faith when it comes to food, money, the body, time, and place? How does it force us to act? Likewise, how is the church obligated to use its time, money, abundance of food, the care and use of our bodies, observance of Sabbath, and stewardship of our world and those with whom we share it? With a foreword from Jim Wallis, Materiality as Resistance serves as a manifesto of Walter Brueggemann's most important work and as an engaging call to action. It is suited for group or individual study.
What is materiality?
Jesus practiced materiality when he healed the bodies of the sick, proclaimed Jubilee to the poor, and fed the five thousand. He practiced materiality over materialism. In Materiality as Resistance, Walter Brueggemann defines materiality as the use of the material aspects of the Christian faith, as opposed to materialism, which places possessions and physical comfort over spiritual values. In this concise volume, Brueggemann lays out how we as Christians may reengage our materiality for the common good. How does materiality inform our faith when it comes to food, money, the body, time, and place? How does it force us to act? Likewise, how is the church obligated to use its time, money, abundance of food, the care and use of our bodies, observance of Sabbath, and stewardship of our world and those with whom we share it? With a foreword from Jim Wallis, Materiality as Resistance serves as a manifesto of Walter Brueggemann's most important work and as an engaging call to action. It is suited for group or individual study.
- GenresTheologyNonfiction
127 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 18, 2020
83 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Walter Brueggemann
316 books572 followersWalter Brueggemann was an American Christian scholar and theologian who is widely considered an influential Old Testament scholar. His work often focused on the Hebrew prophetic tradition and the sociopolitical imagination of the Church. He argued that the Church must provide a counter-narrative to the dominant forces of consumerism, militarism, and nationalism.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 13, 2023
I haven’t read that much of Walter Brueggemann, but I’ve gotten a lot out of what little I’ve read so far. I picked up this one along with his book Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now based mainly on the titles. And while Sabbath as Resistance focused (at the risk of oversimplifying) on the role of Sabbath as a circuit-breaker from the endless work cycles of late-stage capitalism that prevents us from loving each other as Jesus commanded, this book focuses on how materiality (not to be confused with materialism) plays a similar role, and how churches should embrace it as part of their ministry.
The problem is that the church has focused more exclusively on the spiritual at the expense of the material realities of our earthly existence since around the 6th Century (not coincidentally, around the time that wealthy people began to dominate churches) on the grounds that – from God’s POV – the material world doesn’t matter as much as the spiritual afterlife. Brueggemann contends that the material world jolly well does matter, and that the Bible makes this clear repeatedly. In essence, God created the physical world for us to live in, while Jesus took physical form on Earth and spent most of his ministry attending to the material needs of people (healing the sick, feeding the hungry, etc). So how then can the material aspect of our existence not be important to God?
Brueggemann breaks this materiality down into five categories – food, money, the body, time, and place – and shows how the Bible tells us the church should be making use of all five as the basis for moral action to reject the consumerist junk-food materialism and endless work cycles that dominate our lives today. Obviously, opinions (and interpretations) will differ, and I’m no theologian. But I found it to be a provocative work that challenges churches – especially wealthy ones – to be more active in alleviating poverty, injustice, oppression, inequality, etc, rather than just telling everyone it’ll be better in heaven. His proposed solutions may seem impractical, but only if you view them as short-term solutions than a long-term goal.
The problem is that the church has focused more exclusively on the spiritual at the expense of the material realities of our earthly existence since around the 6th Century (not coincidentally, around the time that wealthy people began to dominate churches) on the grounds that – from God’s POV – the material world doesn’t matter as much as the spiritual afterlife. Brueggemann contends that the material world jolly well does matter, and that the Bible makes this clear repeatedly. In essence, God created the physical world for us to live in, while Jesus took physical form on Earth and spent most of his ministry attending to the material needs of people (healing the sick, feeding the hungry, etc). So how then can the material aspect of our existence not be important to God?
Brueggemann breaks this materiality down into five categories – food, money, the body, time, and place – and shows how the Bible tells us the church should be making use of all five as the basis for moral action to reject the consumerist junk-food materialism and endless work cycles that dominate our lives today. Obviously, opinions (and interpretations) will differ, and I’m no theologian. But I found it to be a provocative work that challenges churches – especially wealthy ones – to be more active in alleviating poverty, injustice, oppression, inequality, etc, rather than just telling everyone it’ll be better in heaven. His proposed solutions may seem impractical, but only if you view them as short-term solutions than a long-term goal.
