Brothers and Sisters: Paul in the Liturgy
by Florence Morgan Gillman
Who should read this? This book is explicitly addressed to Catholic lectors and readers of Paul’s letters—those who read Paul’s letters in liturgies and those who desire to understand these letters on a deeper level.
Why should you read this? This book provides clearly written responses to common questions about Paul and his letters, such as those related to a chronology of his life or what his attitude was toward women.
Why is this book useful? Every chapter is written in the same voice and clearly directed toward the thinking layperson who reads Paul’s letters. The final chapter, “Hearing and Proclaiming Paul in the Liturgy and from the Lectionary,” is very practical—dealing with such topics as: which writings of Paul appear in the Roman Catholic lectionary; what to do if assigned a “Pauline” letter that one thinks Paul did not write; how to understand the lectionary as “a work in progress”; and how to proclaim the word while serving as lector.
Quibble: This book’s title, Brothers and Sisters, might be taken as an icon of its approach to Paul. Just as Bible editors now add “and sisters” to Paul’s address of his readers as “brothers” to fit our current sensibilities, so this book’s portrait of Paul is one especially offered not to offend. The author admits that Paul is patriarchal in his advocacy of head coverings for women in 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, but in regard to the silencing of women that follows three chapters later, the author’s main response is that Paul probably did not write 1 Corinthians 14:34–35. Similarly, what to current sensibilities seems sexist in the Pastoral Letters is easily dismissed by labelling these letters as deutero-Pauline, i.e., written by someone after Paul. No reflection is offered on how to regard these texts that remain in the Church’s canon. The author’s motivation to make Paul accessible and relevant is commendable, but I wish readers would have been offered more opportunities to see potential points of difference between Paul and our culture’s sensibilities.
Why is this book significant? This is a short, academically informed presentation of Paul that offers direct and succinct answers to common questions about Paul’s life and writings. This book is especially significant for its emphasis on Paul’s Jewish identity. The author helpfully states that Paul never left his Judaism or Pharisaism. This is a useful explanation for understanding why Paul continues to quote from Mosaic law when writing to his Gentile churches. The book also describes how the new perspective on Paul arose out of E. P. Sanders’s work in the twentieth century. While not the only model for understanding Paul’s contested relation with his past in Judaism, Morgan Gillman’s approach is useful in offsetting ingrained anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism among some Christians.
Florence Morgan Gillman, Brothers and Sisters: Paul in the Liturgy. Liturgy Training Publications, 2024. 112.
REVIEWER: Mark Reasoner
Mark Reasoner graduated from The University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in New Testament and Early Christian Literature. He is Professor of Biblical Theology at Marian University, in Indianapolis, Indiana. His first monographs include The Strong and the Weak: Romans 14:1 – 15:13 in Context (Cambridge University Press, 1999); Romans in Full Circle: A History of Interpretation (Westminster John Knox, 2005); Documents and Images for the Study of Paul (with Neil Elliott, Fortress 2011); and The Letters of Paul: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (with Charles Puskas, Michael Glazier, 2014). His research interests include the New Testament letters of Romans and 1 Corinthians and the cultural worlds of the New Testament.