Why the Hell?

Rating:
Summary: Articulate, orthodox presentation of reality of sin and Hell
Review: The contents description (above) adequately summarises the ground covered in this excellent tape series. Prof Hahn does not shy away from frankly, deeply and articulately wrestling with the mystery of evil and the reality of eternal Hell, as taught by Christ and His Church. His presentation accords with the historical (ie biblical and received) doctrine of sin and evil. What is the real root -- and consequence -- of sin? Hahn's examination of Satan's rebellion and seduction of Adam and his progeny is especially good. He asks the deepest question: why, oh why did Lucifer, the noblest and most enlightened of all creatures, rebel against the Lord of Creation? How did the rot in creation start? His meditation draws on biblical, patristic and scholastic sources as he grapples with the mystery of "non serviam". One can understand the absolute necessity that creatures serve the Creator, but just why should the higher serve the lower, as Prof Hahn rightly observes the Fathers and Doctors asking? Lucifer, gazing into the future history of creation and seeing the incarnation, could not bear the humiliation of serving a Man, a creature vastly cruder than his own exalted angelic self. But just why should the "higher" serve the "lower" order of creation? Here Prof Hahn could have spent more time. The answer, I believe, must lie in the very mystery of God's "ontological service" to the whole of creation -- His own creative act and ongoing sustenance is the most profound service of the "lower" (in this case, all of creation). Service of the "lower" is writ into the very architecture of creation because it springs from heart of the Triune Creator. Therefore, if we are to participate in the Trinity's internal life, as we are called to, we too must in some way image this service of the "lower", the poor, the anawim. This is what suffering in the strictest etymological sense really is -- to carry, to bear the very burden of creation. That is why, for the Christian, sufferng is a service and an honour, because it mystically unites the soul to Christ, the suffering servant, and it thereby becomes a profound participation in the loving fecundity of the Creator. It is as if God were saying: "If I, the eternal and omnipotent Creator, Lord of All, to whom everything is owed, can serve you my creatures by creating and sustaining you (not even to speak of my redemptive sacrifice), then how much more should you also serve, especially what you see as 'lower'? If you would be with me forever, then you must do as I do, for that is what Love does". The central mystery of creation is that the Highest "serves" everything else by calling it into being and sustaining it moment by moment, and this pattern should be imaged throughout creation. And it should be so even in an unfallen universe. By refusing to serve (ie protect/sustain/nourish/nurture/love/etc), as Lucifer and Adam anciently did, we in reality reject the Service that sustains our own being. We remove ourselves from the Creator's grasp restrain his embracing arms with nails. We overthrow the Divine Service and thereby wreck our relationship with God and all creation. The defiant self recklessly claims to be master of its own life and servant of none and thereby tumbles headlong into an ontological absurdity and a spiritual abyss ...

What a pleasure to hear the ancient truths, the eternal truths that set us free, so ably proclaimed. Get this tape series, and the others by Scott Hahn. Learn again what our culture has unlearned. Come home.

Rating:
Summary: Articulate, orthodox presentation of reality of sin and Hell
Review: The contents description (above) adequately summarises the ground covered in this excellent tape series. Prof Hahn does not shy away from frankly, deeply and articulately wrestling with the mystery of evil and the reality of eternal Hell, as taught by Christ and His Church. His presentation accords with the historical (ie biblical and received) doctrine of sin and evil. What is the real root -- and consequence -- of sin? Hahn's examination of Satan's rebellion and seduction of Adam and his progeny is especially good. He asks the deepest question: why, oh why did Lucifer, the noblest and most enlightened of all creatures, rebel against the Lord of Creation? How did the rot in creation start? His meditation draws on biblical, patristic and scholastic sources as he grapples with the mystery of "non serviam". One can understand the absolute necessity that creatures serve the Creator, but just why should the higher serve the lower, as Prof Hahn rightly observes the Fathers and Doctors asking? Lucifer, gazing into the future history of creation and seeing the incarnation, could not bear the humiliation of serving a Man, a creature vastly cruder than his own exalted angelic self. But just why should the "higher" serve the "lower" order of creation? Here Prof Hahn could have spent more time. The answer, I believe, must lie in the very mystery of God's "ontological service" to the whole of creation -- His own creative act and ongoing sustenance is the most profound service of the "lower" (in this case, all of creation). Service of the "lower" is writ into the very architecture of creation because it springs from heart of the Triune Creator. Therefore, if we are to participate in the Trinity's internal life, as we are called to, we too must in some way image this service of the "lower", the poor, the anawim. This is what suffering in the strictest etymological sense really is -- to carry, to bear the very burden of creation. That is why, for the Christian, sufferng is a service and an honour, because it mystically unites the soul to Christ, the suffering servant, and it thereby becomes a profound participation in the loving fecundity of the Creator. It is as if God were saying: "If I, the eternal and omnipotent Creator, Lord of All, to whom everything is owed, can serve you my creatures by creating and sustaining you (not even to speak of my redemptive sacrifice), then how much more should you also serve, especially what you see as 'lower'? If you would be with me forever, then you must do as I do, for that is what Love does". The central mystery of creation is that the Highest "serves" everything else by calling it into being and sustaining it moment by moment, and this pattern should be imaged throughout creation. And it should be so even in an unfallen universe. By refusing to serve (ie protect/sustain/nourish/nurture/love/etc), as Lucifer and Adam anciently did, we in reality reject the Service that sustains our own being. We remove ourselves from the Creator's grasp restrain his embracing arms with nails. We overthrow the Divine Service and thereby wreck our relationship with God and all creation. The defiant self recklessly claims to be master of its own life and servant of none and thereby tumbles headlong into an ontological absurdity and a spiritual abyss ...

What a pleasure to hear the ancient truths, the eternal truths that set us free, so ably proclaimed. Get this tape series, and the others by Scott Hahn. Learn again what our culture has unlearned. Come home.