Sacramental Practice Research Articles

Medicine as Friendship with God: Anointing the Sick as a Theological Hermeneutic

A THEOLOGICAL BIOETHICS NEEDS, FIRST, A THEOLOGICAL POLITICS. THE thesis of this essay rests on the claim that the contours of a theological poli tics are found in the nature of sacramental practices. More specifically, a the ological politics of medicine is found in the sacramental practice of anointing of the sick. Anointing provides a radically theological hermeneutic—a theolog ically robust vision for interpreting medicine that, if enacted, can powerfully make real God's work in the world. Such a vision is embodied in one particu lar twentieth-century exemplar—the organization called Partners In Health (PIH) and its cofounder, Paul Farmer. Farmer and PIH, I argue, live the theologie and theological politics of medicine embodied in the practice of anointing. What is more, they show—against those who would accuse such an approach of be ing naively idealistic—that such a theological politics is possible, powerful, and can even change the world.

Medienrecht in der Katholischen Kirche

The Catholic Church has a fundamentally open attitude towards the modern media, as is most clearly demonstrated by its self-restraint with regard to media regulation. This media-friendly position is based on the insight that in the past comparatively restrictive regulations concerning media rights, up to and including censorship, have proved to be inadequate or inappropriate, and have conflicted with the Church's proclamatory mission. In its engagement with the media, the Church places its sacramental practices at the centre of interest, and thus the media become an instrument for proclaiming the faith without serving a commercial agenda. However, particular problems arise if satirical criticism of the Church is no longer concerned with airing grievances, but seeks to deliberately defame the Church in order to gain worldwide attention. Such defamations are often based on the calculation that the Pope will not defend himself against them. Voluntary self-regulation by the media, which operates prior to publication, is more effective than public intervention by bishops. Such self-regulation runs parallel to the Church's own reserve with regard to the regulation of mass media.

Heirs of Richard Baxter? The Society of Free Catholics, 1914–1928

The Society of Free Catholics was founded in 1914 by a small group of Unitarian ministers, who, inspired by Richard Baxter, James Martineau, F. D. Maurice and the Catholic Modernists, sought to combine historic Catholic sacramental and devotional practice with theological freedom, and to unite all Christians in a Free Christian Church. The members included Anglicans, Nonconformists and a few Roman Catholics. The two main leaders of the society were J. M. Lloyd Thomas of the old Meeting, Birmingham, and W. E. Orchard of the King's Weigh House, London. Their chief legacy was a series of prayer books for public worship.

Faire l’histoire catholique de l’Ouest américain au 19e s. Une terre de missions à réévaluer

The history of the American Catholic Church in the 19th century has changed a lot since twenty years. The chronology is new and the historians now study the Americanisation of the Church, the sacramental practices or the clerical world and its relations to the parishioners. But the Catholic West is still the land of the old hagiography, and not of a new catholic history. We have to use that history and the New Western History to really understand what it means to be Catholic in the 19th century West and how the Church grew. That history is above all colonial: the missionaries there must be compared with their colleagues in other colonies around the world. That history is about how the individual and collective identities appears and sometimes clash. And that history is about an institution, the Church, its individual and intellectual migration from Europe and its will to create and control a insular Catholic world.

From Royal Prayer Books to Common Prayers: Religious Practices in Late Medieval and Early Modern Poland

