Article XXV: Of the sacraments

1 Response

  1. Bob Chapman says:

    I’ve seen an artful dodge of Anglican Fudge on this by saying the two sacraments of the Gospel are different and more important than the others because we all participate in them, but those “sacramental rites” are still sacraments–just less important because they aren’t as essential.

    I’ve also seen people point out that confirmation, ordination, and marriage flow from baptism, and shouldn’t be considered separate from Baptism. Then they go into more Fudge on healing and absolution, although still relating them to baptism.

    The real artful dodge on this one goes to the Orthodox. Are there 7 sacraments? Yes. But I have also heard some Orthodox say there are not ONLY 7 sacraments. There could be more. It is a sneaky way to answer the question to a person of the Roman Rite.

    I have no problem with calling the Big Two “Sacraments of the Gospel,” in an implication they are different. Well, they are.

    If healing and absolution are sacraments, I have trouble separating the two. Read James 5 to catch my drift. And, whether one or two sacraments, you could call them “Sacrament(s) of the Scripture,” since they are in James and not the four Gospels.

    The other three? Personally, any definition that I’ve seen of a sacrament that is broad enough to include them I’m not sure would limit the number to those three.

    Maybe I’m a Closet Orthodox?