Sacraments and Worship: The Sources of Christian Theology

Scholastic theological approaches to the study of the sacraments and to sacramental theology began with a treatise or section entitled Sacramenta in generis, that is, Sacraments in general, before going on to treat the individual sacraments themselves in subsequent sections. This volume is no exception. Beginning with Augustine’s famous and ecumenically influential definition that the word is joined to the element and the result is a sacrament, itself becoming, in a sense, a visible word, this chapter proceeds historically through the patristic and medieval periods, the latter of which witnesses the development of seven sacraments, thanks to the Sentences of Peter the Lombard and Thomas Aquinas’s Summa.

In the next section the challenge to the medieval sacramental system represented by Luther’s 1520 Babylonian Captivity and the works of other Protestant reformers and the renewed defense of the seven sacraments at the Council of Trent leads through the subsequent centuries to what has been called the Copernican revolution in modern sacramental theology, especially in light of the Second Vatican Council in the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1960s.

The final section of this chapter, then, provides selections from contemporary influential sacramental theologians such as Karl Rahner on the relationship of the church and sacrament, James F. White on the numbering of sacraments from an ecumenical Protestant perspective, Louis-Marie Chauvet on the relationship between Word and sacrament, and others, including a contemporary feminist approach offered by Susan Ross and an Eastern theological perspective from M. Daniel Findikyan. Thus this chapter provides a concise overview of the historical development and particular issues that constitute that area of study called sacramental theology.

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Definitions of a Sacrament, Key Concepts, and the Number of Sacraments in Early and Medieval Theologians

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EARLY THEOLOGIANS

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine treats the notion of what constitutes a sacrament in several of his writings, rather than in a special treatise on the sacraments.

Augustine of Hippo, Treatise on the Gospel of John, LXXX, 3 (ca. 416), trans. Paul F. Palmer, in Sacraments and Worship (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1957), 127–28.

Why does He not say: you are clean because of the baptism with which you were washed, but says: because of the word that I have spoken to you [John 15:3], unless the reason is that even in water it is the word that cleanses? Take away the word and what is water but water? The word is joined to the element and the result is a sacrament, itself becoming, in a sense, a visible word as well…. Whence this power of water so exalted as to bathe the body and cleanse the soul, if it is not through the action of the word; not because it is spoken, but because it is believed? … This word of faith is of such efficacy in the Church of God that it washes clean not only the one who believes in the word, the one who presents [the child for baptism], the one who sprinkles [the child], but the child itself, be it ever so tiny, even though it is as yet incapable of believing unto justice with the heart or of making profession unto salvation with the lips. All this takes place through the word, concerning which the Lord says: You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Augustine of Hippo, Against Faustus the Manichaean, XIX, 11 (ca. 398), trans. Bernard Leeming, in Principles of Sacramental Theology (London: Longmans, 1960), 562–63.

In no religion, whether true or whether false, can men be held in association, unless they are gathered together with a common share in some visible signs or sacraments; and the power of these sacraments is inexpressibly effective, and hence if contemned is accounted to be a sacrilege.

Augustine of Hippo, Questions on the Heptateuch, III, 84 (ca. 410), trans. Bernard Leeming, in Principles of Sacramental Theology, 563.

How, then, do both Moses and the Lord sanctify? … Moses, by the visible sacraments through his ministry; God by invisible grace through the Holy Spirit, wherein is the whole fruit of the visible sacraments; for without that sanctification of invisible grace, what use are visible sacraments?

Augustine of Hippo, Commentary on the Psalms, LXXIII, 2 (ca. 416), trans. Paul F. Palmer, in Sacraments and Worship, 128–29.

If we weigh well the two testaments, the old and the new, the sacraments are not the same, nor are the promises made the same…. The sacraments are not the same, since there is a difference between sacraments that give salvation and those that promise a Saviour. The sacraments of the New Law give salvation, the sacraments of the Old Law promised a Saviour.

Augustine of Hippo, On Baptism against the Donatists, IV, II, 18 (ca. 400), trans. Paul F. Palmer, in Sacraments and Worship, 123.

When baptism is given in the words of the gospel, no matter how great the perverseness of either minister or recipient, the sacrament is inherently holy on His account whose sacrament it is. And if any one receives baptism from a misguided man, he does not on that account receive the perversity of the minister, but only the holiness of the mystery, and if he is intimately united to the Church in good faith and hope and charity, he receives the remission of his sins…. But if the recipient himself is perverse, that which is given is of no profit while he remains in his perversity; and yet that which is received does remain holy within him, nor is the sacrament repeated when he has been corrected.

Augustine applies the terminology of sacrament to the annual celebration of the Pascha.

Augustine of Hippo, Letter 55 to Januarius 1, 2; in Easter in the Early Church: An Anthology of Jewish and Early Christian Texts, selected, annotated, and introduced by Raniero Cantalmessa (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1993), 108–9.

