An Outline of an Anglican Life (Tarsitano, 1994)/Lesson Four

LESSON FOUR THE DOMINICAL SACRAMENTS

The Sacramental Principle

What is the "sacramental principle"? As we saw in the previous lesson, the sacramental principle is God's use of some created, visible thing (or an action involving it) as the "sign" or indicator of the gift of his grace. For example, the created universe is itself the physical sign of God's creative love. The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ is the physical sign (the physical expression) of God's redemptive love (see Hebrews 1-3).

So, what is a sacrament? The "formal" (official) doctrinal definition of a sacrament is: . . . an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive this grace, and a pledge to assure us thereof (Second Office of Instruction, BCP 292). In Latin, the word "sacrament" means "an oath." A soldier's oath, when he joined a regiment, was his sacramentum. The word "sacrament" was also applied to a soldier's "blooding": that is, to his first battle with his regiment, when he made good on his oath to fight beside his comrades. Thus, the pre-Christian background of the word sacrament was very similar to its Christian use: first of all, an oath or promise; second of all, the visible performance of what was promised.

What are the basic parts of a sacrament? The basic parts of a sacrament are the inward and spiritual grace promised and given by God, and the outward and visible sign used by God to demonstrate his graceful action on our behalf in the physical world (Second Office of Instruction, BCP 292).

How Many Sacraments Are There

How many sacraments are there? The number of sacraments is one of those things that theologians argue about with the best of intentions, but to the confusion of many people in the Church (see 2 Timothy 2:14). This is unfortunate, because God is a God of order and peace, and not of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). The word "sacrament" is a word used to describe God's work, and not to limit it. St. Paul tells us that the ministers of Christ are "the stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). The Eastern branches of Christ's Church, whose basic theological language is Greek, still mostly use St. Paul's Greek word "mystery," in the old sense of "the revelation of some truth that is unknowable until it is revealed" (in this case, God's loving care for us). The Western Churches, whose ancient theological language was Latin, by and large adopted the use of the word "sacrament" to avoid confusion, since in Latin the Greek loanword "mystery" tends to mean only "the unknown." The Anglican Church, which is both ancient and reformed, uses both words as the equivalent of the other, as we can see in the First Exhortation to the Holy Communion (BCP 85-86). But whether we call God's gifts of grace "sacraments" or "mysteries," we receive these gifts by the will of the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Ghost. The sacraments are God's fulfillment in time and space of his promise to care for the faithful. Since God created human beings as a unity of body, soul, and spirit; we receive God's grace as a unified action performed by God that affects us in body, soul, and spirit. So, how do we number God's blessings? On the one hand, we can't count all the good things that God does for us. On the other, we have a human need to try to count God's blessings, in order to organize our thoughts about his goodness, and in order to fulfill our duty to worship and thank him for his graces. Lists of sacraments are human instruments for thinking about God's grace, just as "theology" is the human study of God in general. Thus a pattern develops in the Church's human terminology for talking about the grace of God. In our terms, we differentiate between "general" and "specific" promises made to us by God, putting the greatest emphasis on those specific promises made to us by Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate. We also recognize that, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, the Church is called upon to minister to the faithful at certain times in their lives when all human beings are most needful of the grace of God (see, for example, James 5:14-15). From a combination of the inspired revelation of God's promises in the Scriptures and the Church's Spirit-guided experience of life in Christ comes the traditional list of seven sacraments used by the Western branches of the Church. The list of seven sacraments is very useful for studying both the mercy of God and the needs of mankind. We must be very careful, however, not to treat the number "seven" (or any other number) as a magical number that limits God's grace. Numerology (the superstitious belief that numbers have a power their own), as well as all other forms of divination, is prohibited by the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Fights among Christians over the number of sacraments are unseemly and divisive, and perhaps worst of all, unnecessary. All faithful Christians believe that God works in the world for the sake of Church, so our accounting of God's graciousness should never take precedence over our unity under God's sovereignty or our gratitude to him.

The Seven Sacraments

What are the "seven" sacraments? The "seven" sacraments consist of the two "Dominical" (or "major") sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Communion; and the five "minor" (or "lesser") sacraments of Confirmation, Penance (Absolution, Confession), Matrimony, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction, Laying-on-of Hands).

