Yet another Scott Hahn book. In other words, another book arguing in favor of Catholicism from a guy who used to be a Presbyterian minister and theologian.

This one is an examination of the Catholic Mass, explaining many of its parts, but mostly looking at it from the context of the book of Revelation. He argues, rather convincingly, that Armageddon is the current time we are in and that, while we are in the midst of Mass, we are actually in heaven, and not just symbolically. Instead of looking at political events in search of the end times, he matches up almost every key aspect of the final book of the Bible with an aspect of Mass. I won’t list those things off here because, well, there’s a lot of them. Plus, I’m no expert at Catholicism or the book of Revelation so a lot of it was new to me.

This book will be surprising to most evangelicals, who try to draw parallels with current events while they flip through Revelation, but (this was surprising to me) many educated in the Catholic tradition won’t find much of this new at all. It became clear to me as I was reading that Revelation was written with the Church and Mass in mind, not as some wacked-out prophecy about how the world will end. Sure, it was written in a strange format, but it’s impressive how much of it lines up with the procession of Mass and the overall structure of the Church.

Like I said, I won’t try to argue in favor of the ideas presented in The Lamb’s Supper because I’d fail quickly. But if you’re interested in end times theology, the Catholic Mass or finding heaven on earth, this will be an eye-opening book for you.

Apparently Scott Hahn is “that guy” to people who, like myself, are transitioning out of evangelicalism into Catholicism. I did not know this until I began the process myself, but I suppose that makes sense.

Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith is a decent read. Lots of good explanations and biblical justifications for fundamental aspects of the Catholic faith.

The only part I didn’t like so much was the fact that he tried to cater to too many audiences. The entire first third of the book is geared towards those that don’t believe God exists. While I have dealt with that at times in my life, I was hoping it was more of a book for those that already had some foundation of belief.

And the last third was mostly a focus on Old Testament justification for the Catholic church. Probably relevant to people who know a fair amount about the Bible. Also known as: not me. I suppose I can’t fault Hahn for trying to make the book as useful as possible, but it still was frustrating.

I recommend this one, if only for the middle third of the book, as a way for evangelicals to gain an understanding of the Catholic faith, whether or not you’re interested in taking the plunge.