Here you must know, first of all, that the Lord’s birthday is not celebrated in a sacrament but his birth is simply remembered, and for this it was only necessary to mark with festive devotion each year the day on which the event took place. But there is a sacrament in any celebration when the commemoration of the event is done in such a way as to make us understand that it signifies something that is to be taken in a holy manner. This is in fact how we keep the Pascha. Not only do we call to mind again what happened, that is, that Christ died and rose again, but we also do not leave out the other things about him which confirm the signification of the sacraments. For, since he died for our sins and rose for our justification, as the apostle says, a certain passage from death to life has been consecrated in the passion and resurrection of the Lord.

Leo I

Leo’s statement What was visible in our Redeemer when on earth has become operative in sacramental signs has become a standard and key text in sacramental and liturgical theology.

Leo I, De Ascensione Domini II, in Benedictine Daily Prayer: A Short Breviary, ed. Maxwell E. Johnson (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2006), 300-301.

The Lord’s resurrection brought us joy; so should his ascension, as we recall the event that exalted our lowly nature beyond the angels and highest created powers to the Father’s side. These divine actions provide a sure foundation; through them God’s grace works marvelously to keep our faith firm, our hope confident, and our love ardent, even though the visible events as such are now a part of history.

It takes great strength of mind and a faithful and enlightened heart to believe without hesitation in what escapes the bodily eye and to desire unswervingly what cannot be seen. Yet how could our hearts be inflamed and how could one be justified by faith if our salvation arose only from what is visible? Therefore, what was visible in our Redeemer when on earth has become operative in sacramental signs [Quod itaque Redemptoris nostri conspicuum fuit, in sacramenta transivit]. And, in order that faith might become stronger and more perfect, teaching replaces sight, and the hearts of the faithful are illumined by God to accept its authority.

Even the blessed Apostles, despite the signs they saw and the sermons they heard, were fearful when the Lord suffered, and did not accept his resurrection unhesitatingly. So much did his ascension influence them, however, that all fear was turned to joy. Their minds contemplated the divine Christ at the Father’s side; no earthly trial could distract them from the fact that Christ had not left the Father when he descended nor left the disciples when he returned.

Therefore, beloved, the Son of Man who is Son of God has in an ineffable way become more present to us in his Godhead now that he has departed from us in his humanity. Faith now reaches to the Son, who is equal to the Father, and no longer needs the bodily presence of Jesus, in which he is less than the Father. For though his incarnate nature continues to exist, faith is summoned to touch the only-begotten Son, not with bodily sense but with spiritual understanding.

MEDIEVAL THEOLOGIANS

The definition of what constitutes a sacrament becomes more precise.

Hugh of St. Victor

Hugh of St. Victor, On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith, I, 9 (1140), trans. Roy J. Deferrari, in Hugh of Saint Victor on the Sacraments of the Christian Faith (Cambridge: Medieval Academy of America, 1951), 155.

Now if any one wishes to define more fully and more perfectly what a sacrament is, he can say: A sacrament is a corporeal or material element set before the senses without, representing by similitude and signifying by institution and containing by sanctification some invisible and spiritual grace. This definition is recognized as so fitting and perfect that it is found to befit every sacrament and a sacrament alone. For every thing that has these three is a sacrament, and every thing that lacks these three can not be properly called a sacrament.

For every sacrament ought to have a kind of similitude to the thing itself of which it is the sacrament, according to which it is capable of representing the same thing; every sacrament ought to have also institution through which it is ordered to signify this thing and finally sanctification through which it contains that thing and is efficacious for conferring the same on those to be sanctified.

Peter Lombard

Peter Lombard, Distinction I, 2–7, trans. Owen R. Ott, in The Four Books of Sentences, IV (ca. 1152), in LCC 10:338–41.

A sacrament is a sign of a sacred thing [Augustine]. However a sacrament is also called a sacred secret just as it is called a sacrament of the deity, so that a sacrament both signifies something sacred and is something sacred signified; but now it is a question of a sacrament as a sign.

Again, A sacrament is the visible form of an invisible grace [Augustine].

A sign is something beyond the appearance, which it presses on the senses, for it makes something else enter thought [Augustine].

Some signs are natural, such as smoke signifying fire; others are given [Augustine] and of those which are given, certain ones are sacraments, certain ones are not, for every sacrament is a sign, but not conversely.

A sacrament bears a likeness of that thing, whose sign it is. For if sacraments did not have a likeness of the things whose sacraments they are, they would properly not be called sacraments [Augustine]. For that is properly called a sacrament which is a sign of the grace of God and a form of invisible grace, so that it bears its image and exists as its cause. Sacraments were instituted, therefore, for the sake, not only of signifying, but also of sanctifying….