What are the "Dominical Sacraments"? The sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Communion are called "dominical" (from the Latin word dominus, for "Lord") because our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded these sacraments as "Sacraments of the Gospel," necessary for the salvation of all mankind (see Article XXV, "Of the Sacraments," BCP 607-8). Because our Lord specifically commanded that the Church administer these two sacraments, they are called "the major" (or "greater") sacraments, taking precedence over all other spiritual administrations that have as their warrant the application of more general promises of God's grace. Jesus Christ specifically determined the outward signs of the dominical sacraments, and clearly described the inward and spiritual grace of them (see for Baptism: John 3:3-8 and Matthew 28:19; see for the Holy Communion: Matthew 26:26-28 and John 6:48-58). You may have noticed that the portion of the Second Office of Instruction quoted above in regards to the definition of a sacrament stresses that sacraments are "ordained by Christ himself" (BCP 292). You will also notice that Article XXV, "Of the Sacraments," stresses the personal, incarnate action of our Lord in the appointing of the dominical sacraments (BCP 607-8). It is possible that someone without a knowledge of Church history might misunderstand the present discussion of the sacraments as in conflict with the authoritative teaching of our Church. But this is not so. Baptism and Holy Communion are central and necessary parts of new life in Jesus Christ. There is no substitute for them, nor any sacramental administration of the Church on a par with them. Thus, the Second Office of Instruction is quite right when it says, "Christ hath ordained two Sacraments only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord" (BCP 292). The texts of the statements in the Second Office of Instruction and in Article XXV come from the time of the Reformation, when the Reformers were attempting to bring the Church back to a full appreciation of the unique Biblical significance of Baptism and Holy Communion. The Reformers were not trying to do away with the other five sacramental administrations that fill out the traditional list of seven, but only to put them into proper perspective and to respond to the excessive claims made for them (and for the authority of church hierarchies to declare what is necessary for salvation) by some medieval theologians. This historical fact is proved by the English Reformers' inclusion of specific forms for the administration of the "five commonly called Sacraments" (BCP 607) in the Book of Common Prayer. Put another way, to claim that the Reformers' zeal for the careful use of the word "sacrament," and for the unique dignity of Baptism and the Holy Communion, was mere opposition to other sacramental administrations is to claim that the Reformers were opposed to the application of the Scriptures and Apostolic practice in the daily life of the Church. It is also to claim that the Reformers did not believe that the Church today hears the same Christ speaking in God's Word Written as the Apostles heard during Christ's earthly ministry. Such claims are partisan nonsense. What the Reformers believed, along with the undivided Church and the Anglican Church today, is that Christ has ordained two sacraments for all human beings at all times and everywhere; and that there are other sacraments administered by Christ's Body, the Church, as they apply to the needs of the individual lives of the people of God.

The Minor Sacraments

What are the "minor" (or "lesser") sacraments? Confirmation; Penance (Absolution, Confession); Matrimony; Holy Orders; and the Anointing of the Sick (Laying on of hands, Extreme Unction) are called "minor" or "lesser" sacraments because they were not specifically commanded in a particular form by Jesus Christ for all men, everywhere. The minor sacraments are not required of all Christians for salvation, because they are based on the authority of the Scriptures in general, and on the application of Scriptural teaching by the Apostles. A human being may be saved, for example, without being ordained or married; while a human being who has the opportunity to be baptized (some of the saints, for example, were martyred before they could be baptized in the normal way) or to receive the Holy Communion, and chooses not to do so, is not a Christian and is not saved (see Acts 2:41-42; Hebrews 10:19-25).

If you will glance at Article XXV again (BCP 607), you will see that it says, " [these] are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly as states of life allowed in the Scriptures. . . ." This section demonstrates the historic fact that the Articles were not written as "neutral definitions," but to deal with the controversies of the time. For example, it was common at the time of the Reformation for some unreformed churchmen to teach that sin could only be forgiven by a priest, after a private confession. God, of course, did not give up his power to forgive sin, when his Son bestowed upon his Apostles the authority to forgive the sins of penitent Christians in his Name (see St. John 20:22-23; see also the Absolution BCP 7). Nor did our Lord insist on a particular form of confession or a particular sign of absolution. It was an error to teach that the various forms used by the Church in obedience to Christ's grant of delegated authority were, without Christ's specific commandment, as necessary as the bread and the wine, the "This is my Body" and "This is my Blood" in the Holy Communion. But the English Reformers were definitely not denying the efficacy of absolution pronounced by an Apostolic minister in Christ's Name upon a repentant person. They were, instead, correcting certain of the clergy's false claims of raw ecclesiastical power. In other words, the position of the English Reformers, found in the Prayer Book, was a return to Biblical and Apostolic standards (see the final paragraph of the Second Exhortation, BCP 87-88).