The Union between Poland and Lithuania, whose foundations were laid in 1386 with the baptism of Jagiello, the pagan grand duke of Lithuania, and his marriage to Queen Jadwiga (Hedwig), daughter of the last king of Poland, marked the beginning of a systematic Christianization to which the pagan Lithuanians offered remarkably little resistance. Recent research on religious practice under the ruling Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland and Lithuania (1386–1572) shows that royal piety was often designed to elicit participation at a popular level, cementing both the diffusion of Christian involvement across the newly unified kingdom, and in turn the role of the royal family at its centre. Surviving royal accounts and prayer books can offer a privileged insight into the personal religion of the monarchs and their relatives. These accounts, although only partially extant, constitute an objective source by which religious practices may be understood. Created for bureaucratic reasons, to keep order in the Treasurer’s Chancery, rather than to present the king as pious, they detail expenses for masses and other opera pia of the king and his family, recording the rhythm of royal religious practices – for the day, the week and the whole liturgical year. The accounts also provide evidence of sacramental practices and royal almsgiving. Pious literature composed at the behest of the Jagiellons, combined with extant pedagogical treatises and didactic sermons delivered in the presence of the monarch, is particularly valuable in admitting us into the world of royal Christian education.

El diálogo ecuménico y los sacramentos de Ia iniciación cristiana

Firstly, the article analyses the situation from which we start off in the context of the various churches: a diversity of doctrine and liturgical and pastoral practice with regard to the three sacraments of initiation. For the purposes of this comparative study we analyse firstly the convergences and discrepancies between the orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church. In second place, the convergences and discrepancies with the Churches born of the Protestant Reformation. In the light of these different lines of theology and sacramental practice, this section finishes with a question: How have we arrived at this situation? In order to reply, we review the history and theology in debate between the Christian Churches about the three sacraments. Secondly, the author tackles the advances in the ecumenical dialogue on the sacraments of initiation. In order to contemplate these advances we study the repercussions of Vatican II and later Catholic documents, given that in them the Catholic Church has shown signs of being open to a real «reform» in this field. At a second stage, we move to an analysis of an important agreed document on sacramental matters between Protestants, Orthodox and Catholics, the Lima Document: «Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry» (BEM). In it we study its primary common doctrine on Baptism and Confirmation and then on the Eucharist. Thirdly the article concludes with some proposals to advance the theological dialogue in question. In order to do this, the criteria for a mutual recognition of Baptism are proposed, some observations are made to advance the question of Confirmation and the author concludes with a theological reflection on the Eucharist.

“Do This”: The Eucharist and Ecclesial Selfhood

The human vocation is to see and act rightly by participating in the triune life of God. This is inseparable from participation in Christian community and practices. Personhood is formed, transformed and cultivated through the practices of the Christian community. How does this participation enable such living? This essay argues that sacramental and liturgical practices are the central means by which “the ecclesial self” is shaped. In worship, Christians “practice who they are becoming.” This essay engages and extends David Ford's thesis that salvation comes by participating in worship and living worshipfully before God with others. Ford argues that Christians are called to live eucharistically: remembering, hoping, and loving in Jesus Christ. Through worship, habits and character, the whole of life is formed.

Sacrament and Structure in The Faerie Queene

At the beginning of Canto x in Book One, Spenser gives us perhaps the most Calvinistic stanza in The Faerie Queene. It ends with the lines: 'If any strength we have, it is to ill, / But all the good is Gods, both power and eke will.' Yet the canto goes on to present the most Roman Catholic images of the poem: seven beadsmen, representing the corporal works of mercy; Dame CaeIia herself, as the abbess or prioress, saying her rosary; and the Redcrosse Knight's confession of his sins to Patience, who assigns him a rather medieval penance complete with flagellation and other mortification of the flesh. This last example resembles Roman Catholic sacramental practices. In the fight against the dragon, we get similar images of sacramental efficacy. For example, the balm and water of the Tree of Life work to revive St George, even when he has been knocked unconscious. That hardly sounds like Calvin's insistence that we must make a conscious act of faith to benefit from receiving the sacraments. Much less does it sound like a Zwinglian view. There is one theologian, at least, who stressed both sacramental efficacy and predestination. In his tracts against the Donatists, Augustine insists on the ex opere operata power of the sacraments. And in his tracts against the Pelagians, he insists on the bondage of the will and on the necessity of grace to free us from sin. In other words, human beings have to wait on both the grace of God and the offices of the Church. That dual emphasis seems to be at the heart of Augustinian theology, and Spenser's images accord with it. Whenever Spenser shows the Redcrosse Knight putting forth moral effort, he hastens to add a statement about

