Praise or Performance?: A Short Theological Introduction to the Psalter

Today there are many books about worship and many books about the book of Psalms, but only a few books about the relationship between the two. Contemporary studies of the Psalter are in flux between those focused upon each psalm in its literary-historical environment (micro-structuralists) and those focused upon the Psalter as a great literary text comparable to other "great texts" from the ancient world (macro-structuralists). Contemporary worship is also in flux between traditionalists (who want to sing hymns) and progressives (who want to experience contemporary Christian music)—the so-called "worship wars." Praise or Performance? seeks to open a dialogue between Psalms scholars on the one hand and Western worshipers on the other in the hope of sensitizing each group to their common theological interests.