the eleventh century the use of the Latin liturgy was imposed upon the entire Western Church by Pope Gregory VII in order to support the papal pretensions; but more and more among the people the Latin became an unknown tongue. It is no longer a living language and is known only to the learned, but the Roman hierarchy has never changed the liturgy to meet the wants of the people. Though in modern times some prayers are offered in churches of the Roman communion in tongues understood by the people, yet the mass is never celebrated in any but the Latin, and the consecration is spoken in a low voice. The veil of mystery is still drawn, and the Tridentine anathema is still in force. ARTICLE XVI OF THE SACRAMENTS Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they are certain signs of grace, and God's good will toward us, by the which he doth work invisible 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 partly grown out of the corrupt following of the Apostles, and partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures, but yet have not the like nature of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, because 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 condemnation, as Saint Paul saith, 1 Cor. 11. 29. I. THE ORIGIN The first section of this Article appeared in the thirteenth of the Augsburg Confession of 1530, and in the ninth of the Thirteen Articles of 1538, which were the joint production of English and German divines. In 1553 it began with a quotation from Saint Augustine: "Our Lord Jesus Christ hathe knitte together a companie of newe people with sacramentes, moste fewe in number, moste easie to be kept, moste excellent in significance, as is Baptisme, and the Lord's Supper." In 1562 it was brought into the form in which it now stands, in which the quotation from Saint Augustine was omitted. The order of the two main paragraphs was reversed, and between them two fresh paragraphs were inserted on the number of sacraments ordained by Christ, and the five rites "commonly called sacraments." In its present form it came into the Thirty-nine Articles in 1571, and was adopted by Wesley without change. II. THE AIM The purpose of the Article was to condemn at once the disparaging views of the sacraments taught by the Anabaptists and certain of the Swiss Reformers, notably the Zwinglians-which latter held them to be only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, and the exaggerated and erroneous doctrines of the Church of Rome, which arbitrarily decreed the holiness and efficacy of spurious sacraments. Up to the eleventh century but two sacraments were known to the Christian Church, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Before that time no other is mentioned in any scripture, or ancient council, creed, or author. In the twelfth century an effort was made to establish a definition of the term "sacrament" and to determine the number of them. The sacraments, according to the theoretic view of the scholastic philosophy, were mystical unions of words with sensible things by which the real passion of Christ was both signified and applied to the soul of man, the visible channels through which virtue 1 Epistle liv. was conveyed from Christ himself to his mystical body, the Church. In determining the number, the sacred number seven was fixed upon especially through the influence of Peter Lombard. Dupin says Lombard was the chief scholastic of his time, that his work served as a foundation for other doctors "who did nothing else but comment upon it."1 Mosheim says, "The compilations of Peter Lombard were preferred to the doctrines and precepts of Jesus Christ."2 The reputation of this theologian and the popularity of his work, with the theory of the School-authors, easily account for the acceptance of seven sacraments. The fanciful expositions of Scripture common to the time led in the same direction. From that biblical expression "the seven Spirits of God" there arose a conceit of the sevenfold operation of the Spirit; and it seemed illustrative of this to assume seven sacraments. The idea was confirmed by a decree of the Council of Florence in 1439, and promulgated in a synodal epistle from Pope Eugenius to the Armenians in 1442. It was adopted by the Council of Trent at its seventh session (1547), when the following canon was passed: "If anyone shall say that the sacraments of the new law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord; or that they are more or less than seven, namely, baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament, let him be anathema.” The Article as framed by the Reformers clearly distinguishes baptism and the Holy Communion from the five rites "commonly called sacraments," and insists upon a right disposition on the part of the recipients. 1 History of the Church, Cent. XII, chap. xii. Sess. VII, chap. i. III. THE EXPOSITION Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they are certain signs of grace, and God's good will toward us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith in him. The word "sacrament" is derived from the Latin word sacramentum, which came from the military oath of the Romans, and so far bears the mark of that derivation, as it denotes a solemn pledge of faith on the part of the receiver. Patristic writers used the word "sacrament" to signify a mystery, something unknown until revealed; hence, an emblem, type, or rite having some latent scriptural meaning. In this sense the Greek fathers applied it to baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Latin fathers applied the word sacramentum to anything sacred in itself or having the power of binding or consecrating men; they also used it in the sense of a mystery, something known only to the initiated or instructed. A sacrament is "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself." The true idea of the sacraments is that they are acts of religion, in each of which there are two contracting parties represented, namely, God and the Christian believer. The believer makes certain vows of fidelity to God, and God promises to afford his assistance in the great work of salvation. These acts signify the divine will and a communication of divine grace, and therefore must be founded or authorized by God himself. They are not merely duties, but sacred rites in which God himself bears a part. In them God embraces us, and offers himself to be embraced by us. They present |