Chapter 9: The Sacraments

Article XXV

OF THE SACRAMENTS^[1]

Sacraments^[2] 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 of 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 St. Paul saith.

The Article illustrates the Anglican ‘via media’ between the extreme Protestant view (characteristic among Continental Reformers at the time of the Reformation and still current amongst their spiritual descendants today) which depreciates the value of Sacraments, and the Roman Catholic view which makes them independent of the spiritual attitude of the worshipper.

The description of a Sacrament rests on what is called the sacramental principle; that is, the truth that things in physical Nature can symbolize and communicate spiritual reality. More will be said on this point, and about the Sacraments as ‘effectual signs of grace’ when we consider Articles XXVI I and XXVIII, on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The elements in the Sacraments, water in Holy Baptism, and bread and wine in Holy Communion, are not just ‘badges or tokens’^[3] of the Christian profession, like circumcision in Judaism; they are ‘effectual signs of grace’, whereby God’s presence and power are conveyed to the soul.

^[1]The first paragraph of the present Article is taken from Article IX of the Thirteen Articles of 1538, which in turn was based on Article XIII of the Augsburg Confession.

^[2]The word ‘sacramentum’ is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word musterion, which originally meant a secret, e.g., State secrets. Hence it came to mean religious secrets known only to the initiated, and eventually to denote religious rites commended in the New Testament (Ephes. 5:32). Cf. also A. W. Robinson, The Church Catechism Explained (1913), p. 137.

^[3]Anabaptists and Zwinglians said Baptism was only a badge which distinguished Christians from non-Christians.


	The Sacraments
PREVIOUS 132 NEXT
Title Contents Preface Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Site Search: powered by FreeFind Copyright & Credit	Article XXV OF THE SACRAMENTS^[1] Sacraments^[2] 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 of 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 St. Paul saith. The Article illustrates the Anglican ‘via media’ between the extreme Protestant view (characteristic among Continental Reformers at the time of the Reformation and still current amongst their spiritual descendants today) which depreciates the value of Sacraments, and the Roman Catholic view which makes them independent of the spiritual attitude of the worshipper. The description of a Sacrament rests on what is called the sacramental principle; that is, the truth that things in physical Nature can symbolize and communicate spiritual reality. More will be said on this point, and about the Sacraments as ‘effectual signs of grace’ when we consider Articles XXVI I and XXVIII, on Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The elements in the Sacraments, water in Holy Baptism, and bread and wine in Holy Communion, are not just ‘badges or tokens’^[3] of the Christian profession, like circumcision in Judaism; they are ‘effectual signs of grace’, whereby God’s presence and power are conveyed to the soul. ^[1]The first paragraph of the present Article is taken from Article IX of the Thirteen Articles of 1538, which in turn was based on Article XIII of the Augsburg Confession. ^[2]The word ‘sacramentum’ is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word musterion, which originally meant a secret, e.g., State secrets. Hence it came to mean religious secrets known only to the initiated, and eventually to denote religious rites commended in the New Testament (Ephes. 5:32). Cf. also A. W. Robinson, The Church Catechism Explained (1913), p. 137. ^[3]Anabaptists and Zwinglians said Baptism was only a badge which distinguished Christians from non-Christians.
PREVIOUS 132 NEXT