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

Interest in the last book of the Bible, Revelation or the Apocalypse, runs so high that Hal Lindsey's book synching ancient prophecy to the daily news, The Late Great Planet Earth, was the best-selling non-fiction book of the '70s, and now ranks as the number two bestseller of the last thirty years. Instead of looking to the future, however, Scott Hahn looks to the past, to the early church, to be exact. What did they think of this book, which owes its inclusion in the Bible to St. Augustine? The results are clearly revealing. In both the New Testament and the earliest church document, the Didache, the writers found the events of Revelation reflected in their celebration of the Mass. Moreso, the Mass was specifically designed to reflect the books of Revelation and Hebrews (also courtesy of St. Augustine). Anyone who has dipped into either book immediately encounters the idea of worship on earth as a reflection of worship in heaven. However, the casual reader may be surprised how many details fall into place following this idea. Scott Hahn wrote this book for Catholics with at least some casual acquaintance with the Mass. They may not know the names of the Gloria and the Kyrie, but something will likely ring a bell. He assumes the reader has no knowledge, on the other hand, of the book of Revelation. I'd like to suggest another audience for the book, and that is the mainstream and non-denominational Protestants and charismatics who make up Hal Lindsey's readers. What would they get out of this book? First, at least an initial encounter with the Mass, which generally elicits surprise at how much Scripture is both read and incorporated into it. The next shock is how much of that comes from the book of Revelation. If an aftershock is forthcoming, it may be in realizing how much the altar and structure of the Mass resembles the vision in Revelation, as well as other places such as the books of Daniel and Nehemiah. The writing style of this book is also rather unusual. There are humorous sub-titles, perhaps in an attempt to lighten the heavy subject matter. The writing is at once dense and breezy, perhaps to enable the casual reader to skim, and the more intrigued reader to dig deeper. At first glance, there are almost no or references. This, however, is merely to keep the text from bogging down in endless citations. Numerous Scripture references are given as asides in the text, and there are copious, engaging endnotes for those so drawn. This book would be ideal for a book study, or a Bible study in which members simply looked up and discussed the many Bible references in the text. The really good news is that Scott Hahn wrote the notes for Ignatius' Catholic Study Bible New Testament, which is the Revised Standard Version, the readable and literary English version approved for and by both Catholics and Protestants, and which will likely incorporate many of these revealing insights Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament . In both cases, Scott Hahn's (re)discovery of the view of the Mass in the early church is a revelation.

Great book! Dr. Hahn is an excellent writer, and goes a long way to helping Christians better understand the Book of Revelation.

I LOVED this book. As a cradle catholic I had a lot of questions asked of me that I don’t always have an answer for. I’ve grown a hunger for those answers. I stumbled upon this book and read it quickly. I learned so much. It is an easy read. I have recommended to several people already. I’ve even started going to daily mass about once a week since I’ve read it because it has deepened my faith.

This is a very difficult book to describe other than to say it primarily deals with the juxtaposition of the celebration of the Mass and the Book of Revelation. It was beautifully done! A lot of us see mostly the forbidding imagery in Revelations. One of my sisters attends a church in which the pastor seems to take great delight in the prospect of fire and brimstone raining down upon us all. Others focus on one particular creature or image and then define it in terms of our world. (If I had a dollar for every time I had heard that the dragon was Russia I could fund my retirement.) Still others will take one tiny part out of context and assign some meaning that doesn't seem to go with the whole. And these things aren't surprising because it can be very confusing. I don't claim to understand it, and I probably never will. But this book shed some light on some things, in a way that I've never considered! He breaks down the different parts of the Mass and refers back to the Book of Revelation to outline the union between the two. He also gives background of Jewish customs, and the significance St. John's contemporaries would find in some of the events depicted in his Book. There is so much more within than what I've briefly mentioned. Excellent book written in clear and simple language. One doesn't need a degree in philosophy in order to understand it. This was my first time reading Scott Hahn, but it won't be my last.

I purchased both the audiobook and the Kindle ebook because I like the Whispersync for voice feature and often read and listen at the same time. The author, Scott Hahn, self-narrated this audiobook. The reading is very professional, as good an audiobook as I’ve listened to anytime; I would like to see him do more. The allegorical concepts in the book of Revelation were enlightening and I felt that I learned a lot. Much of the interpretation was new to me, though I’ve read Revelation many times. I feel he is spot on with his many references and parallels between the Scriptures and the Mass. I definitely recommend this book as well as any other works by this author.

