Understanding Sacraments: Signs of Faith and Grace
Position of Protestants on Sacraments
Generally, Protestants hold that the sacraments are signs of something sacred (grace, faith), but deny that they really cause Divine grace. However, Episcopalians and Anglicans, especially the ritualistic, hold with Catholics that the sacraments are “effectual signs” of grace.
Luther and his early followers rejected this conception of the sacraments. They do not cause grace, but are “mere signs and testimonies of God’s good will towards us” (Augsburg Confession), encourage faith, and through faith, man is justified by God the Father, originating externally from the merits and holiness of Jesus Christ. Calvinists and Presbyterians maintain basically the same doctrine.
Zwingli believed that the sacraments are signs of our faithfulness to God, that is, the sacraments are nothing but memories of Christ and signals of our Christian profession. By receiving the sacraments, we express our faith in Christ; they are simply the votes of our faithfulness.
Sacraments as Signs of Faith
- Express and celebrate the faith of the Catholic Church. The Church believes in the efficacy of the sacramental signs. It is she who has done it “in the name of Christ” [technical term, indicating that the Church acts representing the invisible Christ, who is truly present in the sacramental sign] and with the authority of him: “The Church is the sacrament of the action of Christ” (CCC 1118). Hence, for the validity of a sacrament, it is required to always try to make the Church what the Church wants to do to celebrate.
- Express and celebrate the faith of the person who receives: Without faith in Christ and his saving work, the sacramental action is not given (cf. Mt 16:15-19; I 8:37 s).
- Nurture and strengthen faith. We say: Lord, I believe, but increase my faith (Mark 9:24). The celebration of the sacraments increases faith.
Elements of the Sacrament: Symbol, Memorial, and Ritual
Sacramental Symbol: A sign or symbol of a supernatural, salvific reality, i.e., the union of a visible signifier and an invisible signified: a saving, supernatural reality, whose union is based on analogy or resemblance. The sacramental sign is not simply an inert thing, but an action, more specifically, a symbolic action through a natural element by a minister who represents the Church. The invisible meaning (= Christ in some of his mysteries [= facts or saving events]) is present in the visible significant (= the minister who acts using sensitive elements or things of nature or simply making a gesture), not only intentionally but really. That saving presence of Christ is due to the decision of Christ to be present in the sacramental symbol: it is what we call the institution of the sacrament by Christ.
The sacramental symbol consists of two elements, which, inspired by Aristotelian philosophy, have been called “MATTER” and “FORM.” As in the physical, the sacramental symbol also finds two elements: one, indeterminate, which is called “matter,” and another factor, called “form.” By “matter,” we mean the action-principal symbolic gesture in which the Minister makes use of a material element (water, bread, oil) or simply makes a gesture, and “form” means the minister’s words accompanying the action-principal symbolic gesture and indicate the significance of it. Both make up the sacramental symbol, which was instituted by Christ. The Lord gave the outward symbol, to institute it as a sacrament, a special meaning and effectiveness, as indicated by the word. Words are the most important element in the composition of the sacrament, as they determine the meaning of symbolic action. We should also keep in mind that men typically express our thoughts and intentions through words, but sometimes they fall short of earlier experiences, and so deep we were in the action-gesture breaths, gestures, etc. Now that the word is the most important element should not lead us to underestimate the symbolic action: there is harmony and reinforcement between the two components; they are needed and complement each other.