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Scripture focus
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
1 Corinthians 11:26 KJV
At a glance
Did Jonathan Edwards think the sacraments actually accomplish anything, or were they just symbols?
He held they are real means of grace and occasions of Christ's peculiar presence, even while denying that the rite itself automatically produces regeneration.
Summary of the chapter
Some historians have claimed Edwards had little sacramental theology, treating the Lord's Supper as bare human fellowship. In fact, Edwards's view exceeded that of many Puritan predecessors, for whom sacraments were chiefly seals of the covenant. Edwards called them ordinances 'at which Christ is peculiarly present to his people,' comparing their function to Elijah laying fuel on the altar: the sacraments supply vivid, sensory ideas of the gospel so that grace has 'opportunity' to act on the soul when God chooses to send it.
On baptism, Edwards followed Calvin in treating it as a sign and seal of regeneration, applied to believers' infants because the covenant presumes such children are, or will be, regenerate. Yet he taught more clearly than Calvin that the rite itself does not confer regeneration — pointing to Simon Magus, and to baptized children who later manifestly reject God, as proof that baptism only 'ordinarily' seals salvation rather than guaranteeing it.
Because no one, Edwards insisted, can be fully certain of their own heart's sincerity, he concluded the saving efficacy of a particular child's baptism remains genuinely uncertain — even for the children of godly parents, since 'experience shows' that many baptized children of the godly later prove wicked. William Danaher's reading captures Edwards's deeper conviction: a sacrament is not merely a pedagogical emblem but 'a type of Christ,' in which Christ offers himself afresh to communing believers.
Key points
- Contrary to claims that Edwards had little sacramental theology, he saw the sacraments as ordinances 'at which Christ is peculiarly present to his people,' not bare memorials.
- Edwards treated the sacraments, like Scripture and Christian instruction, as a means of grace that gives the Spirit 'opportunity' to act on the soul, comparing this to Elijah laying fuel on the altar.
- Following Calvin, Edwards held that baptism signifies and seals regeneration and the covenant promises made to believers' children, without itself producing regeneration.
- Because no one can be certain of the sincerity of their own heart, Edwards concluded that baptism's saving efficacy for a particular child remains only probable, not certain.
- William Danaher's reading treats the sacraments as 'a type of Christ' in which Christ himself is present and communes with believers, not merely a teaching aid.
A line worth remembering
grace is from God as immediately and directly as light is from the sun
McClymond & McDermott The Theology of Jonathan Edwards, ch. 30
Related Scripture
- Romans 6:3-4
- Matthew 28:19
- 1 Corinthians 10:16-17
- Acts 2:38-39
For reflection and discussion
- What is the difference between saying a sacrament 'seals' grace and saying it 'produces' or 'causes' grace?
- Why might Edwards's caution about baptism's certainty be pastorally difficult, even if it is theologically careful?
- How does comparing the sacraments to 'fuel on the altar' change how you might approach communion or baptism?
These notes are an original UECF.NET study companion and are not a reproduction of the book. Read the full chapter — chapter 30, “The Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper” — in The Theology of Jonathan Edwards by Michael J. McClymond and Gerald R. McDermott (Oxford University Press, 2012).