Singing in Paul’s Cult of the Possessed by Jesus’ Spirit

Abstract

In the article the authors are dealing with Paul’s cult of the possessed by the spirit of the late magician Jesus, as well as with the place and the meaning of singing in its two main rituals: ritual meal and ritual conjuring of Jesus’ spirit. The conclusion of the analysis is that both rituals had the same two-part structure. Ritual meal consisted of love feast (agape), where the members of the cult were supposed to sing appropriate songs together, and Eucharist, where each member „sung in his heart“ only. On the other side, ritual conjuring of Jesus’ spirit was divided in worship and séance of communication with Jesus. In the first part the whole community recited psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, while in the second part the chosen medium delivered Jesus’ messages through the „wordless groans“.