May 22, 2020
Summary: Explores how the material aspects of life informed by Christian spiritual commitments may be lived as a form of resistance to a materialistic culture.
Through much of Christian history, there has been a divorce of the spiritual and material aspects of life. Yet the material aspects of life--money, food, the body, time, and place--pervade our lives. Neglected as a necessary part of Christian teaching and formation, we are vulnerable to the allures of a materialistic culture, one in which all that matters is matter, and spirituality is marginalized or jettisoned. Walter Brueggemann proposes the alternative is materiality. The idea is that our spiritually formed values shape our engagement with each of these five material aspects of our lives.
He explores our relationship to money, using Wesley's "earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can." He raises questions about how our commitments to earning might be skewed by a limitless accumulation of wealth, how spending all we can undermines the saving that enables one to deploy our resources within our community, and how giving all we can calls for disciplined planning for sustained giving.
Brueggemann contrasts a material world's focus on the scarcity of food with the trust in God's abundance that runs through the pages of scripture. He explores what this means in terms of our commercial/industrial food production, the inequities of food distribution, and how we might think of ourselves as citizens and creatures of God in how we consume food.
We often abuse or indulge our bodies. Brueggemann invites us to consider what it means of offer our bodies as spiritual sacrifices in both our self-care and covenantal expression of our sexuality. One question I had in this chapter was the de-emphasis on genital sexuality to focus on the more spiritual and covenantal aspects of human love. On one hand, our culture focuses almost exclusively on the genital expression of human sexuality. Yet this is a book about materiality. It seems necessary to address the meaning of the aspects of pleasure, the unitive character of sexuality, and the reproductive potential that is inherent in our reproductive anatomy.
We live within time, hours, days, weeks, months, and years, that reflect our physical existence on earth. Materialism only knows production and consumption. The scriptures teach us rhythms of work and sabbath, and particular seasons to tear down and build up, to weep and laugh, to silence and speech, to go slow and speed up and to be born and die.
In our virtual world, we become homeless and placeless. We are invited to think what it means to be attentive and loyal to place. He contrasts inhabiting a place as user, consumer, possessor, exploiter, and predator versus living as heirs, neighbors, partners, and citizens.
Brueggeman concludes by commending five biblical disciplines, captured in five words that defines a materiality that resists materialism. They are justice, righteousness, steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness toward our neighbors in our materiality. What he does is bring together spiritual formation and material life.
This concisely written book is a distillation of Brueggemann's thought. The study questions that conclude each chapter suggest it was written for an adult education class or other adult formation meeting. It combine's the author's biblical insights with practical insights for how we might live truth in our material existence--and resistance to a materialist culture.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Through much of Christian history, there has been a divorce of the spiritual and material aspects of life. Yet the material aspects of life--money, food, the body, time, and place--pervade our lives. Neglected as a necessary part of Christian teaching and formation, we are vulnerable to the allures of a materialistic culture, one in which all that matters is matter, and spirituality is marginalized or jettisoned. Walter Brueggemann proposes the alternative is materiality. The idea is that our spiritually formed values shape our engagement with each of these five material aspects of our lives.
He explores our relationship to money, using Wesley's "earn all you can, save all you can, and give all you can." He raises questions about how our commitments to earning might be skewed by a limitless accumulation of wealth, how spending all we can undermines the saving that enables one to deploy our resources within our community, and how giving all we can calls for disciplined planning for sustained giving.
Brueggemann contrasts a material world's focus on the scarcity of food with the trust in God's abundance that runs through the pages of scripture. He explores what this means in terms of our commercial/industrial food production, the inequities of food distribution, and how we might think of ourselves as citizens and creatures of God in how we consume food.
We often abuse or indulge our bodies. Brueggemann invites us to consider what it means of offer our bodies as spiritual sacrifices in both our self-care and covenantal expression of our sexuality. One question I had in this chapter was the de-emphasis on genital sexuality to focus on the more spiritual and covenantal aspects of human love. On one hand, our culture focuses almost exclusively on the genital expression of human sexuality. Yet this is a book about materiality. It seems necessary to address the meaning of the aspects of pleasure, the unitive character of sexuality, and the reproductive potential that is inherent in our reproductive anatomy.
