John Paul Heil

The beginning and the end suggest a conversation about worship in the letter to the Hebrews. The rest? Not so much.

The author begins by introducing his theme, but ominously, never really defining the term at issue, and the rest of the analysis displays this. "Worship" anymore means so much that it means nothing, and it deserved at least some kind of working definition throughout the work.

At the very end of the book, and in at least the Kindle edition, after all the notes, which might mean that many would miss it...the author gets around to discussing worship in the letter to the Hebrews. And his points are well taken based on the whole construction of the sermon-letter.

The vast majority of this book is not about worship in the letter to the Hebrews: it is the author's textual analysis, heavily invested in exploring macrochiastic and chiastic levels and tracing the use of individual words throughout the text. There is some exegesis. Yes, there are a few points made here and there about how it connects to worship.

So really this is a kind of commentary on Hebrews. Perhaps in his own mind the author is convinced this is all about worship in the letter to the Hebrews; the reader will struggle to agree with him.

If you're looking for a textual analysis of Hebrews high on chiasm, exploring how the author uses various words, then this work is for you. If you were expecting some kind of rigorous exploration of worship in Hebrews....not so much.

...which is honestly probably for the better, since it is an imposition of a foreign concept onto the book, not a major explicit theme of the book, and way too easy to make more of than it ought to be made.… (more)