Holy Is His Name: The Transforming Power of God’s Holiness in Scripture

by Scott Hahn

Catholics are taught to prize holiness—to admire it in others and to strive for it in their own lives. But we’re never quite told what holiness is. In Holy Is His The Transforming Power of God’s Holiness in Scripture, Scott Hahn seeks to define the term in order to help us better understand our relationship with holiness. Tracing the meaning of holiness first through the Old Testament and then the New, Hahn masterfully reveals how God gradually transmits his holiness to his people—through creation, right worship, and more—and ultimately transforms them through the sharing of his divine life.

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Spirituality

159 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 25, 2022

About the author

Scott Hahn is a renowned Catholic theologian, apologist, speaker, and bestselling author whose work has had a profound impact on contemporary biblical theology and Catholic thought. A former Presbyterian minister, Hahn converted to Catholicism in 1986 after an intense personal and theological journey, which he details in his popular book Rome Sweet Home, co-written with his wife, Kimberly Hahn. Their story of conversion has inspired countless readers around the world and remains a landmark in modern Catholic apologetics.
Hahn holds the Father Michael Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has taught since 1990. He is also the founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting biblical literacy among the laity and biblical fluency among clergy. Through the Center, Hahn leads a wide range of initiatives, including publications, pilgrimages, Bible studies, and the scholarly journal Letter and Spirit.
Educated at Grove City College (B.A.), Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Marquette University (Ph.D. in Systematic Theology), Hahn brings a deep academic foundation to his work. His dissertation, Kinship by Covenant, was later published by Yale University Press and received praise for its theological insight and scholarly rigor.
Throughout his career, Hahn has emphasized the covenant as the key to understanding salvation history, showing how the biblical narrative reveals a divine plan that unites all of humanity into God's family. His works explore themes such as the Eucharist, the role of Mary, the sacraments, and the authority of the Church, often drawing on the writings of the early Church Fathers to bridge the ancient faith with modern understanding.
He is the author or editor of over forty books, including The Lamb’s Supper, Hail, Holy Queen, First Comes Love, Letter and Spirit, Swear to God, Reasons to Believe, The Creed, The Fourth Cup, and Holy Is His Name. Many of his books have become staples in Catholic households, study groups, and seminaries.
In addition to his writing, Hahn is a highly sought-after speaker, having delivered thousands of lectures across the United States and abroad. He appears regularly on EWTN and has collaborated with Lighthouse Catholic Media to bring his teachings to an even broader audience.
Scott Hahn lives in Ohio with his wife Kimberly. They have six children and numerous grandchildren. Together, the Hahns continue to lead efforts in evangelization and Catholic education, embodying a lifelong commitment to deepening faith and understanding through Scripture and tradition.

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first returned to the Catholic Church about 25 years ago, Scott Hahn’s works were instrumental in my being a revert. A few different priests at recollections or on retreat recommended his books. I have greatly benefited for everything of his I have read, and this one is another amazing read. Scott Hahn is a masterful writer. With every book I read I have a greater appreciation for his skill, as a wordsmith, for his faith, and for his ability to unpack topics and make them accessible to reader in the general public, or in other works for the staunchest academic. This book is written for the general public, but I hope it will grab hold in the halls of academia and theological schools, and for commentators on our culture. The description of this volume is:

“Catholics are taught to prize holiness—to admire it in others and to strive for it in their own lives. But we’re never quite told what holiness is. In Holy Is His Name: The Transforming Power of God’s Holiness in Scripture, Scott Hahn seeks to define the term in order to help us better understand our relationship with holiness. Tracing the meaning of holiness first through the Old Testament and then the New, Hahn masterfully reveals how God gradually transmits his holiness to his people—through creation, right worship, and more—and ultimately transforms them through the sharing of his divine life.”

And the chapters are:

Foreword
Preface
Luv Is Not All You Need
The Genesis of Holiness
The Holiness Explosion
Holiness in the Kingdom
Not Wholly Holy
Holiness in the Prophets
Holiness in Person
Becoming Holy, Becoming “Gods”
The Body of Holiness
His Type of Holiness
Holiness and Priesthood
Holiness in Hebrews
Holiness Today
Appendix

Several authors and clergy I greatly respect have already given this book a recommendation. Such as:

“We don’t have to learn to be frightened, but as loving children of a loving God, saved through the Cross of Christ, we do need to learn how to fear God. Scott Hahn’s Holy Is His Name explains for priests and lay people what it means to be holy, to realize how distant we are from God’s holiness, how we must be in awe and wonder at his transcendence and majesty and recognize our worth and our smallness before his all-knowing compassion.”
George Cardinal Pell

“Holy Is His Name offers a profound and thorough reflection upon the mark of holiness which belongs properly only to God but which belongs, by participation, to every Christian in virtue of the immeasurable and unceasing love of God for man. We are deeply indebted to Hahn for his labor of love of Christ and of his Church, which offers to us the great gift of Holy Is His Name.”
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