We live within time, hours, days, weeks, months, and years, that reflect our physical existence on earth. Materialism only knows production and consumption. The scriptures teach us rhythms of work and sabbath, and particular seasons to tear down and build up, to weep and laugh, to silence and speech, to go slow and speed up and to be born and die.
In our virtual world, we become homeless and placeless. We are invited to think what it means to be attentive and loyal to place. He contrasts inhabiting a place as user, consumer, possessor, exploiter, and predator versus living as heirs, neighbors, partners, and citizens.
Brueggeman concludes by commending five biblical disciplines, captured in five words that defines a materiality that resists materialism. They are justice, righteousness, steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness toward our neighbors in our materiality. What he does is bring together spiritual formation and material life.
This concisely written book is a distillation of Brueggemann's thought. The study questions that conclude each chapter suggest it was written for an adult education class or other adult formation meeting. It combine's the author's biblical insights with practical insights for how we might live truth in our material existence--and resistance to a materialist culture.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
February 15, 2025
I'm a big fan of Brueggemann (since reading 'The Prophetic Imagination' a few years ago) and I really like his differentiation of materiality vs materialism as a way of living in the world as Jesus did. I like what he's saying here (about food, money, body, time, and place), though the writing itself felt a bit choppy at times. I wonder if he was making connections that I just wasn't following and if each reflection had been a bit longer (these chapters and the book as a whole felt quite short and sparse) he could have drawn us readers along more cleanly. Maybe it's that I've been reading Eugene Peterson, who in comparison uses words with more intentionality.
Read
March 25, 2021The church has had an uneasy relationship with the material world ever since Paul blasted Greek gnostics in the first century for their perversion of the Gospel. Like it or not, the Christian faith is rooted in materiality, and Walter Brueggemann cites five areas in which believers can reengage with the material world for the good of everyone.
He describes our disengagement as a preoccupation with spiritual matters and a preference for a “convenient, private, otherworldly gospel about ‘souls’ rather than the solid food of informed critical thought about the materiality of our faith.” (170) Materiality puts our hearts in a right relationship to our”things,” while materialism puts us in service to our “things.”
The invitation of Materiality as Resistance is for us to examine our use of food, money, our bodies, our time, and the place we inhabit and to ask ourselves probing questions around stewardship, Sabbath observance, and our concern for others.
Jesus calls us to moral action in the real world. How else can we make a difference and gain an audience with people who are completely disengaged from matters of spirituality? Brueggemann employs his prophetic imagination to invite readers into a discussion of what partnership with God’s purposes would look like as part of our “mere Christianity.” It turns out that our relationship with the physicial world might be the most revealing indicator of our spiritual health.
Many thanks to Westminster John Knox and NetGalley for providing access to this book to facilitate my review which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.
He describes our disengagement as a preoccupation with spiritual matters and a preference for a “convenient, private, otherworldly gospel about ‘souls’ rather than the solid food of informed critical thought about the materiality of our faith.” (170) Materiality puts our hearts in a right relationship to our”things,” while materialism puts us in service to our “things.”
The invitation of Materiality as Resistance is for us to examine our use of food, money, our bodies, our time, and the place we inhabit and to ask ourselves probing questions around stewardship, Sabbath observance, and our concern for others.
Jesus calls us to moral action in the real world. How else can we make a difference and gain an audience with people who are completely disengaged from matters of spirituality? Brueggemann employs his prophetic imagination to invite readers into a discussion of what partnership with God’s purposes would look like as part of our “mere Christianity.” It turns out that our relationship with the physicial world might be the most revealing indicator of our spiritual health.
Many thanks to Westminster John Knox and NetGalley for providing access to this book to facilitate my review which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.
February 11, 2020
Like many of Brueggemann's books, this book is a corrective against the excesses of the past. It is not about materialism which is bad. It is about materiality, which is the rightful understanding and constructive use of material things. There was a time where the Church has played a key role in "sanitizing" material things. In the sixth century, many people were overly preoccupied with all things spiritual to the detriment of material things. With dualism and gnostic beliefs, people were quick to segregate the material from the spiritual. Taken to the extreme, they consider all material things bad and all spiritual things good. "Materiality as Resistance" is about resisting such dualistic beliefs and to redeem the creative use of material things, without compromising on our spiritual beliefs. The five elements are: Money; Food; Body; Time; and Place.
