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Letter and Spirit: From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy

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Depending on whom you talk to, Scott Hahn is either a hero or a turncoat. He was raised Presbyterian, and was even on the fast track to be president at a Presbyterian seminary when he began to doubt two protestant mainstays: `by scripture alone' and `by faith alone'. So he did what any academically trained person would do, he decided to research and went back to school to do a master's in Roman Catholic thought, eventually converting to Catholicism. Since then, he has been a prolific writer and speaker on things Catholic, and why the catholic faith is the one true valid faith.

This book is part academic treatise and part faith discovery. Hahn states in the introduction that he is writing this book for both his university students, and for the general population - readers of his many popular books on things Catholic.

Letter and Spirit is a study of how scripture is central to the mass, and how the eucharistic life is central to the word. It is a study of scripture and liturgy. The book shows a clear progression in the life of the faithful from receiving the written word to the living word in the liturgy. "Liturgy is the very place of our interpretive nearness to the ancients. In our present is our beginning." p.11 So we need the form and structure of mass to help scripture to be more meaningful to our lives. "From the beginning, the two have been united indissolubly. Scripture is for liturgy, and scripture is about liturgy." p.34 So, with only one or the other, our experience of faith would be missing.

Hahn shows us that the word is God's plan for us: "In God's plan of salvation, the Bible leads God's people to the liturgy. The written text of scripture becomes the living word of God. The Bible's meaning and purpose are fulfilled in the liturgy - the words of scripture become `spirit and life' ... the words of eternal life." p.100 Through that experience of new life we can live the life to the full promised in Matthew 5:6. Our faith is a part of memory and a path of hope. "The liturgy is the place where tradition lies, where memory lives. This was its purpose from the very beginning, when Jesus commanded his apostles to "Do this in memory of me.'" p.130 Today we are still following that commandment. Daily as the mass is offered, we are living in memory of him.

Hahn then shows us that scripture is read in many ways and on many levels. He states: "Reading scripture within the mainstream of tradition means reading it as salvation history - and thus reading it typologically, as it appears in the liturgy and the lectionary." p.164 But that is just the beginning of the story. We are still developing as the church. "Much work needs to be done. There are books to be written, studies to be undertaken, sermons to be preached, prayers to be raised, and ordinary lives to be lived." p.172 This book will be a beginning in helping us to explore our faith to a much deeper level.

This book is an excellent volume to help a catholic or a Christian grow in a deeper understanding of the centrality of scriptures to faith. Yet, this book will not be accepted by many, because of Hahn's past, and because he recently announced that he is a member of Opus Dei, and has a book on that topic coming out later this year. As such, though this book has much to offer, the question remains: Will it be received for the treasures within or rejected for the author's past?

In the opening pages of the book, Scott warns that those familiar with his popular works such as The Lamb's Supper, Hail, Holy Queen, and Lord, Have Mercy, will find this book out of sorts with his previous works. The same went for those only familiar with his journal writings. This book does an excellent job of bridging the gap between scholastic theology and humble amateurs like myself. Though after awhile I learned to keep my dictionary readily available I was absolutely astounded with the message conveyed and connections made. This book is a true gem for anyone who wants to "get more out of" and truly participate in the Liturgy of the Word. The insight I imagine converts recieve learning the Real Prescence of Christ in the Eucharist is the best I could explain the insight Catholics will recieve reading this book. For my fellow Catholics who fully submerge themselves into the miraculousless of the Eucharist but always had trouble keeping the daydreams at bay during the Liturgy of the Word, you have found your key to triumph. I gaurantee you will not attend Mass the same way after reading this book. Enjoy, and God Bless.

This significant book simultaneously concerns itself with the Bible and the liturgy and covenant history and mystagogy and eschatology -- in other words, it is a book about connections. It delves into how to connect the believer with the Bible, the Bible with the liturgy, and the liturgy with the divine economy. The name for this theological ligature is 'covenant,' and Hahn shows how God's covenant reaches us even today. In accomplishing this impressive synthesis, he shows himself a comprehensive and accumulative thinker who can place recent scholarship from multiple fields at the service of specialist and layman alike.

In this book, Hahn proposes a living relationship between Scripture and liturgy in order to draw believers into full, active, and conscious participation in salvation history. The way into God's mystery is through the divine liturgy. In asserting this, Hahn does not lean into the wind of one passing prejudice or another, but rather stands upright on the tradition, saving us from both dead conservatism and errant innovation. His important contribution is to invite us to once again integrate salvation history, sacred text, and Christian ritual so that the Bible's letter will function as spirit in the heart of the liturgical mystery.