Sacraments and Social History

The sacraments of baptism and holy communion are not only means of grace; they are social rites. Christians have practiced them using available cultural materials. The sacraments, in turn, have formed the community of the church. This essay reviews cultural ways at different times in social history that have informed sacramental practice. Not surprisingly, postmodern preferences for diversity of style and concerns for inclusivity in community have been expressed in contemporary sacramental practice. Larger uses of water and oil and better quality bread and wine reflect a postmodern concern for the natural world. A diversified menu reflects a sense of community forged by attending to individual needs. New eucharistic prayers use expanded images, diverse forms of prayer within one prayer, and acclamations of the people within a presidential prayer.

Marcion's Love of Creation

Although Marcion is often said to have rejected matter as inherently evil, Marcionite sacramental practice and asceticism suggest a more complex and specific set of attitudes to material things and practices. Later heresiologists analyzed Marcion's rather negative cosmogony and saw inconsistency, but Marcionite Christianity was less concerned with the origins of things than with their significance in light of the new creative work of the loving Stranger god. What Marcion despised was arguably the order ( kosmos ) of creation, rather than the mere fact of it. If the higher god saves human beings, who are part of the Creator's work and without affinity to that "Stranger," then by analogy the use of water in baptism or bread in the eucharist may be understood as the ritual reconfiguration of matter into the new order willed by its "new master and proprietor."

Los últimos cien años de la evangelización en América Latina. Centenario del Concilio Plenario de América Latina. Os últimos cem anos da evangelização na América Latina. Centenario do Concílio Plenario da América Latina. Simposio Histórico. Actas. Ciudad del Vaticano, 21–25 de Junio de 1999 (review)

Los ultimos cien anos de la evangelizacion en America Latina. Centenario del Concilio Plenario de America Latina. Os ultimos cem anos da evangelizacao na America Latina. Centenario do Concilio Plenario da America Latina. Simposio Historico. Actas. Ciudad del Vaticano, 21-25 de Junio de 1999. Edited by Pontificia Commissio pro America Latina. (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2000. Pp. 1548. lire 160.000.) In June, 1999, the Pontifical Commission for Latin America commemorated the hundredth anniversary of the Plenary Council of the Latin American bishops in Rome by holding a symposium. Los ultimos cien anos de la evangelizacion en America Latina reproduces the proceedings or acts of the symposium, which brought together nearly one hundred specialists in theology and church history, who analyzed and commented on the plenary council of 1899 and Latin American church history in general in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The plenary council is not well known, and whether or not it had a significant impact on the Church in Latin America is open to debate. Nevertheless, it constituted the first meeting of the Latin American bishops in history, and for that reason alone it was memorable, and at the very least represented a first step toward the creation of a Latin American church. For forty-three days, from May to July, 1899, fifty-three Latin American archbishops and bishops discussed such issues as modern errors which had already been condemned at Vatican Council I (rationalism, free-thinking, etc.), dangerous associations and movements (masonry, anarchism, communism, etc.), churchstate relations, sacramental practice, the formation of the clergy, canon law revisions, and suitable means to communicate the Church's message. The acts of the symposium include the official greetings, beginning with that of John Paul II, nine major plenary presentations (ponencias), and sixty-five shorter papers (comunicados). The presentations are divided into three parts: the Church and the political context of the nineteenth century; the plenary council itself; the impact of the council and other important events in the life of the Church in the twentieth century. As we shall see, the symposium produced many excellent and very informative papers which merit the attention of scholars. Nevertheless, it should be noted that, given its official character, the symposium suffered from some of the limitations of a controlled meeting. It was by invitation only and academic pluralism and critical and original scholarship were not always the criteria for selecting participants. The vast majority were clerics, with only a sprinkling of laypersons. Several of the papers deal with liberal-Catholic clashes in the last century and offer few new insights. The papers on the twentieth century do not adequately reflect the reality of the Latin American Church. There is not a single paper on liberation theology, which most students of the Latin American Church would consider the most important theological current which that continent produced in the twentieth century. One of its leading theologians, Father Gustavo Gutierrez, is mentioned once. The great progressive cardinals and bishops of twentieth-century Latin America-Helder Camara, Paulo Arns, Oscar Romero, Raid Silva Henriquez, Juan LandAzuri Ricketts, among others, receive scant attention. The one paper on Protestantism is cast in a pre-Vatican II mentality and makes no reference to ecumenical relations between Catholics and Protestants. Only two papers deal with religious women. Several of the papers present church history in such an abstract and non-critical way that they are not useful for historians. A case in point is the plenary paper on the major assemblies, Rio de Janeiro (1955), Medellin (1968), Puebla (1979), and Santo Domingo (1992). The author offers an idealized version of the Church's evolution from one assembly to another and emphasizes episcopal communion as the connecting link. …

