Figure 1.--

Much of Christianity is rooted in the Jewish faith from which it evolved. We see in Deuteronomy 8:6-9 an expression of the Jewish roots of Chistian sacraments. Sacraments have been descibed the 'a visible sign of an invisible grace'. The term sacrament dies not appear herre which is why Protestanrs had trouble with most of them. It was a way of helping Christians "Observe Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him." The sacraments were a major issue for the early Church. There are very few visual representations of the celebrations of these sacramets from the early Churchas celebrations as Christians began developing their theilogical base and approach to the sacraments. Not only was there disagreement about the number of sacraments, but even more intense disagreement about the nature of the central sacraments. It took basically a millennium and a half to work this out. The Catholic Church did not finally set the number of sacraments at seven until the Council of Trent (1545-63). They are: (1) Baptism, (2) Eucharist (called sacraments of Christian initiation); (3) Confirmation; (4) Penitence or Reconciliation [called also Confession]; (5) Matrimony (sacraments of service); (6) Anointing of the Sick [former called Extreme Unction] (sacraments of healing); and (7) Holy Orders. The Orthodox Churches never determined the number of sacraments. They have the seven regognized by the Catholic Church, but, they also see the blessing and other rites as sacraments. The sacraments were one of the major issues raised by the Reformation. Luther and Calvin wanted a clear Biblical fondation for a sacramet. Thus they believed that there were only two sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist. They did not see marriage, the ministry, confirmation, or the confession (that some Lutheran Churches now practice) as sacraments.

Created: 8:37 PM 2/2/2010
Last updated: 4:06 AM 10/23/2017