Scott Hahn
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Scott Hahn (born October 28, 1957) is a contemporary author, Catholic theologian and apologist. His works include Rome Sweet Home and The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth. He currently teaches at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a major center of conservative Catholic thought in the United States.
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[edit] Early Career as a Presbyterian theologian
Dr. Hahn received his B.A. in 1979 from Grove City College in Pennsylvania with a triple major of theology, philosophy, and economics (magna cum laude). He obtained his M.Div. (summa cum laude) from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1982.
He is noteworthy in that he started out as a Presbyterian minister and theologian with ten years of ministry experience in congregations of the Presbyterian Church in America, and Professor of Theology at Chesapeake Theological Seminary.
[edit] Conversion Story
As a young theologian, Scott Hahn was convinced that the Catholic Church was evil, and boasted of having converted some Catholics into embracing a purer Christianity. His conversion began when he and his wife became convinced that contraception was contrary to God's law. He continued to study various issues relating to salvation, faith, and good works, as well as the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura.
According to his book Rome Sweet Home, a key factor behind his conversion is his research on what he saw as the key to the bible: the covenant. This is a sacred kinship bond that brought people into a family relationship. God established a series of covenants and the new covenant established by Jesus Christ is an establishment of a world-wide family. He believes that Jesus and the apostles used family based language to describe his work of salvation: God is Father, Christ is Son and the firstborn among brethren, heaven as a marriage feast, the Church is the spouse of God, Christians as children of God.
This new family, according to Hahn, is headed by Christ, and the Pope or Holy Father is his "prime minister" to whom he has given the keys of the kingdom, a process that he believes is also present in the Old Testament. Hahn tries to show that the Catholic Church is the family described by the bible. And the protestant doctrines of sola fide and sola scriptura are not biblical, because for him the Bible also stressed charity and works, and the bible itself points to the Church as the "pillar and the bulwark of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15)
Scott Hahn entered the Roman Catholic Church on Easter 1986 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Many people, using his wife's words, have started to call him "Luther in reverse."
In May 1995, he was awarded a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Marquette University (Phi Beta Kappa). His dissertation was titled Kinship by Covenant: A Biblical Theological Analysis of Covenant Types and Texts in the Old and New Testaments.
[edit] Present-Day Activities
Dr. Hahn founded and is currently the President of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a Christian research center and think tank committed to the promotion of biblical literacy among the Catholic laity and biblical fluency among Catholic clergy. Some of the projects include online and parish-based Bible studies, a book series, pilgrimages, and a scholarly journal, Letter and Spirit. He is also the founder and director of the Institute of Applied Biblical Studies.
A popular speaker, Dr. Hahn has given over 800 talks in the US and other countries on theological and biblical topics related to the Catholic faith.
He has also written numerous books including Rome, Sweet Home (co-authored with his wife, Kimberly), The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth; Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God; First Comes Love: Finding Your Family in the Church and the Trinity; Lord, Have Mercy: The Healing Power of Confession; and Swear to God: The Promise and Power of the Sacraments. He is co-editor of several volumes of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible.
Since 1990, he has served as Professor of Theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
[edit] Kimberly's Conversion
Kimberly Hahn, his wife, had a similar conversion at a slightly later date than Scott. Kimberly entered the Church at Easter 1990 in Joliet, Illinois. She is the daughter of well-known Protestant Evangelist Jerry Kirk.
Rome Sweet Home describes their journey together from the familiar safety of the Presbyterianism they had both studied to the Catholic Church they had been taught to fear.
Dr. Hahn and his wife reside in Steubenville with their six children.
[edit] Books
- Rome Sweet Home (co-written with Kimberly Hahn), Ignatius Press, 1993.
- Catholic for a Reason (with Leon Suprenant, editor), Emmaus Road Publishing, 1998.
- A Father Who Keeps His Promises, Servant Publications, 1998.
- The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth, Doubleday, 1999.
- Hail, Holy Queen, Doubleday, 2001.
- First Comes Love: Finding Your Family in the Church and the Trinity, Doubleday, 2002.
- Swear to God : The Promise and Power of the Sacraments, Doubleday, 2004.
- Letter and Spirit : From Written Text to Living Word in the Liturgy, Doubleday, 2005.
- Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei. Random House Double Day Religion, 2006. ISBN 978-0-385-51924-3