The Theology of John Donne (review)

Reviews 185 Johnson, Jeffrey, The Theology ofJohn Donne (Studies in Renaissance Literature 1), Cambridge, D. S. Brewer, 1999; cloth; pp. xiii, 162; R R P £40, US$75; ISBN 0859915441. While innumerable studies have been dedicated to John Donne the poet, Jeffr Johnson's book represents one of the few dedicated explorations of John Donne as a committed Renaissance theologian. While Donne's role as a poet is not discounted, Johnson's object of investigation here is primarily the Sermons. It is Johnson's position that, because the Sermons have not received the same quality or quantity of critical attention as the poems 'John Donne has not been treated seriously as a religious thinker' (p. ix). Johnson is speaking here primarily about twentieth-century treatment of Donne; a tradition initiated and encoded early in the century by T. S. Eliot, who identified Donne's religious writings as a refuge from a highly emotional temperament, rather than a serious theological enterprise. Recent studies of the Sermons have similarly undervalued Donne's theological importance by focussing almost entirely on the historical/political content and context of these works. Johnson too is interested in the historical/political circumstances in which Donne preached, but only in so far as they provide a circumstantial framework through which the more distinguishing features of his theology can be explored (p. x). The central theme of this book is the primacy of the Holy Trinity in Donne's theology. Donne saw the Holy Trinity, both as sacramental practice and active metaphor, as being central to every aspect of Christian life. As a preacher he felt the true message of the Holy Trinity was to encourage and establish a godly community based on congregational prayer. This somewhat complex theology is explored through a combination of biographical details and long, carefully chosen excerpts from the Sermons, which are mostly helpful in illustrating Donne's general theological approach. Through Johnson's close reading of these excerpts the prominence of the Trinity in Donne's Sermons is made clearly apparent, however, the author's tendency to jump around chronologically, problematizes any attempt to identify a clear development of Donne's theology over time. Much of thefirstchapter explores the Sermons as a collective attempt by Donne to reconcile 'reason' with knowledge ofthe Holy Trinity, which in Donne's view, could only be truly gained through revelation or epiphany. The reading is a complex one and is made no easier by Johnson's decision to define this particular aspect of Donne's theology by comparison with the theology of John Calvin. 186 Reviews Johnson wants to establish a clear contrast between Calvin and Donne, but this results in more of a review of previous attempts to make such a connection. In particular, Johnson challenges critics such as Debora Shugar who argue for a strong connection and shared view of God between Donne and Calvin. The argument concludes with Johnson's assertion that perhaps a true appreciation of Donne's theology will only be achieved by more close analysis of the differences between he and Calvin (p. 16). Disappointingly, however, no such analysis is attempted here. While Johnson successfully keeps his work focussed on theological issues, this book is perhaps at its best when there is an immediate historical/political context offered for the sermon under examination. One example of which is Donne's sermon before Charles I in April 1629, just after the dissolution of parliament (pp. 16-27). In the course of that multi-faceted sermon, Donne variously asserts the inclusiveness of Christianity, takes time to remind the king of his mortality and limitations and argues for a greater sense of community among protestants of all sects (p. 25). The sermon reveals something of Donne's attitude to various contemporary political and religious issues, including the fact that his well-known sympathy for the troubled king was based on theological and not political principles (p. 27). Chapter T w o examines Donne's Sermons as a constitutive part, and explication of, the purpose, function and benefits of c o m m o n prayer in Caroline England. Johnson begins by again taking issue with those who have tried to label Donne a Calvinist...