The sacraments were instituted for a threefold cause: as a means of increasing humility, as a means of instruction, and as a spur to activity [Hugh of St. Victor]….

Moreover, there are two constituents of a sacrament, namely, words and things: words such as the invocation of the Trinity; things such as water, oil, and the like.

Now there remains to be seen the difference between the old sacraments and the new, so that we may call sacraments what in former times used to signify sacred things, such as sacrifices and oblations and the like.

Augustine, indeed, briefly indicated the difference between these, when he said, While the former only promised and signified, the latter gave salvation.

Nevertheless there was among them a certain sacrament, namely circumcision, conferring the same remedy against sin which baptism now does….

Through circumcision, from the time of its institution, the remission of original and actual sin for young and old was offered by God, just as now it is given in baptism.

Peter the Lombard is the first to articulate a list of seven sacraments for the Western church.

Peter Lombard, Distinction II, 1, trans. Owen R. Ott, in LCC 10:344–45.

Now let us approach the sacraments of the new law, which are: baptism, confirmation, the bread of blessing, that is the eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, marriage. Of these, some provide a remedy against sin and confer assisting grace, such as baptism; others are only a remedy, such as marriage; others strengthen us with grace and power, such as the eucharist and orders.

If it is asked why the sacraments were not instituted soon after the fall of man, since righteousness and salvation are in them, we say that the sacraments of grace were not to be given before the coming of Christ, who brought grace, for they receive power from his death and Passion. Christ did not wish to come before man was convinced that neither the natural nor the written law could support him.

Marriage, however, was certainly not instituted before sin [the fall] as a remedy, but as a sacrament and a duty [Hugh of St. Victor]; after sin, indeed, it was a remedy against the corrupting effect of carnal concupiscence, with which we shall deal in its place.

Peter Lombard, Distinction IV, 1, trans. Elizabeth Frances Rogers, in Peter Lombard and the Sacramental System (Merrick, NY: Richwood Publishing Co., 1976), 95.

[Baptism]: Here we must say that some receive the sacrament and the thing [res], some the sacrament and not the thing, some the thing and not the sacrament.

Peter Lombard, Distinction VIII, 6–7, trans. Elizabeth Frances Rogers, in Peter Lombard and the Sacramental System, 122.

[Eucharist]: Now let us see what is the sacrament and what the thing [res]: The sacrament is the visible form of invisible grace [Augustine]; the form therefore of the bread and wine which appears here is the sacrament, that is the sign of a sacred thing, because it calls something to mind beyond the appearance which it presents to the senses. Therefore the appearances keep the names of the things which they were before, namely, bread and wine.

"Moreover the thing [res] of this sacrament is two-fold: one, what is contained and signified, the other what is signified but not contained. The thing contained and signified is the flesh of Christ which he received from the Virgin and the blood which he shed for us. The thing signified and not contained is the unity of the Church in those who are predestined, called, justified, and glorified."

Peter Lombard, Distinction XXIII, 3, trans. Elizabeth Frances Rogers, in Peter Lombard and the Sacramental System, 221.

[Extreme unction] This sacrament of the unction of the sick is said to have been instituted by the apostles. For James says: Is any sick among you? [James 5:14].

Peter Lombard, Distinction XXIV, 1–3, trans. Owen R. Ott, in LCC 10:349.

[Ordination] Let us now enter upon the consideration of sacred orders.

There are seven degrees or orders of spiritual function, as is plainly handed down by the writings of the holy Fathers and is shown by the example of our head, namely, Jesus Christ. He exhibited the functions of all in himself and left to his body, which is the Church, the same orders to be observed.

Moreover there are seven on account of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, and those who are not partakers of the Spirit approach ecclesiastical orders unworthily….

In the sacrament of the sevenfold Spirit there are seven ecclesiastical degrees, namely, doorkeeper, lector, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, priest; all, however, are called clerics, that is, those chosen by lot [Acts 1:26].

Peter Lombard, Distinction XXIV, 11, trans. Elizabeth Frances Rogers, in Peter Lombard and the Sacramental System, 231.

Wherefore also among men of old times bishops and presbyters were the same, because it is the name of a dignity, not of an age.

Peter Lombard, Distinction XXIV, 12–16, trans. Owen R. Ott, in LCC 10:350–51.

Although all spiritual states are sacred, the canons well conclude that only two are so called, namely, the diaconate and the presbyterate; for it is written that the primitive Church had these alone [Gratian]…. The Church appointed subdeacons and acolytes for itself as time went on" [Gratian].

If it is asked what that which is called an order is, it can definitely be said that it is a certain sign, that is, a sacred something, by which spiritual power and office are handed to the ordinand. Therefore a spiritual character in which there is an increase of power is called an order or grade.

And these orders are called sacraments because in receiving them a sacred thing, grace, which the things that are there done figure, is conferred.

