I do believe that there is relatively little in the NT, compared with the OT, using land as a sacred reference point. Elsewhere Kaufman, whom I quoted above, notes that it is not a surprise that the early church gravitated toward the notion of “kingdom” rather than something more organic, more material.

I bet you that sacramental theology might step up to the plate here, however.

And, as Steve Matzner pointed out in last night’s forum, there is no shortage of agricultural references; mustard seeds, vineyards, sowing, and so forth.

My sense of Brueggeman’s notion of space is more a notion of “irrelevant space,” or “amassed space.” Space becomes a commodity and a selfish possession, disconnected from history and relationship. I am reminded of his book Israel’s Praise, in which he points out his dislike of Psalms full of unanchored praise–like 150. His critique here gave me fodder to critique “contemporary creeds,” creeds which are meant to do the same thing as the Nicene or the Apostles, but don’t. They don’t, because they have no shared and spanned history, no anchor in anything but the immediate moment.

I digress.

Now. Off to purchase Saving Paradise.