On Money, Brueggemann begins with a push-back against John Wesley's popular maxim: "Earn all you can; give all you can; save all you can." While generally accepted by believers, especially Methodists and those from the Wesleyan tradition, this common saying about earning, saving, and giving has often been accepted without much critique. Yet, Brueggemann boldly pushes against this by asking three formidable questions:
How much is enough to earn?
How little is enough to save?
How might one invest one's savings?
He breaks down not only Wesley's points but helps us fill in the gaps by giving us a more holistic picture of stewardship. To date, I have not seen anyone as bold as Brueggemann who would challenge Wesley's teaching. Beware of the treacherous effects of consumerism, readers are shown an alternative that resists unbridled greed; endless accumulation; and erratic giving.
On Food, Brueggemann helps us meander through the perspectives of "scarcity and abundance" starting from the origin of our food sources, from food production to the distribution channels, and from the distributor chains to our homes. He reminds us that we are not mere consumers or the end-users, but a part of the entire community chain. We are not a food chain but a food network. Three things sum up Brueggemann's advice: Resist unethical practices in the industrial production of food; resist the food distribution practices that play according to our economic status; and to resist "indulgent domination."
On the Body, distinguish between "food and clothing" and "life and body." Prefer the latter. For "mature materiality" to happen, observe "healthy sexuality." This means fidelity. Resist self-gratification ways. Offer our bodies as a "spiritual worship" to God and to behave in a manner that honours our neighbours. This has other applications as well. Once we learn to practice "healthy self-care" and "healthy sexuality," we will naturally resist discriminative practices like racism, selfish behaviours like individualism, and practice "bodily sacrifice" to put the interests of others before ourselves.
On Time, Brueggemann reiterates his early work "Sabbath as Resistance" with a reminder to consider the kairos of God's time, rather than the chronos of human time. Resist the temptation to be endlessly busy. Learn to put time in perspective with the reminders from Ecclesiastes 3. Wait upon the Lord.
Finally, on Place, there is no better place than our heavenly home. Starting out with the parable of the Prodigal Son, the author reminds us about the negative effects of homelessness. Not only is he talking about physical locations, he extends it to the "homeless mind" and the "homeless body." Homelessness is a serious physical and spiritual matter. We can be too busy trying to make a living, even when it comes at the expense of increasing the causes of homelessness.
My Thoughts
The two key themes throughout the book are resistance and redemption. In resistance, Brueggemann offers an alternative way to look at the five elements of everyday life. This is important because many Christians are not critical enough about accepting the values of the world. Sometimes this is due to the growing comforts with the things of the world. Most likely, it is because of a lack of biblical foundation to help us resist these worldly influences. Jesus said that we are in the world but not of the world. Brueggemann takes what we are seeing in this world, exposes the flaws, opens up the Biblical truths, and then shows us what it takes to resist the temptations. This resistance motif is consistently applied throughout the book. In redemption, the author attempts to put back the sacred into materiality. Put it another way, it is about redeeming the five key elements of the world that some of our learned and pious predecessors had unwittingly dichotomized. For what God had created, God had called creation good. Who then are we to call God's creation anything other than good?
After separating materialism from materiality, Brueggemann urges us to move toward "mature materiality" in all of the five elements. Frankly, even though he entitles the book using materiality as a form of resistance, actually, redemption is a larger theme than resistance. Good judgment is always redemptive. The same applies to constructive criticisms and righteous punishment. In the same way, resistance is a powerful arm of redemption, though it may mean some painful corrective efforts in the beginning. In other words, we do not resist something for the sake of resisting. We resist because we care enough to redeem them. Any change needs to go through a period of breaking down the old so that we can form the new.
This is another great book that constructively engages modern culture from a biblical perspective. Filled with wisdom and experience, Brueggemann continues to bless us with great resources for the larger Christian community.
Walter Brueggemann is currently the William Marcellus McPheeters professor emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. He has also taught at Eden Theological Seminary from 1961 to 1986. He is a recognized authority in Old Testament scholarship and has authored over one hundred books.
Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
On Money, Brueggemann begins with a push-back against John Wesley's popular maxim: "Earn all you can; give all you can; save all you can." While generally accepted by believers, especially Methodists and those from the Wesleyan tradition, this common saying about earning, saving, and giving has often been accepted without much critique. Yet, Brueggemann boldly pushes against this by asking three formidable questions:
How much is enough to earn?