In "Letter and Spirit" Dr. Scott Hahn shines a bright light on what God does at Mass, especially through the proclamation of the Word. The proclamation of the Word in the Church's liturgy is something far more than reading scriptural texts. As Dr. Hahn writes, "God's Word... when it is proclaimed in the liturgy, establishes the kingdom of heaven on earth." This book helps us recover the real significance of the Church's Lectionary and the liturgy of the Word in the liturgical renewal of Vatican II. What power -- for individual believers, for the Church, for the world -- lies within the liturgical proclamation of the Word of God.

Scott Hahn has been leading a double life. While writing numerous popular books on Catholicism for a mass audience and gaining a wide following, he also has published scholarly papers for Catholic theological journals. He is not the only author to have had this scholarly/popular dichotomy in their work - Anglican bishop N. T. Wright is perhaps the greatest in this regard - but until now Hahn has made no attempt to bridge the gap between the academy and the pew.

In Letter and Spirit, Hahn states at the outset that this book will be different. While steering away from an overly technical presentation, there is no doubt that he is seeking to raise the bar on the conversation he normally has with his popular audience with this discussion of one of his favorite topics: the connection between Holy Scripture and the Divine Liturgy of the Church. This theme has appeared often in his books - most notably in The Lamb's Supper - but now he devotes an entire book to an exposition of the subject that is steeped in the patristic understanding of the role of Holy Scripture and the Church's liturgy.

After an introductory chapter on the importance of the ancient witness of the Church, Hahn explains three terms that appear throughout the patristic witness and form the foundation of his exposition in the chapters to follow. The first of these is `economy' - the divine plan of God's revlation and communication of Himself to mankind. The study of God's economy differs from theology - whose subject is the innermost life within the Blessed Trinity - but each informs the other.

The second term Hahn defines is `typology' whose subject is the discernment within God's work in the Old Covenant of prefigurations to what would be accomplished in the fullness of time through Jesus Christ. Events in the life of key Biblical figures such as Abraham, Moses, and David are seen as types pointing to their fulfillment in Christ and those men themeselves are seen as having roles that will find their perfection in Christ. Similarly, the Bblical people of Israel are seen as types pointing to the Church as its fulfillment as God's people. As Hahn points out, the exegesis of Holy Scripture by the Apostles and the Fathers was steeped in typology and any proper understanding of the books the Church determined to be canonical must take their view of these books into account.

The last of the three key terms `mystagogy' whose subject is the liturgy of the Church. Hahn's portayal of the role of mystagogy to liturgy to be analagous to that of exegesis to Holy Scripture. Mystagogy is said to reveal the mysteries hidden in Scripture and celebrated in the liturgy by the people of God who are called to worship God in spirit and in truth. The worship of God's people - whether it be Israel under the Old Covenant or the Church under the New Covenant - understand the Holy Scriptures and the liturgy to be intimately linked. In this context it is thus to be understood that Scripture is not to be considered as something separate from worship but rather to find its greatest meaning in the liturgical act.

Having set the basis for the discussion, Hahn then builds upon this by then discussing in more detail the interconnectedness of Scripture and liturgy. The Biblical texts in their words and even their structure are intrinsically liturgical and the liturgy is itself formed from and by the Holy Scriptures. Hahn goes into detail on the liturgical and sacramental nature of particular Scriptural accounts and notes that for most of history, it was in the corporate liturgical acts and not in private reading that the people of God would hear the Scriptures and learn their meaning. Moreover, the primary factor in determining the canonicity of the Scriptures was its universal acceptance within the liturgical context.

Having given notice to the relationship between Scripture and liturgy, Hahn then goes beyond the surface to explore the reasons for this connection. He points to the relationship between God and His people given in the covenants throughout the Old Testament and culminating in the New and everlasting Covenant between Christ and the Church. The covenants establish a relation of kinship that is based upon God's promises and sealed with a liturgical action. Thus the accounts of God's actions in Holy Scripture and the words and rubrics of the liturgy are necessarily interwoven.

Hahn then discusses how the reading of the Scriptures functions within the liturgy. The Scriptures have power within the context of the liturgy that does not depend on the people's response but by their hearing the Word of God proclaimed. The interaction of Scripture and liturgy is one of announcement and actualization.

Turning next to the idea of corporate memory, Hahn explains how liturgical actions serve to make present past events and unite God's people through time. The believer is drawn by the liturgy as a participant in the divine economy of salvation and allows the discernment of the typological structure of God's plan as it is worked out through salvation history. The liturgy unites the preaching of the Word with the mystery of the Sacraments and transforms the believer and the world.