There are numerous "keys" that interpreters of Biblical prophecy have used to "unlock" the mysteries of the Book of Revelation: the rise of the papacy, the return of the Jews to Israel, and the recent troubles in Iraq serve just to name a few. One that hasn't received much notice is the assertion of a link between the Book of Revelation and the liturgy of the Church. Scott Hahn revives this link, asserted in many writings of the Church Fathers, and claims in The Lamb's Supper, it's absolute necessity for understanding the Bible's last book. Like most of Hahn's popular works, it is written in a folksy, breezy style that is geared for a popular Catholic audience. Hahn is very popular with the EWTN audience and it is easy to see why when one views any of his appearances on the Catholic cable network. However, much of the sincerity and enthusiasm that comes through so clearly on video or tape appearances does not always translate well in written form. This book is quite good, but Hahn's television series based on the book is far more memorable. In general, he is perhaps a better speaker than author for his cause. The book is divided into three sections. In the first section, Hahn gives an overview of the Catholic Mass and its eschatological connection. This section is more personal than the others as Hahn ties his description into his own early experiences with liturgy. Hahn does a good job of explaining the eschatological vision presented in the Mass and the connection with Scripture and the doctrine of the Real Presence. In the second section, Hahn covers the basics of the Book of Revelation. He covers many of the popular views and rightly criticizes them for their sensationalism and history of embarassing predictions. In its place, he offers more plausable explanations for the symbolism in the book and its cast of characters and locales. Basing his theory on the writings of early Christians and on historical research, much of the nonsense published in "interpreting" the Book of Revelation is exposed as without any Scriptural or historical basis. After describing the two elements of his thesis in the first two sections, Hahn uses the third to tie them together. Hahn leaves no liturgical citation unturned in weaving together the elements of the Mass and the Apocalypse. Oddly enough, this is where Hahn perhaps is weakest. In a sincere attempt to marry together the Book of Revelation and the Mass, Hahn overstates his case and falls into a sort of panliturgicalism where every correspondence in text is automatically considered one in fact. Hahn consideres almost exclusively the text of the Roman liturgy which (like other liturgies) evolved over centuries. It seems far more likely the liturgy conformed itself to the Book of Revelation than the other way around. There is undoubtedly a connection between the two but the connection is found in similarities between the patterns of early Christian worship and the description of heavenly worship in the Book of Revelation. The later conformity of the Biblical and liturgical texts convey the fact of a later acknowledgment of said connection. Despite such overstepping of boundaries, The Lamb's Supper is still a worthwhile read that brings attention to an oft ignored correspondence between the eschaton and its precursor in the worship of the Church. For reviving interest in this connection, Hahn deserves much credit and overall the book is still highly recommended.

Loved this book as I continue to learn and understand the Catholic faith. Scott Hahn does such a great job.

As a non-Catholic, this book helped me to understand the connection between the Liturgy of both the Word and the Eucharist, and Revelations. The book is well written, has many biblical references as well as explanations as to the importance of understanding how the Liturgy of the Mass is relevant to us today. I really appreciate that the book is easy to read and understand, and at the same time, has been written in a very thoughtful and scholarly way. I am very glad I purchased this book.

No words! Read this book during my RCIA class and it opened my eyes to the mystery of the mass

カトリック信者であれば、あまりに慣れ親しみすぎて、ふとするとミサの価値を見落としているかもしれません。 プロテスタントの礼拝は、牧師の説教中心ですが、カトリックのミサは、祭壇上におられるキリストの現存とそのキリストへの礼拝が中心です。 しかも、黙示録の中で描かれている天国での礼拝が、そのままミサでは再現されています。「聖なるかな、聖なるかな、聖なるかな」、「神の子羊」等々。 著者であるスコット・ハーン氏は、元長老派の牧師で、誰よりもアンチカトリックでしたが、カトリックの教条を知れば知るほど、また、初期の教父たちの残した著書を調べれば調べるほど、そこに真理と２千年前から変わらない伝統を発見し、論駁できないことに困惑します。そして、ミサにあずかったことが決定的回心の瞬間となります。まさに聖書を愛するプロテスタントとしてミサを見つめるとき、聖書に書かれてあることが逐一ミサの中で実現しているからです。 カトリックに偏見を抱いてしまっているプロテスタントだけでなく、ミサのおどろくべき価値に気付いていないカトリックにとっても必読の書です。

This book helped me to see the Mass with so much more beauty and meaning than before. This was especially helpful as I had become callus to the Mass.

Ce livre montre le lien entre l’Écriture Sainte et la pratique catholique de la Messe - il montre notamment que les catholiques, loin de 'mépriser' la Bible comme cela leur a été reproché, la "vivent" pendant la Messe. C'est aussi un excellent livre pour ceux qui, en lisant la Bible, ont eu du mal à comprendre l'Apocalypse. C'est écrit dans un anglais très simple, proche du langage parlé, et donc assez accessible même sans avoir un excellent niveau d'anglais.

I recently went through the Catholic Church's RCIA program and converted to Catholicism. During my time in RCIA I read many current books on Catholicism and found they ranged in quality from excellent to total rubbish. This is one of the books I would put firmly at the higher quality end of that scale. The author is a former Protestant minister (the book doesn't specify the denomination although I'm guessing Lutheran by reading between the lines of a few comments in the book) who converted to Catholicism. From his knowledge of Protestant theology, he brings an interesting perspective to his commentary on Catholicism. In this book he examines the historical, Scriptural and theological origins of the Catholic Mass. It all fascinating material. The explanations of the Mass presented in the Church's RCIA classes are very basic compared those presented in this book. I made a list of the points raised in this book about individual components of the Mass and took it to Mass, checking off the points as they came up in the Mass. It was a very interesting exercise that left me with a far greater appreciation of the Mass than I got from the Church's RCIA classes. The second theme of the book is an interpretaion of the Book of Revelation suggesting that Revelation is basically an instruction manual for early Christians regarding Mass and other fundamental rites and practices of the early Christian Church. It's a very interesting interpretation that is well worth reading. In short, an excellent book that is well worth the attention of anyone wanting to explore the origins and meaning of the Catholic Mass in greater detail than you typically get in Church, certainly in far greater detail than the Church's RCIA classes.