God Performs the Work in a Sacrament

Who performs the work in a sacrament? This is an important point that escapes many well-meaning people: that God performs all the work in a sacrament. God is the giver of grace, and faithful human beings are the receivers of grace. Sacraments are objective acts of grace performed by God for our benefit. While God uses the physical instruments of outward signs and ministers in the sacraments, it is God alone who bestows grace, and God's promises alone that are fulfilled. We must avoid the heresies of subjectivism (grouped under the name "receptionism") that teach that the faith (or the emotions) of the receiver of a sacrament is the power that bestows grace. We do God no favors when we receive the sacraments, nor do we make any contribution to the life of God. Faith itself is not a gift that we give to God, but a gift to us by God's grace (Ephesians 2:8). We do not choose God; God chooses us (John 15:16). The sacraments are the specific visible continuation of God's saving grace in our lives, after we have received the saving gift of faith. Here is an analogy. The effectiveness of a tetanus shot that a person receives in a doctor's office does not depend on the person's faith in the doctor, a knowledge of medicine, or a lack of fear of injections. The tetanus shot is an objective means of preventing disease. At the same time, the person is there in the doctor's office because the doctor has reached out to him, taught him to trust his judgment and good will in medical matters, and helped him to overcome his fear of injections. The doctor has done all the work. The patient has contributed nothing to medicine by receiving its benefits. Where this analogy breaks down, of course, is that a doctor can err, his knowledge is limited, and his medicine can fail. God cannot err, his knowledge is infinite, and his grace cannot fail.

The Validity of a Sacrament

How do we know if a sacrament is valid (if it is being administered properly)? Since God has given his Church the responsibility for administering the sacraments, the Church has given a great deal of thought to developing a Method of guaranteeing to her members that the sacraments are being administered according to God's will as revealed in the Scriptures: that is, that they are "valid" (from the Latin for "strong," "having power"). To be valid, a sacrament must have the following elements: The Proper Minister. The person who administers a sacrament must be authorized by the Church to do so, according to Christ's commandments. For example, in an emergency, any Christian can baptize (see the rubric in The Ministration of Holy Baptism, BCP 281). In contrast, under any circumstances, only a priest or bishop may celebrate the Holy Communion (see the rubrics of The Order for Holy Communion, BCP 67-84, and the section on the offices of the ministry in the Second Office of Instruction, BCP 294). Even if bread, wine, and the form in the Prayer Book are used, if a priest or bishop does not celebrate the Holy Communion service, there is no real sacrament of our Lord's Body and Blood. The service is invalid (see Article XXIII, "Of Ministering in the Congregation," BCP 607).

The Proper Object. Here the word "object" (better than the more confusing word "subject" as used by some theologians) refers to the person receiving the sacrament. Only human beings can receive sacraments (you can't baptize your dog). Only someone who is baptized can receive any of the other sacraments. Only an unmarried man and an unmarried woman can receive the sacrament of Matrimony. Only a man can receive Holy Orders. The Proper Form. A sacrament must be given in a particular way, authorized by the Church in obedience to Christ. The form of a sacrament should express the teaching of the Bible and the Church's intention to obey God in her actions. The forms of Baptism and the Holy Communion must be in imitation of the words and actions of Christ when he instituted (established and commanded) them. The form of the other, lesser sacraments must be according to the use of the Apostles and the undivided Church. The proper forms of the sacraments as they have been received by the Anglican Branch of Christ's Church are found in the Book of Common Prayer. The Proper Matter. The visible things used in administering a sacrament must be what Christ commanded (Dominical Sacraments) or what the Church has authorized (based on the work and teaching of the Apostles). Water must be used in Baptism. Only bread and wine can be used in the Holy Communion: cookies and grape soda cannot be used in a valid Communion service (they cannot be the "outward and visible sign" of the Body and Blood of Christ). The laying on of hands must be used in Confirmation (see Acts 8:14-17). The Proper Intention. The minister administering the sacrament and the person receiving it must have the right intention: that is, they must intend to obey God and to do what God's Church does and means by that sacrament. Fortunately, this requirement does not mean that we must read the minds of our fellow Christians. It means that, according to the discipline of the Church, the minister and the receiver must publicly declare their intention to do what the Church teaches and believes. God will read their hearts. It is also this discipline of a proper public intention that protects the faithful from the unworthiness of ministers (see Article XXVI, "Of the Unworthiness of Ministers, which hinders not in the effect of the Sacraments," BCP 608)