Hahn then asserts that the connection between Christ and His Church through the proclamation of the Gospel in the liturgy includes the His presence in the Eucharist. This type of coming or parousia, though different in nature than his earlier coming in humility and his eventual coming in glory, is none the less real and has always been held to be so by the Church. This is the great mystery that is the apex of the liturgy of the Church and unites Christians past, present, and future to those in eternity and looks forward to the heavenly banquet.

The Scriptures and the liturgy, Hahn goes on to say, are themselves placed within the larger context of the Church's living tradition from which they are properly understood by the faithful. In order to fully realize the meaning given in the proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the mysteries, each must be read with the Church's eyes and take advantage of the fruits of its typological exegesis, its mystagogy, and its understanding of the divine economy.

Hahn then asserts the liturgical act as one that not only is connected to the past but also to the future end of days and Christ's eternal offering in the heavenly realm. Centering this part of the discussion on the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation, his exposition makes clear the liturgical fabric that is at the heart of the two books. The patterns of the Church's liturgy are themselves a reflection of the heavenly liturgy and the knowlege of both are requisite to the proper understanding of their message. Economy, typology, and mystagogy are basic to the Church's understanding of the liturgy and through the liturgy the faithful experience the veil between the temporal and eternal opened. Heaven has come to earth.

Hahn closes the book on the nature of the proper understanding of Holy Scripture. Exegesis of the Biblical texts should proceed in a trajectory from the literary sense to the historical truth to the divine meaning which is the goal of Scriptural interpretation among God's people. Such an exegesis does not take place in a vacuum but is to be guided by the Church's tradition which preserves the richness of its thought and, of course, includes the understanding of the faith preserved in the liturgy. It is an understanding woven around the themes of economy, typology, and mystagogy and is etched into the Christian tradition.

Overall, Letter and Spirit is one of the better books on the place of liturgy written for a popular audience in recent memory. Given that much of Hahn's previous popular work has relied on a somewhat folksy approach, this book may give a bit of a jolt to his readers. However, the investment of a little more contemplation of the ideas presented is certainly a worthwhile investment. Those concerned with Hahn's standing as a Catholic apologist need not be put off as his approach as any partisan concerns are put on a short leash. Whether one accepts all of Dr. Hahn's conclusions or not, any Christian with an interest in the historic worshio of the Church will find it an important and challenging read.

Wow! By the grace of God, I was blown away by this book! In these pages, I was given great insight into the profound relationship between Scripture and Liturgy and how we participate in the saving grace of Christ. I am astounded by the fact that the Liturgy makes present "the works brought about by God in the history of salvation." (p. 101 quoting John Paul II) and that I'm able to share in their graces today!

In my opinion, this is the best work by Dr. Scott Hahn so far. It is warmly written coming from his heart as well as his mind. I enjoyed how he interwoven the themes of covenant, tradition, economy of salvation, typology, and mystagogy.

This book helped me to revitalized my knowledge and participation in the sacraments. I am very grateful to God and to Dr. Scott Hahn.

This is a very interesting and inspiring book. If you ever wanted to know how the church fathers determined which writings would be included in the approved group we call the New Testament and how our understanding of their meanings developed, this is a good book to read. It is involved enough to be interesting, but not so involved that you need to be an academic to enjoy it.

In his prolouge Professor Hahn warns the reader that this book is not going be just like his previous popular works. Letter and Spirit is a deep, scholarly work and is more in line with his journal pieces. None of the famous Hahn humor is on display here and I missed it.

This aside, however, the book is very good. It gets deeply into the ancient beginings of our liturgy and would make an excellent gift for a seminarian.

In this detailed study, Dr. Hahn takes us on a biblical and historical journey to discover the preeminence of liturgy in the Christian's life. The Protestant accusations of vain repitition crumble under the weight of importance scripture provides for liturgy. As with so much, it seems, we have thrown out the baby with the bathwater - becoming so blinded by our doctrinal presuppositions as to miss a key theme in scripture and history. Dr. Hahn has done a great service in regaining our attention. Very well done and very well-reasoned call to the liturgy and sacraments in worship and as part of our daily lives.

To say that this book is simply a continuation of what Dr. Hahn began in The Lamb's Supper is inaccurate. Yes, he does treat on the book of Revelation in this book, and yes he does deal with the Mass, but this book is a tour de force in its own right. It is perhaps one of his denser and more challenging books; gone are the cutesy "punnish" section headings and it its place is much more scholarly language. This is not to say though that the book is inaccessible, rather it is very rich and nourishing. Dr. Hahn's main focus in this book is to explore the fact that the scriptures are most at home in the heart of the Church; liturgy illustrates scripture and vice versa. Again he makes frequent reference to the Church fathers and prove that rather than being a "Romish" innovation, such an understanding of the relationship between Liturgy and scripture has been with the Church since the beginning.