There are certain other names, not of orders, but of dignities and offices. Bishop is both the name of a dignity and of an office….

The bishop is the chief of priests, as it were the path of those who follow. He is also called the highest priest; for he makes priests and deacons, and distributes all ecclesiastical orders [Isidore of Seville].

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part III, 61–65 (ca. 1271), trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benziger Bros., 1947), 2:2352–79.

Question 61: First Article: Whether Sacraments Are Necessary for Man’s Salvation? …

I answer that, Sacraments are necessary unto man’s salvation for three reasons. The first is taken from the condition of human nature which is such that it has to be led by things corporeal and sensible to things spiritual and intelligible…. The second reason is taken from the state of man who in sinning subjected himself by his affections to corporeal things…. The third reason is taken from the fact that man is prone to direct his activity chiefly toward material things….

Question 62: First Article: Whether the Sacraments Are the Cause of Grace? …

I answer that, We must needs say that in some way the sacraments of the New Law cause grace. For it is evident that through the sacraments of the New Law man is incorporated with Christ….

Fourth Article: Whether There Be in the Sacraments a Power of Causing Grace? …

I answer that, … If we hold that a sacrament is an instrumental cause of grace, we must needs allow that there is in the sacraments a certain instrumental power of bringing about the sacramental effects….

Sixth Article: Whether the Sacraments of the Old Law Caused Grace? …

I answer that, It cannot be said that the sacraments of the Old Law conferred sanctifying grace of themselves, i.e., by their own power: since thus Christ’s Passion would not have been necessary….

Question 63: First Article: ‘Whether a Sacrament Imprints a Character on the Soul? …

I answer that, … Since, therefore by the sacraments, men are deputed to a spiritual service pertaining to the worship of God, it follows that by their names the faithful receive a certain spiritual character….

Fifth Article: Whether a Character Can Be Blotted Out from the Soul? …

I answer that,. It is clear that the intellect being perpetual and incorruptible, a character cannot be blotted out from the soul….

Sixth Article: "Whether a Character Is Imprinted by Each Sacrament of the New Law?" …

I answer that, … These three sacraments imprint a character, namely, Baptism, Confirmation, and Order….

Question 64: Second Article: Whether the Sacraments Are Instituted by God Alone? …

I answer that, … Since, therefore, the power of the sacrament is from God alone, it follows that God alone can institute the sacraments….

Fifth Article: Whether the Sacraments Can be Conferred by Evil Ministers? …

I answer that, … The ministers of the Church can confer the sacraments, though they be wicked….

Seventh Article: Whether Angels Can Administer Sacraments? …

I answer that, … It belongs to men, but not to angels, to dispense the sacraments and to take part in their administration….

Ninth Article: ‘Whether Faith Is Required of Necessity in the Minister of a Sacrament? …

I answer that, … Wherefore, just as the validity of a sacrament does not require that the minister should have charity, and even sinners can confer sacraments, … so neither is it necessary that he should have faith, and even an unbeliever can confer a true sacrament, provided that the other essentials are there….

Question 65: First Article: Whether There Should Be Seven Sacraments? …

I answer that, As stated above, the sacraments of the Church were instituted for a twofold purpose: namely, in order to perfect man in things pertaining to the worship of God according to the religion of Christian life, and to be a remedy against the defects caused by sin. And in either way it is becoming that there should be seven sacraments….

Third Article: Whether the Eucharist Is the Greatest of the Sacraments? …

I answer that, Absolutely speaking, the sacrament of the Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments: and this may be shown in three ways. First of all because it contains Christ Himself substantially…. Secondly, this is made clear by considering the relation of the sacraments to one another. For all the other sacraments seem to be ordained to this one as to their end…. Thirdly, this is made clear by considering the rites of the sacraments. For nearly all the sacraments terminate in the Eucharist….

Fourth Article: Whether All the Sacraments Are Necessary to Salvation? …

I answer that, … In the first way, three sacraments are necessary for salvation. Two of them are necessary for the individual; Baptism, simply and absolutely; Penance, in the case of mortal sin committed after Baptism; while the sacrament of Order is necessary to the Church, since where there is no governor the people shall fall (Prov. 11:14).

But in the second way the other sacraments are necessary. For in a sense Confirmation perfects Baptism; Extreme Unction perfects Penance; while Matrimony, by multiplying them, preserves the numbers in the Church.

Council of Florence

This fifteenth-century decree becomes the classic statement of the definition and number of the sacraments in the West.

Council of Florence, Decree for the Armenians (1439), trans. from Enchiridion: Symbolorum Definitionum et Declarationum, ed. Henry Denzinger and Adolf Schönmetzer, 33rd ed. (Freiburg: Herder, 1965), 332–33.

