The Lord Roars: Recovering the Prophetic Voice for Today by M. Daniel Carroll R. (review)

Reviewed by: The Lord Roars: Recovering the Prophetic Voice for Today by M. Daniel Carroll R. Michael Ufok Udoekpo m. daniel carroll r. , The Lord Roars: Recovering the Prophetic Voice for Today (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2022). Pp. xix + 131. 29. 95. Carroll R. 's well-written work is rooted in the Earle Lectures on the Old Testament that he delivered in October 2020 at the Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) in Kansas City, Missouri. It is organized into four chapters, with a preface, an epilogue, and three appendixes that stress the relevance of three key ethical concerns (justice, worship, and hope) found in the prophecies of Amos, Isaiah, and Micah. In chap. 1 ("Reimagining Reality: The Power of the Prophetic Text"), C. R. defines and limits the scope of his study to the above three mentioned prophets. Methodologically, C. R's choices are based on discussing certain texts in these books, canonical forms, as well as the formative and constructive contributions "that this prophetic literature can make to the ethical vision of the people of God in today's world" (p. 3). C. R. draws attention to notable extrabiblical "prophetic voices" (Walter Rauschenbusch, Martin Luther King Jr. , Cornel West, Robert Chao Romero, Jim Wallis, Jon Sobrino, and Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador), as well as works of "literary imagination" (Don Quijote de la Mancha, Charles Dickens) that mention "the poor, widows, orphans, strangers, oppression, justice, righteousness and compassion" in light of contemporary situations (p. 9). C. R. is convinced that Walter Brueggemann's work The Prophetic Imagination (1978; repr. , Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018) is an embodiment of "prophetic criticizing" and "energizing" evident in the analysis of his ethical volume (p. 24). The criticizing requires "confronting a culture's reigning, assumed narratives about what the world is and will be"––what he calls the "royal consciousness"—along with the "co-opted religious apparatus and theology that legitimate and celebrate it" (p. 19). The energizing, C. R. eruditely stresses, entails "offering hope of new possibilities beyond judgment, of a world no longer held in the grip of dehumanizing systems" (p. 19). In chap. 2 ("Prophetic Critique: Deconstructing the Unacceptable"), C. R. argues and analyzes with clarity elements of denunciation of injustices found in the prophecies of Amos, Isaiah, and Micah. These prophets decry the cruel mistreatment of the poor (Amos 2: 7; 8: 4; Isa 3: 15; 32: 6–7; Mic 3: 1–3) and corruption in legal proceedings at the gates of End Page 369 the towns and cities (Amos 5: 10, 12–13; Isa 1: 23; 10: 1–2; 59: 3–8; Mic 3: 9–11; 7: 2–3). They also challenge economic exploitation of the vulnerable, the expropriation of their land (Amos 2: 6; 5: 11; 8: 4–6; Isa 3: 14; 5: 8–10; Mic 2: 1–2, 8–9; 6: 10–12) and lavish lifestyles when others are in need (Amos 2: 8; 3: 15; 4: 1; 6: 4–6; Isa 3: 16–24; 5: 11–12, 22; 24: 7–9; 28: 3, 7–8). Among the many condemnatory aspects of prophetic words on Israel's and Judah's wrongdoings, C. R. notes especially crooked market transactions in the texts of Amos 8: 5 and Mic 6: 10–11 (p. 27). The author equally draws the attention of contemporary readers to the fact that Amos, Isaiah, and Micah "did not limit their critiques to few individuals or to the elites, although they were primary targets; these sins also were culturally and concretely systemic" (p. 47). Carroll R. persuasively dedicates chap. 3 ("'Let Justice Roll Down': Worship and Social Responsibility") to the critique of worship without ethics in Israel and Judah. C. R. prefixes this discussion with what he calls "the recalling challenge" (p. 53). By this he means those instances where modern society has mixed up religion or faith, politics and culture with national exceptionalism. Utilizing his contextual experience as a Latino and his long-time involvement in immigration in the United States, C. R. skillfully illustrates "how nativism and Christian faith have coalesced historically in response to the arrival of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers arriving from countries of the south borders" (p. 59). He boldly. . .