Sacraments in the 1928 BCP Catechism

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Sacraments in the 1928 BCP Catechism are taught as Christ-ordained signs that both signify and convey divine grace. The Catechism names Baptism and the Lord's Supper as the two sacraments generally necessary to salvation, and then explains each by its outward sign, inward gift, and the response called for from its recipients.

The Catechism's definition

The Catechism asks how many sacraments Christ ordained in his Church:

Two only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.

[1]

Its definition joins the visible act to God's gift and promise:

I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof.

[2]

The sign is perceptible; the grace is spiritual and given by God. Christ's institution distinguishes the Church's sacramental acts from a symbol invented at will. The words “means” and “pledge” describe both the gift received and the assurance attached to it. The two parts are distinguished for teaching, but the Catechism does not invite the learner to discard either.

The Catechism places this teaching after its account of the Creed, commandments, and prayer: the child who has learned to ask God for grace is then taught about the sacramental means and pledge of grace. Article XXVI adds a distinction relevant to assurance: the unworthiness of a minister does not take away the effect of Christ's ordinance for those who receive it rightly and by faith, though the Church is still to discipline an offending minister.[3]

A contemporary Anglican interpreter, Granville Mercer Williams, explained the link between divine institution and sacramental efficacy in 1928:

The Christian Sacraments are effectual symbols of God's grace because God has set them forth for us, because we use them in obedience to His Will, and because He wills to give to those who so use them the graces which He has attached to their use.

[4]

Williams's account is an interpretation of the Catechism, not an additional Prayer Book definition. In the same chapter he stresses the recipient's response in faith and love and denies that sacramental rites compel God.[5]

Baptism: water and new birth

The Catechism identifies the water and the Trinitarian name together, and explains the grace associated with Baptism:

Water; wherein the person is baptized, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness: for being by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace.

[6]

The two paragraphs answer consecutive questions; water is the sign, while death to sin and new birth describe the gift. Matthew 28:19 supplies the Trinitarian baptismal commission, and Romans 6:3–4 associates baptism into Christ's death with walking in newness of life.[7] In the Prayer Book's Baptism office, the Church prays for the candidate to be baptized with water and the Holy Ghost and received into Christ's Church, showing how the catechetical account belongs to a rite of prayer and admission.[8]

The answer on preparation names “Repentance” and “Faith”; for infants the Catechism says that sureties promise these on their behalf and that the children, when of age, are bound to perform them. Baptismal grace is thus presented alongside a lifelong response, not as a reason for indifference.[9]

The Baptism office gives that continuing response a liturgical form. After the water and baptismal words, the minister gives thanks for the person grafted into Christ's Church and asks the congregation to pray that the person may live according to this beginning. Its later thanksgiving prays that, being dead to sin and buried with Christ, the baptized may also share his resurrection. The Catechism's concise answer and the office's prayer therefore illuminate each other without making the beginning of Christian life identical with its completion.[10]

The Lord's Supper: remembrance and participation

The Catechism first states the purpose of the Supper, then names what is received:

For the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby.

[11]

The Body and Blood of Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.

[12]

The outward part is bread and wine; the next answer names the benefit as the strengthening and refreshing of the soul. The Catechism thus keeps remembrance of Christ's death together with spiritual reception and its benefit. Paul's account of the institution and his call to self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:23–29) illuminate both the remembrance and the preparation; 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 also speaks of participation and the unity of the one body.[13]

In Holy Communion, the words used to deliver the bread connect the gift to faith and thanksgiving:

The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving.

[14]

For those coming to the Supper, the Catechism asks for self-examination: repentance and a purpose of amendment, lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, thankful remembrance of his death, and charity toward all. These are concrete directions for reception, not a substitute for Christ's gift.[15]

The Communion invitation makes the same preparation communal and practical: those who repent, intend a new life, and are in love and charity with their neighbours are invited to draw near in faith. The thanksgiving after reception then asks for grace to continue in holy fellowship and do good works. The movement from examination to reception and thanksgiving places the sacrament within a life of reconciliation and service.[16]

The two sacraments and other rites

The qualification “generally necessary to salvation” should be retained when explaining the Catechism's number. Article XXV of the Thirty-nine Articles calls Baptism and the Lord's Supper sacraments ordained by Christ in the Gospel; it distinguishes five other rites and states of life from them because they lack the same nature and a visible sign or ceremony ordained by God. That distinction does not erase the Prayer Book's provision for other rites such as Confirmation.[17]

Writing before the 1928 revision, Bishop John Henry Hobart explained his distinction between Confirmation and the two sacraments by referring to their material signs:

Our Church deems one essential sign of a sacrament-"an outward and visible sign"--that is, some material substance, denoting "an inward and spiritual grace." Her authority for this is, that there are outward and visible signs in baptism and the Lord's Supper-water in the one, and bread and wine in the other.

[18]

Hobart's explanation is one historical Anglican account of the distinction; it does not make Confirmation unimportant. The Catechism's closing rubrics provide for instruction and presentation to the bishop, setting sacramental teaching within the continuing formation of the baptized.[19]

See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, question on the number of sacraments, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  2. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, definition of a sacrament, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  3. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, questions on prayer and the sacraments, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription; and Articles of Religion, Article XXVI, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  4. ↑ Granville Mercer Williams, S.S.J.E., The Touch of Christ: Lectures on the Christian Sacraments (New York: Edwin S. Gorham, 1928), chapter II, “The Christian Sacraments,” Project Canterbury transcription.
  5. ↑ Granville Mercer Williams, The Touch of Christ (1928), chapter II, “The Christian Sacraments,” Project Canterbury transcription.
  6. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, answers on the outward sign and inward grace of Baptism, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  7. ↑ The Holy Bible, King James Version, Matthew 28:19 and Romans 6:3–4, Bible Gateway.
  8. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), The Ministration of Holy Baptism, opening exhortation, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  9. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, questions on repentance, faith, and infant Baptism, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  10. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), The Ministration of Holy Baptism, declaration and thanksgiving after Baptism, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  11. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, question on the purpose of the Lord's Supper, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  12. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, question on the inward part of the Lord's Supper, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  13. ↑ The Holy Bible, King James Version, 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 and 11:23–29, Bible Gateway.
  14. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, words at the delivery of the Bread, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  15. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, final question on preparation for the Lord's Supper, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  16. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, invitation and thanksgiving after Communion, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  17. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Articles of Religion, Article XXV, “Of the Sacraments,” Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
  18. ↑ John Henry Hobart, A Catechism for Confirmation (New York: Protestant Episcopal Tract Society, printed by T. & J. Swords, 1819), p. 7, question on Confirmation and a sacrament, Project Canterbury transcription.
  19. ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), A Catechism, concluding rubrics, Society of Archbishop Justus transcription.
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