The institution of the sacraments.
The institution of the sacraments.
§ 392. In the earlier editions of Bellarmine, this argument is inserted also: Thirteenth: “We must believe that Christ instituted all the sacraments as far as their essence is concerned. Yet we find no such thing in Scripture except in regard to two or three at the most.” We respond. Why, then, does Bellarmine go to so much trouble elsewhere to find in Scripture the essence of the five sacraments that have been added to Baptism and the Eucharist? We invert Bellarmine’s argument. Because the essence of those five sacraments over which there is controversy is not found in the Scriptures, therefore we cannot accept them as true sacraments, properly speaking.