Fifthly, we have set down in briefest form the truth about the sacraments of the Church for the easier instruction of the Armenians at present or in the future. There are seven sacraments of the new law: namely, baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, ordination and marriage. These differ much from the sacraments of the old law. The latter did not cause grace but only served as a figure of the passion of Christ. Ours truly contain grace and confer it on those who worthily receive it.

Of these, five pertain to the spiritual perfecting of individuals; the other two are ordained to the governing and increase of the Church. Through baptism we are spiritually reborn; through confirmation we are made to grow in grace and are strengthened in faith. When we have been reborn and strengthened, we are sustained by the divine nourishment of the eucharist. But if through sin we incur sickness of the soul, through penance we are made healthy; we are healed, spiritually and physically according as the soul needs, through extreme unction. Through ordination the Church is governed and increased spiritually, through marriage it grows physically.

All these sacraments are made complete by three things, namely things or matter, words or form, and the person of the minister performing the sacrament with the intention of doing what the Church does. If any of these is absent, the sacrament is not complete.

Among these sacraments there are three—baptism, confirmation, and ordination—which impose on the soul indelibly a character, a certain spiritual sign distinguished from all others. These are not repeated for the same person. The other four do not impose a character and allow repetition.

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The Protestant and Catholic Reformations

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THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

Martin Luther and the Lutheran Reforms

Luther attacks the sacramental system of the medieval Western church and yet articulates a sacramental principle of a biblical single sacrament (i.e., Christ himself), which will become common in modern sacramental theology.

Martin Luther, Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520), trans. A. T. W. Steinhäuser, Frederick C. Ahrens, and Abdel Ross Wentz, in LW 36:18, 91–92,106–7,117–18,123–25.

To begin with, I must deny that there are seven sacraments, and for the present maintain that there are but three: baptism, penance, and the bread. All three have been subjected to a miserable captivity by the Roman curia, and the church has been robbed of all her liberty. Yet, if I were to speak according to the usage of the Scriptures, I should have only one single sacrament [Christ, I Tim. 3:16], but with three sacramental signs, of which I shall treat more fully at the proper time….

Confirmation

It is amazing that it should have entered the minds of these men to make a sacrament of confirmation out of the laying on of hands….

I do not say this because I condemn the seven sacraments, but because I deny that they can be proved from the Scriptures. Would that there were in the church such a laying on of hands as there was in apostolic times, whether we chose to call it confirmation or healing! But there is nothing left of it now but what we ourselves have invented to adorn the office of bishops, that they may not be entirely without work in the church….

For to constitute a sacrament there must be above all things else a word of divine promise, by which faith may be exercised….

These things cannot be called sacraments of faith, because they have no divine promise connected with them, neither do they save, but the sacraments do save those who believe the divine promise.

Marriage

Not only is marriage regarded as a sacrament without the least warrant of Scripture, but the very ordinances which extol it as a sacrament have turned it into a farce. Let us look into this a little.

We have said that in every sacrament there is a word of divine promise, to be believed by whoever receives the sign, and that the sign alone cannot be a sacrament….

Ordination

Of this sacrament the church of Christ knows nothing; it is an invention of the church of the pope. Not only is there nowhere any promise of grace attached to it, but there is not a single word said about it in the whole New Testament. Now it is ridiculous to put forth as a sacrament of God something that cannot be proved to have been instituted by God…. We ought to see that every article of faith of which we boast is certain, pure, and based on clear passages of Scripture. But we are utterly unable to do that in the case of the sacrament under consideration….

The Sacrament of Extreme Unction

To this rite of anointing the sick the theologians of our day have made two additions which are worthy of them: first, they call it a sacrament, and second, they make it the last sacrament….

I still would say, that no apostle [James] has the right on his own authority to institute a sacrament, that is, to give a divine promise with a sign attached. For this belongs to Christ alone….

There are still a few other things which it might seem possible to regard as sacraments; namely, all those things to which a divine promise has been given, such as prayer, the Word, and the cross….

Nevertheless, it has seemed proper to restrict the name of sacrament to those promises which have signs attached to them. The remainder, not being bound to signs, are bare promises. Hence there are, strictly speaking, but two sacraments in the church of God—baptism and the bread. For only in these two do we find both the divinely instituted sign and the promise of forgiveness of sins. The sacrament of penance, which I added to these two, lacks the divinely instituted visible sign, and is, as I have said, nothing but a way and a return to baptism. Nor can the scholastics say that their definition fits penance, for they too ascribe to the true sacraments a visible sign, which is to impress upon the senses the form of that which it effects invisibly. But penance or absolution has no such sign. Therefore they are compelled by their own definition either to admit that penance is not a sacrament and thus to reduce their number, or else to bring forth another definition of a sacrament.

Baptism, however, which we have applied to the whole of life, will truly be a sufficient substitute for all the sacraments which we might need as long as we live. And the bread is truly the sacrament of the dying and departing; for in it we commemorate the passing of Christ out of this world, that we may imitate him…. Thus he clearly seems to have instituted the sacrament of the bread with a view to our entrance into the life to come. For then, when the purpose of both sacraments is fulfilled, baptism and bread will cease.