Holy Baptism

What is Holy Baptism? Holy Baptism is the dominical sacrament, commanded by Jesus Christ, required of all human beings for salvation, that makes us members of Christ's Body (the Church) and heirs of eternal life (see Matthew 28:19-20; John 3:5; Acts 2:37-38; The Ministration of Holy Baptism, BCP 273-282, especially 273-274; see also Article XXVII, "Of Baptism," BCP 608). The premature death (before the opportunity for Baptism) of someone called by the grace of God to new life in Jesus Christ is the sole exception to this universal requirement. Thus, the Church sometimes speaks of "Baptism of blood" (for martyrs), "Baptism of desire," or "Baptism of intention": meaning that she believes that by the sovereign mercy of God the inward and spiritual grace of Baptism was received without the outward and visible sign of water. The outward and visible sign of Baptism is a washing in water, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (BCP 292). The inward and spiritual grace is a rebirth in water and the Holy Ghost (John 3:3-8): "a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness; whereby we are made children of grace" (BCP 292). In Baptism, we are buried with Christ in his death, so that we may also be partakers of his resurrection and inheritors of God's everlasting kingdom (BCP 280-281; Romans 6:4-11). The Proper Minister is a bishop or priest, when available. A deacon may baptize in the absence of a bishop or priest. In a life or death emergency, a layman may baptize, but all such emergency baptisms must be reported immediately to a parish priest to be recorded and to connect them to the total life and work of Christ's Church (BCP 281). The Proper Object is an unbaptized person called by the grace of God to faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism can be received only once. We are born after the flesh once; so we can only be born again of the Spirit in Baptism once. Remember: Baptism is a genuine, objective rebirth by the power of the Holy Ghost, but it is only the beginning of our lives in Christ. We must live the new lives God gives us in obedience to him, by his grace. If we fall into sin, we do not need to be rebaptized, but to repent our sins: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9; and see Article XVI, "Of Sin after Baptism," BCP 605).

The Proper Form is washing an unbaptized person in water by immersion (dunking), dipping, or affusion (the pouring of water), in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (see Matthew 28:19; see BCP 273-282, especially 279). The Church recognizes any Baptism that is performed using water in the Name of the Trinity in obedience to Christ. The Proper Matter is water. The Proper Intention is to obey Jesus Christ and to do what the Church teaches and believes about Baptism: that is, to make the receiver dead to sin and alive to God.

What is required of someone to be baptized? The Prayer Book teaches these requirements, based on the Holy Scriptures: "Repentance, whereby he forsakes sin; and Faith, whereby he steadfastly believes the promises of God to him in the Sacrament" (BCP 292).

The Baptism of Infants

Why are babies and children baptized? The Church baptizes babies and young children in obedience to Christ, who said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14), and "Except a man [the original Greek says "anyone"] be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Just as circumcision was the sacrament of membership in the Old Testament (covenant), Baptism is the sacrament of membership in the New Testament (covenant) of Christ. Remember, God does the work in all sacraments, so children were circumcised under his commandment in the Old Testament, including his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Luke 2:21). It is pure arrogance for human beings to declare that children are not called by God to new life in him. Samuel belonged to the Lord before his birth (1 Samuel 1:11), as did the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). Isaiah tells us that the Servant of God (and perhaps he himself) is called from the womb (Isaiah 49:1). The Psalmist taught by divine inspiration that God knows and possesses all his people in the womb (Psalm 139:13-16). John the Baptist leapt in the womb when Mary, pregnant with our Lord, visited his mother Elisabeth (Luke 1:40-45). Thus, following the commandment of our Lord and the consistent Scriptural witness of God's good will towards children, the Apostles baptized entire households, including the children, from the first days of the Church (Acts 10:48; Acts 16:15; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:16). Note that the so-called "age of accountability" is not found in the Scriptures, but is derived from the teachings of various pagan philosophers, persons are born into sin and in need of redemption, no matter what their age (see Psalm 51:5). Thus, the "age of accountability" has no bearing on the sacramental practice of the Church.

