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

by Scott Hahn

Book Overview

The bestselling author of The Lamb's Supper continues his thoughtful exploration of the complex relationship between the Bible and the Catholic liturgy in a revelatory work that will appeal to all readers. Scott Hahn has inspired millions of readers with his perceptive and unique view of Catholic theology and worship, becoming one of the most looked-to contemporary authorities in these areas. In Letter and Spirit , Hahn extends the message he began...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385509332
• ISBN13: 9780385509336
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Image
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Connecting Word and Sacrament

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 consi

Awsome

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

Different, but AMAZING

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.

It's all about making connections -- for layman and specialist alike

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.

Finding the heart of the Bible in the spirit of the liturgy

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.