The Letters of Paul as Rituals of Worship. By JOHN PAUL HEIL.

Abstract

T he letters of Paul have been studied using a variety of lenses based on the roles that Paul played in relation to his recipients (e.g. missionary, evangelist, teacher). In The Letters of Paul as Rituals of Worship , John Paul Heil argues that Paul’s letters should also be read with a view to the apostle’s role as a ‘preeminent and paradigmatic person of prayer and worship’ (p. 1). To that end, he explores elements of worship in each of the thirteen letters attributed to Paul. Heil maintains that worship is a neglected topic in New Testament studies in general and Pauline studies in particular, though he acknowledges several publications that treat various aspects of worship in Paul’s letters. The present volume is intended to make up for that lack. Heil’s study of worship in Paul’s letters focuses on three areas. First, he recognizes that the letters were originally intended to play a role in early Christian public worship where the Eucharist was probably observed, which means the letter recipients would have heard Paul’s theological reasoning and concerns as part of their worship experience. Second, a great deal of liturgical language frames and fills each of the letters. The letters contain acts of worship and discuss the worship of the recipients and its relationship to their lives outside the worship gathering. Third, Heil points to the function of the letters as substitutes for Paul’s own presence. From this he suggests that Paul’s letters function as ritual speech-acts through which Paul vicariously performs and leads the gathered recipients in worship. To put it another way, the letters make Paul an ‘epistolary presider’ over the recipients’ communal worship.