How little is enough to save?
How might one invest one's savings?
He breaks down not only Wesley's points but helps us fill in the gaps by giving us a more holistic picture of stewardship. To date, I have not seen anyone as bold as Brueggemann who would challenge Wesley's teaching. Beware of the treacherous effects of consumerism, readers are shown an alternative that resists unbridled greed; endless accumulation; and erratic giving.
On Food, Brueggemann helps us meander through the perspectives of "scarcity and abundance" starting from the origin of our food sources, from food production to the distribution channels, and from the distributor chains to our homes. He reminds us that we are not mere consumers or the end-users, but a part of the entire community chain. We are not a food chain but a food network. Three things sum up Brueggemann's advice: Resist unethical practices in the industrial production of food; resist the food distribution practices that play according to our economic status; and to resist "indulgent domination."
On the Body, distinguish between "food and clothing" and "life and body." Prefer the latter. For "mature materiality" to happen, observe "healthy sexuality." This means fidelity. Resist self-gratification ways. Offer our bodies as a "spiritual worship" to God and to behave in a manner that honours our neighbours. This has other applications as well. Once we learn to practice "healthy self-care" and "healthy sexuality," we will naturally resist discriminative practices like racism, selfish behaviours like individualism, and practice "bodily sacrifice" to put the interests of others before ourselves.
On Time, Brueggemann reiterates his early work "Sabbath as Resistance" with a reminder to consider the kairos of God's time, rather than the chronos of human time. Resist the temptation to be endlessly busy. Learn to put time in perspective with the reminders from Ecclesiastes 3. Wait upon the Lord.
Finally, on Place, there is no better place than our heavenly home. Starting out with the parable of the Prodigal Son, the author reminds us about the negative effects of homelessness. Not only is he talking about physical locations, he extends it to the "homeless mind" and the "homeless body." Homelessness is a serious physical and spiritual matter. We can be too busy trying to make a living, even when it comes at the expense of increasing the causes of homelessness.
My Thoughts
The two key themes throughout the book are resistance and redemption. In resistance, Brueggemann offers an alternative way to look at the five elements of everyday life. This is important because many Christians are not critical enough about accepting the values of the world. Sometimes this is due to the growing comforts with the things of the world. Most likely, it is because of a lack of biblical foundation to help us resist these worldly influences. Jesus said that we are in the world but not of the world. Brueggemann takes what we are seeing in this world, exposes the flaws, opens up the Biblical truths, and then shows us what it takes to resist the temptations. This resistance motif is consistently applied throughout the book. In redemption, the author attempts to put back the sacred into materiality. Put it another way, it is about redeeming the five key elements of the world that some of our learned and pious predecessors had unwittingly dichotomized. For what God had created, God had called creation good. Who then are we to call God's creation anything other than good?
After separating materialism from materiality, Brueggemann urges us to move toward "mature materiality" in all of the five elements. Frankly, even though he entitles the book using materiality as a form of resistance, actually, redemption is a larger theme than resistance. Good judgment is always redemptive. The same applies to constructive criticisms and righteous punishment. In the same way, resistance is a powerful arm of redemption, though it may mean some painful corrective efforts in the beginning. In other words, we do not resist something for the sake of resisting. We resist because we care enough to redeem them. Any change needs to go through a period of breaking down the old so that we can form the new.
This is another great book that constructively engages modern culture from a biblical perspective. Filled with wisdom and experience, Brueggemann continues to bless us with great resources for the larger Christian community.
Walter Brueggemann is currently the William Marcellus McPheeters professor emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. He has also taught at Eden Theological Seminary from 1961 to 1986. He is a recognized authority in Old Testament scholarship and has authored over one hundred books.
Rating: 4.75 stars of 5.
conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.
July 20, 2022
Walter Breuggemann examines five areas of life in “Materiality as Resistance: Five Elements for Moral Action in the Real World.” This slim volume examines moral action as it relates to money, food, the body, time, place. These are heavy issues, but Breuggemann writes clearly and succinctly, and each is given its due. Many of the ideas are very current: predatory economy, Black body abuse, Sabbath time and how moral action must address policy. "Bread broken and shared vs bread unbroken and unshared" is how he names the scarcity and abundance of modern food production. Resistance is love, powerful but neither aggressive nor hierarchical. Breuggemann closes with this quotation from Jose Miranda (“Marx and the Bible”): “Yahweh is known only in the human act of achieving justice and compassion for the neighbor.” Wow. This would be a great book for group discussion.