The Holy Communion

What is the sacrament of Holy Communion? The Holy Communion is the dominical sacrament of the reception by the power of the Holy Ghost of Christ's Body and Blood, instituted by Christ himself at the Last Supper, for a perpetual remembrance of his one sacrifice of himself once offered as a full, perfect, and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole world (see Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29; The Order for the Holy Communion, BCP 67-84, especially BCP 80; Article XXVII, "Of the Lord's Supper," BCP 608). Words cannot contain the meaning of this Sacrament because it is the Sacrament of the Son of God, and human words cannot contain the meaning of Creator. Yet that same Christ, who is the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1), gives us words by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to speak of his blessings. We call this Sacrament "the Holy Communion" (from the Greek for "fellowship, " "relationship," "sharing") because it is the sacred sharing of God's own life (and of the lives of the faithful in God) by God's own grace and power. We call it "the Eucharist" from the Greek word for "thanksgiving," since the Holy Eucharist is the greatest single act of thanksgiving for our lives and salvation that God has given us the power to perform. We call it "the Lord's Supper" because it is the fulfillment of our Lord's promises and teaching at the Last Supper: his Testament declared the night before his crucifixion. We even sometimes call it "the Mass" (as once did all Latin speaking Christians, Martin Luther, and the First English Prayer Book) from the Latin word missa (meaning "sent forth"), because at the conclusion of the old Latin service the Church was "sent forth" into the world to serve Christ and to live his Gospel. Another word we must consider is "memory" or "remembrance," as in "Do this in remembrance of me." This word has greater meaning in the context of the entirety of the Holy Scriptures than mere psychological or emotional recollection. There is, first of all, the idea of the memorial sacrifice: sacrificial obedience in memory of (in response to) the mercy of God toward his people (see Leviticus 24:5-9; Numbers 10:10). Thus, St. Paul can write of our living sacrifices of ourselves (a mystery of grace, since the word for "sacrifice" that he uses means "a slaughter": Christ has been slaughtered, so that we can offer God our lives in him) (Romans 12:1). And Paul writes of our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving (Hebrews 13:15), warning us not to fail "to communicate," "for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:16). (These passages are summarized in the last section of the Prayer of Consecration, "the oblation of the Church," BCP 81.) These "memorial sacrifices," of course, are not a re-offering of Christ's sacrifice of himself, which was offered once for ever, in the presence of the Father, in the holy of holies not made with hands (Hebrews 9:24-28). These sacrifices are the effect of Christ's one sacrifice, the grace of God at work in the life of the Church, and the life of Christ as work in the members of his Body (compare Matthew 16:24-25). But "memory" in the Bible goes even deeper: even to the present, life-changing experience of what has gone before. When her son becomes ill, the widow of Zarephath asks Elijah, "Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?" (1 Kings 17:18). In the inspired terms of the Bible, the "remembrance" of sin by God can make past sins present and deadly. Thus, God's "remembrance" of his Son's holy sacrifice, does not repeat it, but does make that sacrifice present and life-giving in the Holy Communion for faithful members of the Church. "Memory," in the modern sense of simple recollection, is therefore the least important part of "Do this in remembrance of me," since it is only the result of the faith that God gives, of the memorial sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving that he commands and enables, and of his own communion with the one sacrifice of his Son. Lastly, in this regard, we ought not to limit our thinking to past events. The Holy Communion is also a foretaste of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, which is heaven (see John 1:29 and Revelation 19:6-9).

The Sign and Grace of the Lord's Supper

What is the outward and visible sign of the Holy Communion? The Second Office of Instruction teaches, "The outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper is, Bread and Wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be received" (BCP 293).

