Book Review

Joy To The World

Scott Hahn
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ISBN 978-0-8041-4112-3

Dr Scott Hahn, the well known Biblical scholar and apologist, has written a wonderful book about Christmas. At a time when the Church is reflecting on the nature of the family, the timing of its release cannot be more apt. To quote Dr Hahn, "The family is the key to Christmas. The family is the key to Christianity. When God came to save us, he made salvation inseparable from family life." To put it another way, those who hate Christ and his Church will wage war on the family.

Dr Hahn takes the Infancy narratives of the Gospel as history. There is no attempt to reduce them to theological fiction. In doing so, he reminds us that it is the covenant that creates family relationships, firstly between God and mankind, and it is the covenant that is the key that unlocks our understanding of salvation history.

Dr Hahn reflects on the advent of Christ as the fulfillment of the expectations of the people of Israel and the opening of the message of salvation to the Gentiles. There are meditations on Herod, the angels, the shepherds and the Magi. He shows us that the Holy Family is an icon of the Trinity.

God became man, a baby, and he dwelt among us in order to save us. "Christmas sets us apart. Christmas calls us to share in divine love and then to share that love" with an increasingly unbelieving world. The truth is Christ and he alone is Joy to the world.

Like all good Christmas books, this is a work that lifts us out of darkness. It is the right spiritual book for our time. 

REVIEWED BY DR PRAVIN THEVATHASAN