June 18, 2020
100 pages of distilled, 110-proof Brueggeman goodness. "Materiality" is carefully distinguished from "materialism" and proposed as a central element of Christian thinking. This is essentially a collection of 5 essays drawing on deep, diverse and current scholarship (something Brueggeman consistently does masterfully) on exercising "mature materiality" in the spaces of: money, food, the body, time and place. Each essay is followed with penetrating discussion questions and a small group guide.
This is a potent shot of wisdom and prophetic challenge! I particularly loved the essay on "place," though I would have loved an even longer book overall. This is an excellent resource for a small group who would be willing to dig in a bit. Recommended, even if you aren't familiar with Brueggeman.
This is a potent shot of wisdom and prophetic challenge! I particularly loved the essay on "place," though I would have loved an even longer book overall. This is an excellent resource for a small group who would be willing to dig in a bit. Recommended, even if you aren't familiar with Brueggeman.
June 1, 2021
I'm not a theologian, but I'm always interested in new ways of thinking about my relationship to God. So, I joined a book study at my ELCA Lutheran church about this book.
My suggestion to the average reader is to start by reading the conclusion. Then read the chapters. I think it will help you winnow out message from what was for me an overly wordy narrative. If this book was intended for the average "Joe", the author could have benefited from the use of familiar words and word forms that have the same meaning and connotation as those used.
Aside from the word choice, the author clearly rejects capitalism in totality. I'm quite left on the political spectrum and I found this off putting. Like money, capitalism is not of its self evil, but the misuse (love) of it is.
My suggestion to the average reader is to start by reading the conclusion. Then read the chapters. I think it will help you winnow out message from what was for me an overly wordy narrative. If this book was intended for the average "Joe", the author could have benefited from the use of familiar words and word forms that have the same meaning and connotation as those used.
Aside from the word choice, the author clearly rejects capitalism in totality. I'm quite left on the political spectrum and I found this off putting. Like money, capitalism is not of its self evil, but the misuse (love) of it is.
October 3, 2022
How to be a Real Christian in the 21st Century
Wise sage Walter Brueggemann uses solid biblical support to urge us not to just focus on a faraway heaven, but on our bodies and the bodies of our neighbors here and today. He looks at money, time, place, bodies, and food in Scripture to see how we are responsible for resisting capitalism, forgiving debts, and even paying taxes! As the Lord's Prayer reminds us, forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of those who owe us, and God's kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven. May it be so.
Wise sage Walter Brueggemann uses solid biblical support to urge us not to just focus on a faraway heaven, but on our bodies and the bodies of our neighbors here and today. He looks at money, time, place, bodies, and food in Scripture to see how we are responsible for resisting capitalism, forgiving debts, and even paying taxes! As the Lord's Prayer reminds us, forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of those who owe us, and God's kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven. May it be so.
November 24, 2020
Some Christians believe that their main religious concern is to prepare their souls for an afterlife in heaven. Brueggemann's book is not for these. Instead, it is a Biblical argument that our religious purpose must be to create God's kingdom here on Earth by making God's love materially relevant in our everyday lives. I loved the message although the messenger was at times difficult to understand.
April 3, 2020
Walter Brueggemann is known for his wisdom, wit, and writing skills. This book does not disappoint. Taking on the false duality of Western Christianity, which sees humans as body v soul, Brueggemann reminds the reader that Christianity that is only concerned with a person's "soul" is not following the example of how Jesus engaged people on a daily basis. When so many who claim "Christianity" are focused on an otherworldly "reward" for right belief, this book proclaims that the work of justice is the true calling of those who seek to walk in the way of Jesus. This book is a concise and informative read for anyone who seeks to be a reflection of the Holy in the world today.
August 15, 2020
This little book is a powerhouse of meat, thought- and action-provoking for anyone seeking to live as Jesus lived in our messed-up world. Revolutionary, really. It started me seeking more of Brueggemann's insights and exhortation. He will point out things you may have never considered.
Excellent for group use too.
Excellent for group use too.
