Comparative Theology
Sacraments Compared
Baptism, the Eucharist and the sacramental rites: two sacraments or seven
Baptism is the universal rite of Christian initiation. Its mode, its recipients and its sacramental efficacy nevertheless divide the traditions profoundly.
Baptism compared
| Dimension | Reformed | Catholic | Orthodox | Baptist and Anabaptist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Sprinkling or affusion; immersion permitted but not required. | Sprinkling, affusion or immersion, all valid. | Threefold immersion facing east, held to be the apostolic norm. | Full immersion alone, as answering to the sense of βαπτίζω. |
| Recipients | Paedobaptism: the children of the covenant (Gen 17; Acts 2:39; Col 2:11-12). Sign and seal of the covenant of grace. | Paedobaptism; it removes original sin and is necessary for salvation (John 3:5). | Paedobaptism, followed immediately by chrismation and first communion, infants included. | Credobaptism alone; baptism presupposes a personal confession of faith (Schleitheim, art. 1). |
| Efficacy | Sign and seal of justification; it effects outwardly what the Spirit works inwardly. Regeneration is not tied to the rite itself. | Ex opere operato: it objectively regenerates, removing original sin and infusing habitual grace. | A mystery of regeneration and incorporation into the Body of Christ, completing initiation in a single celebration. | An act of obedience and public testimony; death to the old self and resurrection in Christ (Rom 6:3-4). Faith precedes. |
The paedobaptist and credobaptist arguments
Gen 17:7-14 institutes circumcision as a covenant sign applied to infants, and Col 2:11-12 identifies baptism as “the circumcision of Christ.” Acts 2:39 extends the promise to the children of believers, and the household baptisms of Acts 16:15, 33 and 1 Cor 1:16 assume the family as a unit. The new covenant, on this reading, includes the households of believers.
Apostolic baptism invariably presupposes repentance and faith (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; Rom 10:9). The household baptisms do not establish the presence of infants. The new covenant is a covenant of the regenerate, since “they shall all know me” (Jer 31:34). No explicit instance of infant baptism appears in the New Testament.
The Lord’s Supper is the most divided sacrament in Christendom. The five principal positions reflect fundamentally different accounts of the relation between sign and reality.
Five positions on the Eucharist
| Position | Proponent | Presence of Christ | Reading of “This is my body” |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transubstantiation | Catholicism (Lateran IV, 1215; Trent, 1551) | Substantial and complete: the accidents of bread and wine remain, the substance is the body and blood. | Literal, denoting a real ontological change of substance. |
| Real presence | Orthodoxy | Real and mysterious; Christ is present, without an Aristotelian account of the mode. | The gifts truly become the body and blood, without scholastic elaboration. |
| Sacramental union | Luther | Corporeal and real, “in, with and under” the bread and wine. | Strictly literal. At Marburg Luther pressed the force of est. |
| Spiritual presence | Calvin, Bucer | Real but spiritual: Christ is efficaciously present to those who receive in faith, his body being in heaven at the Father’s right hand. | Metonymic: the bread efficaciously represents the body. The Supper is an exhibitio, not an empty commemoration. |
| Memorialism | Zwingli | No special presence; Christ is in heaven. The Supper is an ἀνάμνησις of his death. | “Signifies my body”: a representative sign. |
The Colloquy of Marburg (1529)
Philip of Hesse convened the colloquy to unite Luther and Zwingli. They agreed on fourteen of the fifteen articles and separated irrevocably on the Eucharist. Luther is reported to have written hoc est corpus meum on the table and refused every figurative construal; Zwingli appealed to John 6:63, that the Spirit gives life and the flesh profits nothing. Protestantism has remained divided at this point ever since, with consequences that were political as well as theological, since the failure compromised a united Protestant front against the Emperor.
The remaining rites and their sacramental status
| Rite | Reformed | Catholic | Orthodox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmation | Not sacramental. A public profession of faith ratifying baptism; no gift of the Spirit distinct from baptism. | A sacrament sealing baptism and conferring the Spirit, with chrism consecrated by the bishop, ordinarily administered in adolescence. | Chrismation, administered immediately after baptism, infants included, with myron consecrated by the patriarch. |
| Penance | Not sacramental. Absolution is proclaimed on the authority of the gospel; private confession is retained in Lutheran practice. | A distinct sacrament: auricular confession, contrition, satisfaction, and absolution pronounced by the priest in persona Christi. | A mystery of confession made before Christ, the priest standing as witness rather than judge. |
| Marriage | An ordinance of creation (Gen 2:24), blessed by the Church but not a sacrament. Indissoluble by vocation, though divorce is admitted in certain cases (Matt 19:9). | A sacrament, the spouses being its ministers to one another. Indissoluble; nullity may be declared by an ecclesiastical tribunal. | A mystery, marked by the crowning of the spouses. Dissolution is possible by οἰκονομία in cases of adultery or desertion. |
| Ordination | An ecclesiastical and functional act, conferring no distinct ontological character. The community commissions for public ministry. | The sacrament of Order in three degrees, imprinting an indelible character; only a bishop may ordain. | A mystery conferred by the bishop within the Divine Liturgy, the assembly acclaiming Ἄξιος. |
Two sacraments or seven
The number of the sacraments is among the sharpest points of division. Luther and Melanchthon at first acknowledged three (baptism, the Supper and absolution); Calvin and the Reformed tradition settled on two, admitting only those instituted by Christ with a material sign and an attached promise.
| Rite | Protestant | Catholic | Orthodox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baptism | Sacrament | Sacrament | Mystery |
| Eucharist | Sacrament | Sacrament | Mystery |
| Confirmation or chrismation | Ecclesiastical rite | Sacrament | Mystery |
| Penance | Not sacramental | Sacrament | Mystery |
| Anointing of the sick | Pastoral practice (Jas 5:14) | Sacrament | Mystery (εὐχέλαιον) |
| Order | Ecclesiastical act | Sacrament | Mystery |
| Marriage | Ordinance of creation | Sacrament | Mystery |
The Reformed criterion (Calvin, Institutes IV.14.1)
Calvin defines a sacrament as an outward sign by which the Lord seals upon our consciences the promises of his goodwill toward us, in order to sustain the weakness of our faith, and by which we in turn attest our piety toward him. On this criterion three conditions must hold: explicit institution by Christ, an external material sign, and a gospel promise attached to that sign. Only baptism and the Supper qualify.
Bibliography
- Calvin, John. Institutes IV.14-19 (1559). LCC 21. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960.
- Luther, Martin. Confession Concerning Christ’s Supper (1528). LW 37.
- Gerrish, B. A. Grace and Gratitude: The Eucharistic Theology of John Calvin. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993.
- Meyendorff, John. Byzantine Theology. New York: Fordham University Press, 1974.
Quiz — Sacraments Compared
On what point did Luther and Zwingli separate at Marburg in 1529?
- Justification by faith alone
- Infant baptism
- The mode of Christ’s presence in the Supper, and the force of the verb “is”
- The authority of the ecumenical councils
Agreement on fourteen of the fifteen Marburg articles; rupture over the fifteenth