At Harvard, Scott Hahn expounds upon humility, saving truth of God’s word

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Apr 7, 2025 / 13:01 pm

Professor Scott Hahn on Friday, April 4, spoke to Harvard’s Catholic Church, St. Paul’s, about the saving truth of Scripture. 

Hahn, one of today’s most well-known American Catholic scholars, has authored over 40 books on theology and apologetics. He is founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and is devoted to equipping Catholics with a deeper understanding of Scripture and Catholic doctrine.

Returning to Boston for the event hosted by the Harvard Catholic Forum, Hahn noted the city “still feels like a second home” to him after attending Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and previously living in the area.

“The Christian community, especially the Catholic community, is so unique. It’s good to be back, and it’s good to see it growing and getting better,” Hahn said, reflecting on the Harvard Catholic Forum. “It’s a gem.”

Hahn said his hope for the lecture — and his main prayer request in anticipation of the event — was to build bridges.

“In an intellectual community as high-powered as Harvard, you have many gifted people from a wide range of backgrounds,” he said. His goal was to have the truth of Scripture resonate with each person, regardless of their background, education, or faith tradition.

His lecture was titled “Veritas: The Saving Truth of Scripture.” As he began, Hahn clarified that a more fitting title would be “Veritas: The Saving Truth and Humility of God’s Word.”

Hahn began by tracing Harvard’s history of “Veritas,” from its original motto of “In Christi Gloriam,” meaning “For the glory of Christ,” in 1650 to its 1692 motto, “Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae,” translated to “Truth for Christ and the Church.” Today, only “Veritas” remains: “Truth.”

The university prides itself on its academic integrity and pursuit of truth across disciplines. As Catholics, Hahn argued, we are called to do the same in our faith.

“As Catholics, we recognize the unique authority of Scripture. At the same time, we don’t reduce God’s word simply to the sacred page,” he said. “Our faith is not a religion of the book, but it is a religion of the word. The word is, first of all, a person: the Word made flesh.”

Through Jesus, especially in his humility, we can better understand Scripture, the inspired word that reflects the mystery of the Incarnate Word. Scripture, Hahn said, both communicates this mystery and participates in it.

The starting point to enter into this mystery, Hahn said, is humility.

“The foolishness of divine condescension urges that we lay aside our educated conceit in approaching the biblical words,” he said. “It calls for intellectual humility in which the mind bows before the mystery.”

This humility is perfectly reflected in the life of Jesus, from his birth as a baby to his death on the cross. “The power of God works through human weakness,” Hahn said.

Hahn used the example of Luke 24 to exemplify Jesus’ humility after the Resurrection. In the story, Jesus prevents two followers, Cleopas and an unnamed friend, from seeing who he is. He walks seven miles with them, explaining the Scriptures. After he finally reveals himself to them, Jesus disappears, leaving them to share the full truth that he has given them.

Hahn explained that the unidentified character in the story is not a mystery to be solved but rather “an invitation to the reader to identify ourselves as that, walking on the road and sharing this unique experience of Jesus.”

As we walk along this path, we learn about the Word Incarnate through the written word. The Scripture that Jesus explained to Cleopas and the unnamed friend, the Old Testament, is essential for us to understand Jesus, who is the fulfillment of this Scripture.

“The New Testament is quite unintelligible theologically apart from the whole,” Hahn said. The early Church understood Jesus within the context of the Old Testament, and we are called to do the same, he said.

While Jesus exemplified extreme humility in his earthly ministry, he continues to come humbly to us today, as Hahn reminded the audience: “The Eternal Word also gives himself to us as common bread.”

To reject this truth of Jesus in the Eucharist is to reject Scripture, he said. “Ignorance of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist is a form of ignorance of Christ himself,” Hahn said, quoting Pope Benedict XVI.

In the pursuit of veritas, both at Harvard and in our Catholic faith, Hahn closed the talk with an invitation: “I would conclude by inviting all of us, Christians or not, to take the Lord at his word, and above all to open our hearts to the Word made flesh.”

The full lecture can be seen below.

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