Religious experience and ritual in the psalms [i intend to investigate ritual performances of psalms in ancient israel and postbiblical judaism and christianity to show how different communities…

Religious experience and ritual in the psalms [i intend to investigate ritual performances of psalms in ancient israel and postbiblical judaism and christianity to show how different communities conceptualize prayer, scripture, and religion itself in diverse ways. Focusing on psalms as ancient texts still used today, i ask: how can past functions clarify, inform, enhance, and challenge functions in later settings? What were ancient israelites trying to achieve by reciting psalms? What have later jews and christians tried to achieve? What religious experiences do psalms reflect and encourage? Approaching psalms as performed ritual scripts, rather than as faith-centered poetry, opens up solutions to interpretive challenges that were previously unavailable. Further, my study will enhance scholarship in religious studies by using the varied performance traditions of the psalter to demonstrate the multiple roles that worship, belief, and doubt can play in religious life, which scholars focusing on one community or period often overlook.]