“Catholics are taught to strive for holiness. But what does it actually mean to ‘be holy’? In this captivating book, Dr. Scott Hahn traces the theme of holiness in Scripture and shows how it is about so much more than good behavior and doing good Catholic things. True holiness is ultimately about God’s very divine life dwelling within us, changing us, and making us ever more like him, so that we can be healed of our many sins and weaknesses and can begin to love with God’s own love. And this transformation is not just for priests, religious, or exceptional lay people; it is what God desires for every human person. Read Holy Is His Name and you no doubt will be inspired to deepen your own personal encounter with the power of God’s holiness.”
Edward Sri

“Scott Hahn presents, with a style both theological and masterful, the rich biblical spirituality of holiness. Taking us from the ‘luv’ generation of the 1960s and the Jesus Movement back through the Hebrew Scriptures to the New Testament and Christian experience, he ushers to the mystical heights of authentic holiness in Christ. This is a must-read.”
John Michael Talbot

And many other recommendations on the books site, inside the volume, and on the dust jacket. I am just a small time Catholic Book Blogger. I love reading and reviewing books I love. So this is my plug for this excellent volume.

This is a volume I wish had been around when I was in high school. If I had read this book in my teens or even my early 20’s. It is a book that would have saved me years away from the church, years of struggles, and likely many sins. This is a book that can be read by a high school student or from the most learned theologian. It is a volume that will transform lives. I could see it becoming a classic. It is a book that will open the eyes, encourage the heart, and challenge the mind. And it does it through the lens of scriptures. It is another excellent offering from Hahn’s masterful pen and a book I can easily recommend.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2023 Catholic Reading Plan!

[Sean Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good bridge from Protestants to encounter Catholicism. Scott Hahn is obviously Catholic and his faith permeates the work, but so do Biblical citations. I wouldn't be surprised if 1/16 1/8 of this book was just Biblical citations. Scott Hahn read the Bible, not so you wouldn't have to, but so that you could read it better. Scott reads the Bible well because he reads it from the heart of the Church and with the mind of the Church Fathers.

"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory" Isaiah 6:3b, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8b, the thrice holiness of God comes into clear focus. God is other, "God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”" Exodus 3:14a, He alone is holy, but He imparts this holiness to us via His love in the sacraments. It was fun reading this while reading the book on "Meeting Christ in the Sacraments", there is so much overlap because Scott Hahn is a Thomist; Scott tells the same story, albeit a bit differently. Nonetheless, the principal Sacrament is Jesus' earthly body. Through His body, the actions of His body, and His words, He gives us the sacraments, namely: Baptism, the Holy Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation (Chrismation), Holy Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders. God entered His creation to make them a priestly people, as Adam was but lost. Christ enters His creation because He loves it and He makes it holy.

"It is the young mother at the diaper-changing table. It is the landscaper mowing a lawn. It is the plumber turning a wrench. It is the cook bent over a stovetop, stirring a pot...and any honest work offered to God becomes an expression of the priestly life that every baptized Christian shares with Jesus, the High Priest." p.162

Scott Hahn can say all this without going off the liberal deep-end saying everyone is the same. No. Holy Orders are real, only a man can be a priest and re-present the once-for-all sacrifice of Calvary that Jesus offered and continues to offer in the heavenly sanctuary. The sacerdotal priesthood shares in this role. Jesus communicates the heavenly liturgy of the Books of Revelation, Romans, and Hebrews to us in the Holy Mass. The Bible makes more sense when you're Catholic!

Whenever you're getting bored or your faith feels stagnant, pick up a Scott Hahn book, because he will point you back to the One who your heart is made for: the Holy One, the Holy Trinity.

[Michael Barros · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked how the book developed. It grew into theosis/divinization, then carried that forward into liturgical & priestly offices.

I also really enjoyed the diversity in secondary sources, such as NT Wright and Rabbi Behrman.

The book is extremely accessible, without being vague or complacent. There’s a lot of history condensed into some pretty short chapters, but it’s never overwhelming. Further, he’s also willing to introduce some contention, such as the implicit presence of the Eucharist throughout Hebrews being contrasted with some Protestant views on Hebrews.

Really great stuff. Also, FIRST!!

LOSERS, I’M THE FIRST WRITTEN REVIEW!!

It feels good to finally win at something, and I will forever associate this very positive, very foreign feeling of victory with this great book. Not that that helps those of you reading reviews to decide whether to buy the book, but that’s not my problem. I mean, what, am I responsible for you gaining something from every sentence in my review? I don’t have any creative freedom at all?

Where the heck do you get off? It’s unbelievable how controlling some people can be, I’d say that you, of all people, need to read this book and reflect on who you are. Maybe you’re not as holy as you think, and you shouldn’t try and project your issues onto me and my reviews. So, yeah, buy this book, it might be the one thing that can set you straight.

See what I did there? In creating a drama around my freedom to express thoughts that aren’t directly pertinent to whether this book is worth reading, I came full circle and ended up incorporating my irrelevant nonsense into the call for you to buy this book. That’s called writing, that’s how you do it.