Martin Luther, The Large Catechism (1529), trans. Theodore G. Tappert, in The Book of Concord (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959), 436.

It remains for us to speak of our two sacraments, instituted by Christ. Every Christian ought to have at least some brief, elementary instruction in them because without these no one can be a Christian, although unfortunately in the past nothing was taught about them.

Augsburg Confession

Augsburg Confession (1530), Articles VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XXVIII, in trans. Theodore G. Tappert, The Book of Concord, 32–34, 81.

Article VII. It is also taught among us that one holy Christian church will be and remain forever. This is the assembly of all believers [or saints] among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel. For it is sufficient [satis est] for the true unity of the Christian church that the Gospel be preached in conformity with a pure understanding of it and that the sacraments be administered in accordance with the divine Word [or, are administered rightly].

Art. VIII…. [B]ecause in this life many false Christians, hypocrites, and even open sinners remain among the godly, the sacraments are efficacious even if the priests who administer them are wicked men. …

Art. IX. It is taught among us that Baptism is necessary and that grace is offered through it. Children too should be baptized, for in baptism they are committed to God and become acceptable to him. On this account the Anabaptists who teach that infant Baptism is not right are rejected.

Art. X. It is taught among us that the true body and blood of Christ are really present in the Supper of our Lord under the form of bread and wine and are there distributed and received. The contrary doctrine is therefore rejected.

Art. XI. It is taught among us that private absolution should be retained and not allowed to fall into disuse. However, in confession it is not necessary to enumerate all trespasses and sins, for this is impossible. Ps. 19:12, Who can discern his errors?

Art. XXVIII. Our teachers assert that according to the Gospel the power of keys or the power of bishops is a power and command of God to preach the Gospel, to forgive and retain sins, and to administer and distribute the sacraments…. This power of keys or of bishops is used and exercised only by teaching and preaching the Word of God and by administering the sacraments … In this way are imparted not bodily but eternal things and gifts, namely, eternal righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. These gifts cannot be obtained except through the office of preaching and of administering the sacraments.

Apology to the Augsburg Confession

The Lutheran confessional tradition leaves the door open as to the number of sacraments in the church.

Apology to the Augsburg Confession (1531), Art. VII, VIII, and XIII, in trans. Theodore G. Tappert, The Book of Concord, 173, 211–13.

Art. VII and VIII. … They [i.e., the ordained] do not represent their own persons but the person of Christ, because of the church’s call, as Christ testifies (Luke 10:16), He who hears you hears me. When they offer the Word of Christ or the sacraments, they do so in Christ’s place and stead.

Art. XIII. The genuine sacraments, therefore, are Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and absolution (which is the sacrament of penitence), for these rites have the commandment of God and the promise of grace, which is the heart of the New Testament. When we are baptized, when we eat the Lord’s body, when we are absolved, our hearts should firmly believe that God really forgives us for Christ’s sake….

… If ordination is interpreted in relation to the ministry of the Word, we have no objection to calling ordination a sacrament. The ministry of the Word has God’s command and glorious promise: The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith (Rom. 1:16), again, My word that goes forth from my mouth shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isa. 55:11). If ordination is interpreted this way, we shall not object either to calling the laying on of hands a sacrament. The church has the command to appoint ministers; to this we must subscribe wholeheartedly, for we know that God approves this ministry and is present in it….

… Ultimately, if we should list as sacraments all things that have God’s command and a promise attached to them, then why not prayer, which can most truly be called a sacrament? It has both the command of God and many promises…. No intelligent person will quibble about the number of sacraments or the terminology, so long as those things are kept which have God’s command and promise.

Ulrich Zwingli

Zwingli’s approach to the sacraments focuses on their being memorials.

Ulrich Zwingli, Commentary on True and False Religion (1525), trans. Samuel Macauley Jackson and Clarence Nevin Heller (Durham, NC: Labyrinth Press, 1981), 184.

The sacraments are, then, signs or ceremonials—let me say it with the good permission of all both of the new school and the old—by which a man proves to the Church that he either aims to be, or is, a soldier of Christ, and which inform the whole Church rather than yourself of your faith. For if your faith is not so perfect as not to need a ceremonial sign to confirm it, it is not faith. For faith is that by which we rely on the mercy of God unwaveringly, firmly, and singleheartedly, as Paul shows us in many passages.

