Dr. Scott Hahn - Letter and Spirit: From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy [unabridged audiobook + ebook]

Narrated by Brian Keeler.

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 in The Lamb's Supper, offering far-reaching and profound insights into what the Bible teaches us about living the spiritual life. For both Christians and Jews, the texts of the Bible are not simply records of historical events. They are intended, through public recitations in churches and synagogues, to bring listeners and readers into the sweeping story of redemption as it unfolds in the Bible. Focusing on the Catholic Mass, Hahn describes how God's Word is meant to open our eyes to the life-giving power of the sacraments, and how the liturgy brings about the 'actualization' of the saving truths of Scripture. Letter and Spirit is a stunningly original contribution to the field of biblical studies and will help Hahn's many loyal and enthusiastic readers (and listeners) understand the relationship between the Bible and the Mass in a deeper way.

Reviews:

“This significant book happily trespasses the boundaries that have accidentally accrued in the discipline of theology. It 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 economy of God. 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.
“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 mystical 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.” —David W. Fagerberg, University of Notre Dame, author of Theologia Prima: What is Liturgical Theology?

“With this book Scott Hahn reaffirms a whole new perspective for contemporary biblical scholars. Alongside the motif of the preached word as a fundamental unstated background of the contemporary New Testament scholar he offers the motif of the liturgical act. This new perspective is not a magic key which will transform research in Scripture. But it just might nudge some scholars into looking to the liturgy for new answers to old problems.” —Fr. James Swetnam, S.J., Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome

“Most Catholics today are likely to think of Mass as something we people do. God's role, except for Communion, is to receive what we do—kindly, we hope. 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.' Letter and Spirit helps us recover the real significance of the current lectionary and the liturgy of the word in Vatican II's liturgical renewal. What power for individual believers, for the Church, for the world lies within the liturgical proclamation of God's word.” —Bishop Daniel Conlon, Diocese of Steubenville

“Dr. Hahn has again penetrated deeply into the wisdom of Church tradition in this scholarly work dealing with the interrelationship of scripture and liturgy.” —Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR, Chancellor Franciscan University of Steubenville

“Experience the life-changing power of God's word in its most natural setting: the community gathered for worship. Readers will profit by this book and be better able to mediate the riches of the Scripture and the liturgy.” —Fr. Francis Martin, Research Fellow in Catholic Biblical Studies, The Intercultural Forum of the John Paul II Cultural Center, Washington, D.C.

“Since converting to Catholicism in 1986, Hahn, a former Presbyterian minister, has turned out a series of user-friendly books illuminating the mysteries of his adopted faith for the average Catholic. Here, he takes a new direction—and some risk—by addressing two audiences: fellow academics and readers of his bestselling theology books. Inviting devotees of these popular works to "go deeper," Hahn takes on the lofty subject of scripture and its relationship to liturgy. He shows how scriptural texts have been intimately tied to ritual public worship since the early Christian church and even before that in the Jewish temple. The first Christians, he writes, encountered scripture in their liturgy, not in devotional reading, adding that the Bible modern Christians read was canonized to be proclaimed during worship. For theological novices, Hahn devotes a chapter to defining such technical terms as economy, typology, and mystagogy, and to satisfy academics, he supports his text with references to the work of scripture scholars, ending with more than 20 pages of detailed notes. Hahn's approach in this book requires thoughtful reading, and it remains to be seen whether the audience he cultivated with popular works like The Lamb's Supper will warm to it.” -- Publisher's Weekly

“What is different about reading the Bible in a classroom and hearing it read in Church? That is the question Scott Hahn addresses in this lively and informative book. His answer is that when the Bible is read in Christian worship it becomes the living Christ present in the midst of his people. In crisp and concise prose, Letter and Spirit offers an introduction to the history, theology, and present liturgical practice of the Christian reading of the Scriptures in the Eucharist. After reading Hahn, one will never doze when the Scriptures are read in Church.” —Robert Louis Wilken, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of the History of Christianity,University of Virginia; author of The Spirit of Early Christian Thought; and past president of the North American Patristic Society

“The spirit of the great theologians Danielou and Congar breathes anew in this work of Dr. Scott Hahn. Letter and Spirit promises to become a classic in the revitalization of the liturgical renewal begun by Vatican II.” —Very Reverend Kurt Belsole, O.S.B. Rector, Saint Vincent Seminary

“This is a most important book and needs to be very carefully read and studied. Every devout Catholic should be spiritually fed by Scripture and liturgy. Obviously these two are meant to go together. In ways that you probably have never thought of, Scott Hahn brings the two together and relates them in a most integrated way. This book could be a new vista in your own spiritual life.” —Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, author of In the Presence of the Lord

“An appealingly fresh retrieval of the art of reading and living Scripture through the lens of liturgy and worship. Paraphrasing St. Francis de Sales, Hahn offers us the Bible, not so much as read, but as sung. Scholars will find biblical and theological acuteness; students and general readers, excellent scholarship expressed in friendly ways. Highly recommended.” —Dr. William Thompson-Uberuaga, Professor of Theology, Duquesne University, and past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America

“Scott Hahn’s new book, Letter and Spirit, betokens the resurgence of the art of mystagogy—the spiritual exegesis of the liturgy. A late blossom on the stem of the twentieth-century ‘Ressourcement,’ it will help to heal the eyes with which we read Holy Scripture. This has to be one of Scott Hahn’s very best books—one that will excite scholars and nonspecialists in equal measure.” —Stratford Caldecott, G. K. Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture, Oxford

“This is a wonderful book . . . Hahn’s exposition is lucid, accessible to any serious layperson, and a wonderful synthesis and summation concerning what it means to ‘pray the Scriptures’ in a life-transforming way.” —Dr. David Lyle Jeffrey, Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities, Baylor University