Chapter 16: The Sacraments
16
The Sacraments
In the previous chapter we considered issues relating to the identity of the Christian church. Our attention now turns to a set of related issues centering on the sacraments. As with the doctrine of the church, the issues at stake are of considerable relevance to anyone who is studying theology with a view to entering pastoral ministry. However, they are also of interest to anyone studying theology for more academic reasons.
As will soon become clear, the term “sacrament” proves somewhat difficult to define, given the controversy within the Christian churches upon both the nature and number of the sacraments. In general terms, a sacrament may be thought of as an external rite or sign which in some way conveys grace (see pp. 383–6) to believers and strengthens their faith. While a series of important issues concerning the efficacy of the sacraments were debated during the Donatist controversy (see pp. 386–8), the most sustained debates within the church on the identity and function of the sacraments took place during the sixteenth century. For this reason, the discussion of sacramental theology will include extensive reference to the debates of this era.
The term “sacramentology” is sometimes used to refer to a “theology of the sacraments” but has not secured general acceptance. We shall therefore use the phrase “theology of the sacraments” in this chapter.
The chief debates within Christian history which relate to the sacraments concern the following issues:
The third question is unanswerable! In practice, it may be noted that the term “mass” tends to have Catholic, and “Lord's Supper” Protestant, connotations. In the present work, the term “Eucharist” has been used as a convenient compromise, simply because it has the advantage of possessing an adjectival form (“eucharistic”). Readers of the work who find this term objectionable or problematic are completely at liberty to substitute their preferred alternatives, wherever these are appropriate. No attempt is being made to prescribe this term as correct or normative.