First
Comes Love by Scott Hahn
As with his earlier Rome Sweet Home, Hahn's The Lamb's Supper seeks to bring
scriptural exegesis and Roman Catholic ritual tradition into fruitful dialogue.
The central thrust of this piece is that Catholic liturgy offers the best
interpretive paradigm for studying the Book of Revelation. Hahn divides his
subject matter into three main sections, considering in turn Scripture in the
canon of the Mass, various interpretive approaches to the Book of Revelation and
the mutual illumination of the Catholic Mass and John's Apocalypse. Apart from
vapid section titles e.g., "Guided Missal," "Resisting a Rest" and "The Need to
Heed the Creed", which detract from the serious themes presented, Hahn treats
the material quite competently, and he is candid in his enthusiasm for both
biblical liturgics and liturgical exegesis. Hahn's work is a fine introduction
to eucharistic theology for the Catholic layperson, offering a crash course in
the history of sacrificial worship in ancient Israel. The book has an ecumenical
appeal, especially for Lutherans and Anglicans desiring to better acquaint
themselves with Catholic ritual and the New Testament. The only consideration
noticeably absent from Hahn's liturgical review of Revelation is whether the
doxological splendors of the Mass are marred or made manifest in the hastily
prepared English translations of the Latin Rite issued in the wake of the Second
Vatican Council. Oct. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.