Download Alister McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction

Alister McGrath,
Christian Theology: An Introduction
Chapter 16
The Doctrine of the Sacraments
Wiley-Blackwell 2010
The Early Development of Sacramental Theology
• Roman North Africa, 3rd and 4th centuries
• Tertullian
– Greek mysterion (mystery) to Latin sacramentum (sacrament)
– Sacrament and sacraments
– Parallel between sacraments and military oaths
• Augustine of Hippo
– “visible forms of invisible grace”
– Sacraments both signify and evoke or enable
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The Definition of a Sacrament
• Augustine
– A sacrament is a sign
– The sign resembles the thing it signifies
• Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141)
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A physical or material element
A likeness to the thing that is signified
Authorization to signify the thing
Efficacity: the sacrament is able to confer the benefits it signifies
• Peter Lombard (c.1100-1160)
– Omit reference to physical or spiritual element
– Seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance,
marriage, ordination, extreme unction
• Martin Luther
– The Word of God
– An outward sacramental sign
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– Two sacraments: baptism
and Eucharist
The Donatist Controversy:
Sacramental Efficacy
• Cyprian of Carthage: no true sacraments outside the church
• Donatists
– validity of sacraments depend on personal qualities of the person
who administers them
• Augustine
– Insufficient weight to the grace of Jesus Christ
• Ex opere operantis (on account of the work of the one who
works)
• Ex opere operato (on account of the work which is done)
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The Multiple Functions of the Sacrament
• Sacraments convey grace
– Ambrose of Milan, Augustine
– Peter of Aquila: sacraments are the precondition, not cause, of grace
– Protestant reformers
• Sacraments strengthen faith
– Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560)
• Gracious divine accommodation to human weakness
– Martin Luther
– Second Vatican Council
• Sacraments enhance unity and commitment within the
church
– Martin Luther
– Huldrych Zwingli
• Baptism and circumcision
• Public declaration of loyalty to the church
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• Sacraments reassure us of God’s promises toward us
– Martin Luther
• A sacrament as a “testament”
• A case study in complexity: the functions of the Eucharist
– Recollection: looking backward
• Continuity between church and Israel
• Remembrance of the death of Jesus on the cross
– Anticipation: looking forward
• The return of Christ
• The hope of the New Jerusalem and the heavenly banquet
– Affirming individual faith
– Affirming corporate belonging
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The Eucharist: The Question of the Real Presence
• “This is my body” (Matthew 26:26)
– Cyril of Jerusalem (c.313-86)
• The ninth-century debates over the real presence
– Paschasius Radbertus and Ratramnus of Corbie
– Candidus
• Medieval views on the relation of “sign” and “sacrament”
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The sign itself
Something that is both a reality and a sign
The sacramental reality
Thomas Aquinas
• Transubstantiation
– The Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
– Aristotelian categories
• Substance and accidents
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• Transignification and transfinalization
– Transfinalization: consecration alters the purpose of the bread
and wine
– Transignification: consecration changes the meaning of the bread
and wine
– Edward Schillebeeckx, The Eucharist (1968)
• Consubstantiation
– Martin Luther
– Simultaneous presence
– Genuine presence
• A real absence: memorialism
– Huldrych Zwingli
– Remembrance, memorial
– Metaphorical/figurative
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The Debate Concerning Infant Baptism
• The New Testament
• Karl Barth’s criticisms
– Lacks biblical foundation
– Devalues the grace of God
– Weakens the link between baptism and discipleship
• Infant baptism remits the guilt of original sin
– Augustine
• Infant baptism is grounded in God’s covenant with the church
– Huldrych Zwingli: baptism and circumcision
• Infant baptism is unjustified
– Believer’s baptism
– Benajah Harvey Carroll (1843-1914)
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Proper authority
Proper subject
Proper act
Proper design
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