http://www.newoxfordreview.org/note.jsp?did=0105-notes-hahn
Scott Hahn, the Feminist
January 2005
In our New Oxford Note Burn, Baby, Burn! (Sept. 2002), we took on the highly esteemed Dr. Scott Hahn for saying outrageous and scandalous things. We noted: Feminist theologians and their Queer cheerleaders have been campaigning for a feminine Holy Spirit for decades. How odd how depressing, actually to see Dr. Hahn jump on the bandwagon.
You see, Dr. Hahn regards the Holy Spirit as feminine or female. We commented: Now, Mary was female, and if the Holy Spirit is female or feminine, then Jesus had two mommies, and presto, gay is good and so is gay marriage. Dr. Hahn goes so far as to say the Holy Spirit is bridal and that Marys maternity is mystically one with that of the Spirit. The imagery here is blatantly and scandalously lesbian.
This stirred up a hornets nest in our pages, both pro and con, and not only in our letters section. In December 2002 we printed an article defending Hahn by Abraham Heck (with a reply from the Editor). Monica Miller took on Hahn in an article in our May 2003 issue. Then Edward ONeill weighed in against Hahn in an article in our June 2004 issue. Abraham Heck responded to ONeill in our November 2004 issue (with a reply from ONeill). And we know that certain of Hahns personal friends have warned him that hes in danger of going off the deep end.
And the controversy just doesnt want to go away. Christopher Ferrara joined the fray against Hahn in August 2004 at RemnantNewspaper.com. An enlarged version appeared in The Remnant (Sept. 30, 2004) along with commentary by Robert Sungenis.
Ferrara covers Hahns female Holy Spirit, but he also discusses Hahns weird view of Original Sin (something lightly touched upon in ONeills June 2004 NOR article). Says Ferrara: Hahn speculates that the serpent in the Garden was actually a dragon or other monster with which Adam should have engaged in mortal combat to protect himself and his bride . Hahn thus suggests that the original sin was not disobedience to a divine command under temptation, but rather a refusal to sacrifice his life under a death threat: [Says Hahn] Knowing the serpents power, Adam was unwilling to lay down his own life for the sake of his love of God, or to save the life of his beloved. That refusal to sacrifice was Adams original sin. The internal quote is from Hahns First Comes Love, page 70. Hahns next line is this: He [Adam] committed it [the original sin] even before he had tasted the fruit, even before Eve had tasted the fruit.
And what is your particular criticism of the program? Is your quoted material intended to substantiate something Dr. Hahn said in the program? What is your position on Jeff Cavins?