Peterson is the recently retired Principal of Oak Hill Theological College in London and is in the Anglican evangelical tradition. His previous scholarly work on Hebrews makes him well qualified to write on worship from the perspective of Biblical Theology. He has a keen sense of how the gospel of Jesus Christ changes our thinking from a mere Christianisation of OT worship forms into Christian worship.
The first two chapters set the scene with an Old Testament study, followed by a summary and preview chapter that sets the scene for what follows. The great strength of the book is in Chs 3-9 where Peterson systematically mines the various parts of the NT for their teaching on worship. These chapters present careful scholarship rather than glib phrases.
Ch 10 is a goldmine as Peterson brings the whole together in a theological consideration of how worship relates to the gospel. The Epilogue gives a tantilising hint as to what all this might mean in practice.
It's outside Peterson's scope in this study, but I wish he had written more chapters ... especially doing more to apply his findings to worship in today's church.
Peterson is not a light read but should be within reach of the serious 'lay' reader. This work is worth the effort and it is a good challenge to some views on worship that have a greater audience at present. In particular this is true of his emphasis that worship is largely a life of faith, godliness and witness.
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