December 31, 2020
We must live in, and be alert to, this material world in which we live. We must resist as a basic practice of our Christian faith. We must counter the idea that soul is good and body is evil. Scripture, and Jesus specifically, honored the physical: healing the sick, touching, feeding, etc. We must stand in contrast to the world in our love, compassion and service.
April 30, 2021
Walter Brueggemann is perhaps my favorite theologian. I would not recommend anyone read this book, only because it doesn't explore any new ground for him. It's almost like it was written by a Brueggemann AI. If you haven't read his work, there are other books that are a better entry-point; if you have read his work, then there's not much to be gained here.
August 15, 2021
Brueggemann definitely comes from a different place than I do theologically, but I love the premise of this book, and much of the application. The answer to our cultural materialism is materially, to embrace the physical, bodily reality of our faith. Brueggemann doesn't say this directly, but Gnosticism seems to be the greatest heresy of Western Christianity
July 21, 2022
I struggled to get into this one. While the book coheres, each chapter feels like a little nugget of ideas that could be more fully fleshed out (and in some, if not all, instance, Brueggemann has done that in other books). I especially enjoyed the chapter on place and I found wisdom throughout, but it didn't read with the energy or challenge I expect from this author.
May 24, 2020
A Must-Read
Read
December 31, 2020Fantastic. Deserves a reread
September 6, 2021
Buen libro
Un excellent libro que nos reta a una evaluación de nuestra materialidad desde la fe. Excelente para estudiar en grupo con la guía de preguntas después de cada capítulo.
Un excellent libro que nos reta a una evaluación de nuestra materialidad desde la fe. Excelente para estudiar en grupo con la guía de preguntas después de cada capítulo.
January 16, 2026
big name, small book with big ideas
April 8, 2021
In both urban and rural settings there will be many who are “homeless” and lack a right place. For some it will be a homeless mind, a life of focused on
virtual reality rather than on the real neighborhood. For many others it will be homeless bodies that are rendered destitute by a predatory economy that willfully “leaves behind.” In the face of such dual “homelessness,” mature materiality is to be engaged in home
making. As we do so, the best affirmation is this most direct one:
’Tis the gift to be simple,
’Tis the gift to be free,
’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. (Joseph Brakett. Jr)
The operational word is “gift.” Being in the right place is a gift, not an achievement. If it were an achievement, one could imagine one is entitled and owes no one
anything. If, however, a right place is a gift, then the appropriate response is gratitude, a practice that sends
us passionately back into the neighborhood in a way that notices the homeless (homeless minds, homeless bodies), and that does home making after the manner of the home-making God:
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for
the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt. (Deut. 10:17–19)
Walter Brueggemann; Materiality as Resistance
virtual reality rather than on the real neighborhood. For many others it will be homeless bodies that are rendered destitute by a predatory economy that willfully “leaves behind.” In the face of such dual “homelessness,” mature materiality is to be engaged in home
making. As we do so, the best affirmation is this most direct one:
’Tis the gift to be simple,
’Tis the gift to be free,
’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. (Joseph Brakett. Jr)
The operational word is “gift.” Being in the right place is a gift, not an achievement. If it were an achievement, one could imagine one is entitled and owes no one
anything. If, however, a right place is a gift, then the appropriate response is gratitude, a practice that sends
us passionately back into the neighborhood in a way that notices the homeless (homeless minds, homeless bodies), and that does home making after the manner of the home-making God:
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for
the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt. (Deut. 10:17–19)
Walter Brueggemann; Materiality as Resistance
January 14, 2020
A book like this can become really preachy in a really bad way really quickly. Thankfully, Brueggemann is careful to maintain a pastoral tone, yet still provide incisive and probing critiques of the unhealthy ways in which we interact with money, food, our bodies, time, and place. For example, we are called to think about harmful farming practices which hurt our farms, and we're also called to be mindful of how our obsessions with fashion can cause us to hurt those who exploited to make our clothing..
One thing that I am thankful for with this volume is Brueggemann's careful practice of helping us think deeply about these issues without telling us *how* to act in response about these issues.
full review on my blog, chriswerms .wordpress .com
One thing that I am thankful for with this volume is Brueggemann's careful practice of helping us think deeply about these issues without telling us *how* to act in response about these issues.
full review on my blog, chriswerms .wordpress .com
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