So much for the meaning of the name. Christ left us two sacraments and no more, Baptism and The Lord’s Supper. By these we are initiated, giving the name with the one, and showing by the other that we are mindful of Christ’s victory and are members of His Church. In Baptism we receive a token that we are to fashion our lives according to the rule of Christ; by the Lord’s Supper we give proof that we trust in the death of Christ, glad and thankful to be in that company which gives thanks to the Lord for the blessing of redemption which He freely gave us by dying for us. The other sacraments are rather ceremonials, for they have no initiatory function in the Church of God. Hence it is not improper to exclude them; for they were not instituted by God to help us initiate anything in the Church.

John Calvin

John Calvin has a much higher appreciation for sacramental signs than does Ulrich Zwingli.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV, 14, 1–26 (1559), trans. Ford Lewis Battles, in LCC 21:1277–1303.

Chapter XIV. The Sacraments.

1. First, we must consider what a sacrament is. It seems to me that a simple and proper definition would be to say that it is an outward sign by which the Lord seals on our consciences the promises of his good will toward us in order to sustain the weakness of our faith; and we in turn attest our piety toward him in the presence of the Lord and of his angels and before men. Here is another briefer definition: one may call it a testimony of divine grace toward us, confirmed by an outward sign, with mutual attestation of our piety toward him. Whichever of these definitions you may choose, it does not differ in meaning from that of Augustine, who teaches that a sacrament is a visible sign of a sacred thing, or a visible form of an invisible grace, but it better and more clearly explains the thing itself….

3. But as our faith is slight and feeble unless it be propped on all sides and sustained by every means, it trembles, wavers, totters, and at last gives way. Here our merciful Lord, according to his infinite kindness, so tempers himself to our capacity that, since we are creatures who always creep on the ground, cleave to the flesh, and, do not think about or even conceive of anything spiritual, he condescends to lead us to himself even by these earthly elements, and to set before us in the flesh a mirror of spiritual blessings. For if we were incorporated (as Chrysostom says), he would give us these very things naked and incorporeal. Now, because we have souls engrafted in bodies, he imparts spiritual things under visible ones….

7. It is therefore certain that the Lord offers us mercy and the pledge of his grace both in his Sacred Word and in his sacraments. But it is understood only by those who take Word and sacraments with sure faith, just as Christ is offered and held forth by the Father to all unto salvation, yet not all acknowledge and receive him. In one place Augustine, meaning to convey this, said that the efficacy of the Word is brought to light in the sacrament, not because it is spoken, but because it is believed….

9. But the sacraments properly fulfill their office only when the Spirit, that inward teacher, comes to them, by whose power alone hearts are penetrated and affections moved and our souls opened for the sacraments to enter in. If the Spirit be lacking, the sacraments can accomplish nothing more in our minds than the splendor of the sun shining upon blind eyes, or a voice sounding in deaf ears. Therefore, I make such a division between Spirit and the sacraments that the power to act rests with the former, and the ministry alone is left to the latter—a ministry empty and trifling, apart from the action of the Spirit, but charged with great effect when the Spirit works within and manifests his power….

17. Therefore, let it be regarded as a settled principle that the sacraments have the same office as the Word of God: to offer and set forth Christ to us, and in him the treasures of heavenly grace….

They do not bestow any grace of themselves, but announce and tell us, and (as they are guarantees and tokens) ratify among us, those things given us by divine bounty….

God therefore truly executes whatever he promises and represents in signs; nor do the signs lack their own effect in proving their Author truthful and faithful….

20. These [circumcision, purifications, sacrifices, and other rites] were the sacraments of the Jews until the coming of Christ. When at his coming these were abrogated, two sacraments were instituted which the Christian church now uses, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper [Matt. 28:19; 26:26–28]. I am speaking of those which were established for the use of the whole church. I would not go against calling the laying on of hands, by which ministers of the church are initiated into their office, a sacrament, but I do not include it among the ordinary sacraments. In what place the rest of what are commonly considered sacraments should be held, we shall soon see.

Yet those ancient sacraments looked to the same purpose to which ours now tend: to direct and almost lead men by the hand to Christ, or rather, as images, to represent him and show him forth to be known…. There is only one difference: the former foreshadowed Christ promised while he was as yet awaited: the latter attest him as already given and revealed.

21. When these things are individually explained, they will become much clearer.

For the Jews, circumcision was the symbol by which they were admonished that whatever comes forth from man’s seed, that is, the whole nature of mankind, is corrupt and needs pruning. Moreover, circumcision was a token and reminder to confirm them in the promise given to Abraham of the blessed seed in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed [Gen. 22:18], from whom they were also to await their own blessing. Now that saving seed (as we are taught by Paul) was Christ [Gal. 3:16]….

26. It is good that our readers be briefly apprised of this thing also: whatever the Sophists have dreamed up concerning the opus operatum is not only false but contradicts the nature of the sacraments, which God so instituted that believers, poor and deprived of all goods, should bring nothing to it but begging. From this it follows that in receiving the sacraments believers do nothing to deserve praise, and that even in this act (which on their part is merely passive) no work can be ascribed to them.

