Chapter 130 of 163

The Early Development of Sacramental Theology

The New Testament does not make use of the specific term “sacrament.” Instead, we find the Greek word mysterion (which is naturally translated as “mystery”) used to refer to the saving work of God in general. This Greek word is never used to refer to what would now be regarded as a sacrament (e.g., baptism). However, it is clear from what we know of the history of the early church that a connection was made at an early stage between the “mystery” of God's saving work in Christ and the “sacraments” of baptism and the Eucharist.

Perhaps the most significant advances in sacramental theology took place in Roman North Africa during the third and fourth centuries, and are to be seen in the writings of Tertullian (c.160–c.220), Cyprian of Carthage (died 258), and Augustine of Hippo (354–430). It is interesting to ask why these developments are associated with this specific region of the church. One possible factor is that the church in this region was subjected to particularly difficult circumstances, including persecution. (It must be remembered that Cyprian would die as a martyr at the hands of the Roman authorities.) The church in North Africa was thus characterized by a strong sense of solidarity in the face of these difficult conditions. As a result, the African church placed considerable emphasis on the solidarity of the faithful and on the means by which this could be maintained and enhanced. The sacraments were one vital aspect of this strategy, as we shall see.

Tertullian's contribution to the development of sacramental theology can be summarized in terms of three issues:

The use of the Latin term sacramentum (now familiar to us in its English form “sacrament”) to translate the Greek word mysterion. It is quite possible that this translation was already familiar to him through existing Latin translations of the New Testament. However, as we saw earlier (p. 304), Tertullian is noted for his ability to invent new Latin words for Greek theological terms, and it is entirely possible that this development was his own idea.

The use of the word “sacrament” in the plural. The New Testament spoke of “a mystery” in the singular. As we have just noted, Tertullian translated this as “sacrament,” referring to this mystery – but he also used the term in the plural to refer to the individual sacraments that were linked with this mystery. Tertullian thus uses the Latin word sacramentum in two different, though clearly related, senses: first, to refer to the mystery of God's salvation and, second, to refer to the symbols or rites that were associated with the recollection and appropriation of this salvation in the life of the church.

The exploitation of the theological significance of the parallel between sacraments and military oaths. Tertullian pointed out that, in normal Latin use, the word sacramentum meant “a sacred oath,” referring to the oath of allegiance and loyalty to the state that was required of Roman soldiers. Tertullian used this parallel as a means of bringing out the importance of sacraments in relation to Christian commitment and loyalty within the church – an issue of especial significance when the church was under persecution and when loyalty within the church was of paramount importance. This theme is also found in the sacramental theology of the Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), as we shall see later (pp. 390–1). For Zwingli, the sacraments emphasize the corporate solidarity of the communion of faith, and believers' solemn responsibilities toward God and the church.

The theology of the sacraments would be developed further by Augustine during the Donatist controversy (see pp. 386–8). A central theme of his reflections is the relationship between a sign and the thing that it signifies. For Augustine, the world contains many signs which point to different realities – for example, smoke as a sign of fire, or words as a sign of that to which they refer. However, there are also “sacred signs” which bridge the gap between God and ourselves, in that they serve as physical doorways or gates to spiritual realities. Augustine uses many definitions of sacraments to express this point; perhaps the most famous of these is the idea of sacraments as “visible forms of invisible grace.” Yet Augustine is clear that sacraments do not merely signify grace; in some way, they evoke or enable what they signify. In one sense, the subsequent development of sacramental theology may be said to concern the way in which the sign and thing signified relate to each other.

Figure 16.1 Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii (1784–5).

We may begin to explore this issue by looking at the question of the definition of a sacrament.

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