If you can believe it, Dr. Hahn is even better at writing than me, so you’ve got a lot to look forward to if you read this book.

Well, thanks for taking this journey with me, it’s been fun, it’s been real, but it hasn’t been real fun. One love. Remember when everyone was saying “one love,” but some people would just say, “one” instead? It’s true, go watch the music video for “Outta Control,” by 50 Cent, featuring Mobb Deep. When 50 hangs up the phone at around 20 seconds, he says, “Aight, one.” It was a very real phenomenon, and I hope to see it come back.

Okay, that’s all for now. One.

[Derek Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is typically my hope that I am either intellectually or spiritually engaged when reading a piece of non-fiction literature. Scott Hahn's HOLY IS HIS NAME somehow managed to do both for me at the same time.

CONTENT
The book's premise is fairly straightforward. In it, Hahn asks the question, "What does it mean to be holy?" And as a follow up to that, "What is holiness?" While many with modern sensibilities might naturally associate the terms with members of the church or perhaps simply those that "do good," Hahn argues that those conceptions aren't especially accurate and examines how even The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not provide a succinct definition of what it is to be holy. Readers are then taken on a journey through scripture from the book of Genesis all the way through to chapters of The New Testament which also examines additional church doctrines such as certain documentation that came out of Vatican II. Hahn has long had a stellar reputation as a profound theologian and adept writer, but I still found myself surprised by how engaged I was in everything he had to say. He supports each of his points with detailed citations to other works, both his own and those written by others in support of the specific lines from scripture that he is analyzing. He identifies distinct patterns and themes in the Bible in terms of how it references holiness and demonstrates how the very concept itself adapts over time before it is ultimately transformed by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It's an examination that has genuine academic qualities to it, but is still deeply rooted in Hahn's faith which kept it from reading as stuffy or sterile. The journey he takes readers on is as spiritual as it is educational and that is something I don't think I have ever really experienced before.

Hahn's writing flows from one chapter to another which made it hard for me to put down. Typically, I try to read these types of books one chapter at a time to let the concepts really sink in, but I found myself often unable to resist moving into the next chapter. This was probably helped by how short the chapters are, but I also imagine that I would benefit from rereading this at some point since I am sure I would be able to get even more out of it on second pass. I also found myself learning some new words from Hahn's rich vocabulary. While that may not always be a positive for everyone, I usually appreciate when this is the case and I felt as though the words Hahn selected were ultimately far more fitting to the statement he was making than a more common word might have been. This may still frustrate some people, but I very much appreciate when one's words are selected with care.

HARDCOVER QUALITY
I'm a little ashamed to say that even when looking through religious literature, I still very much judge a book by it's cover, at least in terms of determining which books I'd like to own physically (vs. keep on my Kindle). This particular book has a really lovely cover that immediately drew my eye and makes me happy to have it as part of my small collection. I thought the interior formatting was just as nicely done with generous interior and exterior margins along with some nice typography choices that made the pages easy on the eyes while reading. The hardcover itself is nicely constructed and I think it would withstand plenty of handling for those who like to pass around this type of literature to family and friends after they've read through it once or twice.

CONCLUSION
If you haven't read anything by Scott Hahn yet, then I would say that this is as good an entry point as any. He does make references to past works both within his writing and inside his citations, but at no point did I feel as though I was missing anything while reading. I would say that you don't even need to be a particularly astute Biblical scholar in order to appreciate the analysis done within these pages.

(+) A comprehensive breakdown of the true nature of holiness which delves deeply into scripture.
(+) Hahn's writing is both spiritually and intellectually stimulating without ever getting too indulgent.
(+) Thorough footnotes and detailed citations.
(+) The hardcover edition is lovely and would make a nice addition to anyone's private collection.
( ) The richness of Hahn's word choices may frustrate some but were very much appreciated by me.

[Richard Grebenc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Dr. Hahn and his work with the St. Paul Center. I just had trouble getting into this book. In fact, the same is true when I've heard him speak on the topic. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it, but maybe it is just a bit too abstract for me. Even as he works through Scripture systematically, developing the understanding of holiness, it just did not grab me as something needing this level of depth and discussion. Of course, his style and readability are wonderful, as usual. This offering is just not up there in my ranking of his best titles (and I've read many). Nevertheless, the reader will profit from his exposition and insights.

[Andrew Henrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

God is Other

No puns, which I prefer; approachable with short subdivisions but closer in content to his tapes and more academic works. Good treatment of priesthood with insights into Jesus as the new Adam offering the definitive temple of his body to the Father by the indwelling of his Spirit in us. His development of the vision of Isaiah as a touchstone throughout is well done. Highly recommend his tape series on Hebrews to take this deeper.

[Riley Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book on the holiness of God and how it relates to our everyday life.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Biblical insights as always from Scott Hahn. We are called to holiness but only by allowing God to transform us.

[Fr. John]

Great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the parts of the Old Testament being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Highly recommend.