The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth
by Scott Hahn

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Book Reviews of The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth

Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars

As one who began his journey across the Tiber river by first reading the Book of Revelation, I read with interest Scott Hahn's book on the Mass and the book of Revelation. I have also been asked by several people my opinion of this work and so I present my critique. I need to say up front that I was crossing the Tiber in the opposite direction of Dr. Hahn-he towards Rome, I away from it.

From the first it is obvious that Dr. Hahn is writing a popular book and not a scholastic or academic work. The tone of his writing shows this. Unfortunately so does his use of sources and his exegetical efforts. This book was not meant to bear close scrutiny, more in the order of a devotional with little regard for accuracy in history or exegesis. This is surprising though. Dr. Carroll, the founder and past president of Christendom College in Virginia has called Dr. Hahn the premier Catholic biblical scholar in the world, and, reading others who have written about Dr. Hahn, this seems to be a universal acclaim. So the number and scope of his errors seem out of place in light of the praise he has garnered. And they seem very troubling in light of the praise this book itself has won.

A quick note on something that pervaded much of his work, though not related to his main subject, bears a comment. He early on mentions his coming to Catholicism from an "anti-Catholic" background. We have to take him at his word on this for, as far as I know, there is no extant writings of his that are "anti-Catholic." Yet, in this work, he takes a couple of swipes that I find rather "anti-Evangelical." I say that for if the same arguments were made against Catholic doctrine they would quickly be labeled "anti-Catholic." He particularly jabs at sola scriptura (47-48, 54).

As to his accuracy, a couple of examples ought to suffice. What has to asked in his making of these errors are two questions: "are they out of ignorance" or "were they purposeful?" Either option bodes ill for the whole work.

On page 89, he describes the woman of Revelation 12. The Bible (New Jerusalem) describes her as being "robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." Dr. Hahn adds, following Catholic artistic depictions, that she "crushes the head of the serpent." This last part is not in Revelation, though he seems to be implying that. In fact, the only place you find it in Scripture is the early Vulgate of Genesis 3.15 where the Latin feminine pronoun was substituted for the Hebrew (and Greek-LXX) masculine pronoun giving "she shall crush your (Serpant's) head." This was carried over in the earlier editions of the Douay-Rheims English translation of the Vulgate. Modern editions of both now follow the Hebrew and Greek and have "he shall crush your head." His reversion to the Latin that has been rejected by even the Catholic church is troubling. In the guise of giving an accurate portrayal of Revelation (on the previous page he berated his evangelical brethern for their portrayal) he violates the text of both Revelation and Genesis.

On page 96 while writing about the battle of Armageddon he rightly points out that Megiddo is where Judah's King Josiah was shot. However, he says that he was "cut down in his prime for disobeying the instruction of God's prophet (see 2 Kgs 23.28-30)." First, that is not what the text says. It is odd that he would say a passage says something that it does not and then cite the reference. Did he not expect anyone to check it? The one who told Josiah to turn back was the Pharaoh of Egypt, Neco, not a prophet. And Neco is not called a prophet in either Kings or Chronicles. Perhaps Dr. Hahn sees him as a prophet because the Chronicles says that the words of Neco came to Josiah from the mouth of God. If that is the case then it is a seriously strained exegetical effort. Additionally, no reason is given for Josiah's death as Dr. Hahn says. On page 97, in his section on describing and identifying the 144,000 witnesses he writes that during the final destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. at the hands of Titus, "not a single Christian perished." This is an astonishing statement to say the least! Where did he find such information?! He has been making a point of using the writings of the ancient church fathers but he misses completely Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. In that work, Eusebius, the ancient church historian, following Josephus (whom Hahn cites), notes in his Book 2, chapter 23 that "James, the brother of the Lord" was cast down from a wing of the temple and stoned. As he was not dead he was beaten to death with a fuller's club (cf. Also Josephus, Antiquities 20.9.1). Eusebius goes on to say that "the wiser part of the Jews were of the opinion that [James' death] was the cause of the immediate siege of Jerusalem." So, contrary to what Dr. Hahn writes, Eusebius says that not only did at least one Christian die in the final war of the Jews but that his death was the cause of it. How did Dr. Hahn miss this bit of information and come up with a completely opposite "fact"?

One last point. In the Greek New Testament there is a word that is used frequently and that Dr. Hahn points out frequently. That word is prebuteros. It translates to "elder." It transliterates to "prebyter." The English word "priest" originates from the Old English and Late Latin "preost", presbyter, elder. Because of this there persists much confusion. However, it should not be confusing to Dr. Hahn and he should not have made the mistakes that he did in regards to this word. It seems obvious that he is making a case for Catholic Priesthood despite NT evidence to the contrary. The Greek word for priest in the OT sense is "iereus" and it is never used of a NT office. It is different and distinct from "presbyter" but Dr. Hahn frequently mixes and confuses these words, implying that they mean the same thing. On page 68 he talks about the 24 "elders" which he correctly notes comes from presbyter but then sets them in context of the twenty-four priestly divisions who served the Temple. He is mixing words. The "presbyters" are not "iereuss" and it should not be implied that they are, especially by a scholar of Dr. Hahn's reputation. The point is most obviously seen on page 76. There he talks about the "elders (presbyteroi, priests)" and then in the next paragraph talks of the Lamb who is "robed as a high priest ([Rev] 1:13)." Dr. Hahn must know that Rev 1.13 is not talking about a "high-presbyteros" but a "high-iereus." He is mixing words and he is doing so illegitimately. Presbyteros does not mean priest in the sense that iereus does and he should know this. The distinction is upheld in both the Old and New Testaments. He is either ignorant of the distinction or so intent on presenting the Catholic idea of a "priest" against his former Presbyterian idea of "elders" that he intentionally violates semantics in that quest.

Though this work has been widely received, embraced, and praised by the Catholic community, its whole presentation is full of such errors and misdirections. As I said earlier, he apparently intended it to be a devotional work and did not intend it to stand close scrutiny. I would be very disappointed if these errors of his have not been pointed out to him by his fellow professors at Stubenville or at least by Mitch Pacwa, who, if he has read this work, should have recognized these errors.

This was a very disapointing work. It turns out to be more of a Catholic apologetic and anti-Evangelical polemic than a serious and accurate treatment of both the Mass and the book of Revelation.

Summary of The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth

Roman Catholicism Books

• Subjects > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism > Roman Catholicism
• Reference
• Theology
• Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices > Ritual
• Religious Studies