What is the inward and spiritual grace? The Second Office of Instruction teaches, "The inward part, or thing signified, is the Body and Blood of Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper" (BCP 293). The Prayer Book continues, "The benefits whereof we are partakers in the Lord's Supper are the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ, as our bodies are strengthened and refreshed by the Bread and Wine" (BCP 293). The Proper Object is a baptized person admitted to the Holy Communion by the Church, who has prepared himself to discern the Body of the Lord by repentance of his sins (see 1 Corinthians 11:26-32; see also the Exhortations, BCP 85-89; and Article XXIX, "Of the Wicked, which eat not the Body of Christ in the use of the Lords Supper," BCP 609). The Proper Minister is a bishop or priest. No one else is authorized by Christ and his Church to offer the Holy Communion. A deacon may be sent by the bishop or priest to administer the consecrated bread and wine from the Church's common service of Holy Communion to someone who is unable to be present with the rest of the Church at the service as an extension of the Church's communion with God. The Proper Form is found in the Book of Common Prayer, 67-84. The form consists of taking the bread and wine, saying the prayers (including at least our Lord's own Words of Institution from the Last Supper), breaking the bread, and eating the bread and drinking the wine. (See Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.)

The Proper Matter is bread and wine. Nothing else may be substituted. The Proper Intention is to obey Jesus Christ's commandment to "do this in memory of me," as taught and practiced by the Church.

The Real Presence

Do we really receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Holy Communion? Yes, since Christ clearly said, "This is my Body" and "This is my Blood." The teaching of the Church in imitation of our Lord is sometimes called "the doctrine of the real presence." Consider this. Jesus Christ said: Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat [food] indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him (John 6:53-56). What Jesus Christ commands us to do must be possible for us to do, with his help. The Holy Communion is the means that Christ provides us to obey him and to have eternal life.

How is Christ received in the Holy Communion? In one sense, we don't know. What we do know is that Christ said that we receive his Body and Blood in the Holy Communion. This is all we need to know, although our curiosity makes us want to know more. Queen Elisabeth I is supposed to have said, in response to the theological arguments of her time: His was the Word that spake it: He took the bread and brake it; And what that Word did make it, I do believe and take it. But, using the Scriptures, we can probably do better than this. The real question isn't, "How is Jesus in the Holy Communion?"; but "how is personality attached or connected to matter?" A corpse has everything a living person has, except his life and personality. Yet, it isn't a person. If we look to the first chapter of Genesis, we see that God created the world from nothing, by his will, by the Word of his commandment, and by the power of the Holy Ghost. When God created Adam, he formed him from the dust and breathed the Holy Ghost into him, to make him a living soul: a living person in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:7). It is the will of the Father, his Word of commandment, and the power of the Holy Ghost that makes a collection of dirt (or chemicals) a human being. It is the same will, the same Word, and the same Holy Ghost that graciously permit us to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Holy Communion.

Discussions of transformations are beside the point, and grow out of a misguided attempt to make God and the Scriptures conform to the theories of pagan philosophy (see Colossians 2:8-10). A thing is, because God says it is. A thing is what it is, and means what it means, because God makes it so. This truth is all that the Prayer Book intends when it says that the Body and Blood of Christ are "spiritually taken and received" (293). The order of this physical world is set by the spiritual reality of God. The boundaries between one and the other are wherever God establishes them. Reality is always determined by God alone.

The Duty to Receive the Holy Communion

Does a Christian need to receive the Holy Communion? Yes, and regularly, because the Holy Communion is the spiritual food that feeds the Body of Christ. We would not starve our physical bodies, and expect them to be healthy. So, we do not starve our spiritual Body. Obedience to our Lord, and love for him and our fellow Christians, requires us to make it our discipline to receive the Holy Communion as often as we are spiritually prepared to do so. Note that a perfectly reasonable argument can be made that "give us this day our daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer refers to the Holy Communion, as well as to our ordinary food. In any case, the Biblical pattern for the life of the Church, from the day of Pentecost, can be described in this way: "They continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 3:41-42).

Editorial Notes

Source: Louis R. Tarsitano, An Outline of an Anglican Life (Classical Anglican Press, 1994). Reproduced on AnglicanWiki by permission of Classical Anglican Press.