That's the headline on a Presbyterian News Service story reporting on a talk by the renowned Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann. Lots of provocative stuff here, so keep reading: Neither absolutist nor atheist be Brueggemann says God's covenant more complex than most believe by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service MINNEAPOLIS -- Human attempts to define God as either judgmental or gracious fail to appreciate that God is both and is engaged in an internal dialogue that makes covenantal theology far more dynamic and complex than most Christians are willing to admit ... and accept, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann told the Covenant Network of Presbyterians at the group's 11th annual conference here today (Nov. 7). "A faithful articulation of who God is recognizes that God breaks into the world with both promise and summons," Brueggemann told the group, which was created in 1997 to work for the full inclusion of all Presbyterians -- particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered members -- in the life of the church, including service as ordained officers. "Biblical tradition is saturated with deep contradiction," Brueggemann said. "Abraham is given a unilateral, unconditional covenant -- 'I will make of you a great nation' -- it's all about God. "But Moses is given a bilateral, conditional covenant," he continued, "'If you really obey my commands, then you will be my people.'" Ticking off example after example fr ...
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