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland stands with Calvin’s theological focus.

Church of Scotland, The Scotch Confession of Faith (1560), in trans. Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969), 3:467–68 (spelling, capitalization, and punctuation modernized).

Article XXI. Of the Sacraments

As the fathers under the law, besides the verity of the sacrifices, had two chief sacraments, to wit, circumcision and the Passover, the despisers and contemners whereof were not reputed for God’s people; so do we acknowledge and confess that we now in the time of the Evangel have two chief sacraments, only instituted by the Lord Jesus and commanded to be used of all they that will be reputed members of his body, to wit Baptism and the Supper or Table of the Lord Jesus, called the Communion of his Body and his Blood. And these sacraments, as well of Old as of New Testament, now instituted of God, not only to make any visible difference betwixt his people and they that were without his league: But also to exercise the faith of his children, and, by participation of the same sacraments, to seal in their hearts the assurance of his promise, and of that most blessed conjunction, union, and society, which the elect have with their head Christ Jesus. And thus we utterly damn the vanity of they that affirm sacraments to be nothing else but naked and bare signs.

Church of England

While only baptism and Lord’s Supper are retained as official sacraments of the Gospel, the Church of England underscores that the sacraments are effectual signs of grace by which God works.

Articles of Religion (1563), in The Book of Common Prayer (Oxford, 1784); bracketed items omitted or modernized by John Wesley (1784), in John Wesley’s Sunday Service (Nashville: United Methodist Publishing House, 1984), 311–12.

Article XXV [XVI]. Of the Sacraments.

Sacraments ordained of Christ, [be] not only badges or tokens of Christian men’s profession; but rather they [be] certain [sure witnesses, and effectual] signs of grace, and God’s good will towards us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him.

There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.

Those five commonly called Sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures: but yet have not like nature of [Sacraments with] Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, [for that] they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained by God.

The Sacraments were not ordained [of] Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about; but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation: but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves [damnation], as Saint Paul saith.

THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION

Council of Trent

The Council of Trent reaffirms the traditional seven sacraments, including their institution by Christ.

The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (1547), in The Creeds of Christendom, 2:119–22.

Seventh Session, held March 3, 1547

Canon I.—If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or, that they are more, or less, than seven, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament: let him be anathema.

Canon II.—If any one saith, that these said sacraments of the New Law do not differ from the sacraments of the Old Law, save that the ceremonies are different, and different the outward rites: let him be anathema.

Canon III.—If any one saith, that these seven sacraments are in such wise equal to each other, as that one is not in any way more worthy than another: let him be anathema.

Canon IV.—If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification;—though all [the sacraments] are not indeed necessary for every individual: let him be anathema.

Canon V.—If any one saith, that these sacraments were instituted for the sake of nourishing faith alone: let him be anathema.

Canon VI.—If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law do not contain the grace which they signify; or, that they do not confer that grace on those who do not place an obstacle thereunto; as though they were merely outward signs of grace or justice received through faith, and certain marks of the Christian profession, whereby believers are distinguished amongst men from unbelievers: let him be anathema.

Canon VII.—If any one saith, that grace, as far as God’s part is concerned, is not given through the said sacraments, always, and to all men, even though they receive them rightly but [only] sometimes, and to some persons: let him be anathema.

Canon VIII.—If any one saith, that by the said sacraments of the New Law grace is not conferred through the act performed, but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices for the obtaining of grace: let him be anathema.

Canon IX.—If any one saith, that, in the three sacraments, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, and Order, there is not imprinted in the soul a character, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible sign, on account of which they can not be repeated: let him be anathema.

Canon X.—If any one saith, that all Christians have power to administer the word, and all the sacraments: let him be anathema.

Canon XI.—If any one saith, that, in ministers, when they effect, and confer the sacraments, there is not required the intention at least of doing what the Church does: let him be anathema.

Canon XII.—If any one saith, that a minister, being in moral sin,—if so be that he observe all the essentials which belong to the effecting, or conferring of, the sacrament,—neither effects, nor confers the sacrament: let him be anathema.

Canon XIII.—If any one saith, that the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church, wont to be used in the solemn administration of the sacraments, may be contemned, or without sin be omitted at pleasure by the ministers, or be changed, by every pastor of the churches, into other new ones: let him be anathema.

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The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

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The Puritans

The Calvinist tradition remains among the Puritans.

The Puritans, Westminster Confession of Faith (1647), in The Creeds of Christendom, 3:660–61.

Chapter XXVII. Of the Sacraments.

1. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ and his benefits, and to confirm our interest in him: as also to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the Church and the rest of the world; and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ, according to his Word.

II. There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified; whence it comes to pass that the names and the effects of the one are attributed to the other.

III. The grace which is exhibited in or by the sacraments, rightly used, is not conferred by any power in them; neither doth the efficacy of