From Mystical Moment to Therapeutic Method: Connections Between Psychology of Religion and Pastoral Counseling

Argues for a connection between psychology of religion, represented by William James, and pastoral counseling, especially as informed by the therapeutic methods of the brief therapy centers in Palo Alto and Milwaukee. Ludwig Wittgenstein, the philosopher, is seen as the key bridge figure between the two. Inspired by the film Six Degrees of Separation, the proposal is made for connective links between the philosophical and experimental interests of Benjamin Blood and William James in the mystical experience, Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophical method in the Tractatus, and the therapeutic methods of Paul Watzlawick and Steve de Shazer. This transmission process is considered similar to that which occurs in religion itself, as transcendent experiences are routinized through liturgical and sacramental practices. The essay is viewed as an exercise in pastoral theological method.

Poisonous Honey or Pure Manna: The Eucharist and the Word in the “Beehive” of Marnix of Saint Aldegonde

With the publication of hisDen Byencorf der H. Roomische Kercke(The Beehive of the Holy Roman Church) in 1569, the Netherlandic Calvinist Marnix of Saint Aldegonde launched a satirical attack onthe clergy, polity, and sacramental practice of Catholicism. Though the fame of the book and its author have been eclipsed, they were both well known during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesas shown by the frequency of publication. Marnix's task, in common with other sixteenth-century religious propagandists, was to communicate a theological message to a popular audience. The success of this effort depended on reaching across the separation between systematic theology and folk religiosity. The object was not original theology, nor even doctrinal subtleties, but the creativeuse of common terms to explain divergent schemes of basic dogma. Because the subject was more religious than theological, the separation between Latin and the vernacular cultures could be bridged by the use of metaphors common to both high and popular culture. In this, Marnix's work is distinguished by his use of the metaphors of beehive, honey, and manna to explain the differences between the Catholic Eucharist and the Calvinist Lord's Supper. The use of manna is not surprising as one would expect it to be a common image; however, the metaphors of hive and honey are less expected. While the former is clearly biblical in origin, the apiary metaphors are not. Thus, Marnix relies on the common sociocultural context of the beehive to instruct a popular Dutch audience in a fundamental difference between Calvinism and Catholicism. By identifying the Catholic host with polluted honey, Marnix defends the necessary presence of the Word for the Calvinist Lord's Supper, which he portrays as pure manna. Rather than feeding on the body of Christ, Marnix argues, the true Church feeds on the Word of God, which is present in the Calvinist wafer.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: The Story of Israel between Settlement and Exile. By A.D.H. Mayes. Deuteronomic History. By Terence E. Fretheim. Wisdom and Law in the Old Testament: The Ordering of Life in Israel and Early Judaism. By Joseph Blenkinsopp. Jesus Son of Man. By Barnabas Lindars. The Message of Mark. By Morna D. Hooker. The Legend and the Apostle: The Battle for Paul in Story and Canon. By Dennis Ronald MacDonald. Studies of the Church in History: Essays in Honor of Robert S. Paul on his Sixty‐Fifth Birthday. Edited by Morton Davies. Greek Rhetoric under Christian Emperors. By George A. Kennedy. Cyril of Alexandria: Select Letters. Edited and translated by Lionel R. Wickham. Gregory Palamas: The Triads. Edited with an introduction by John Meyendorff, translation by Nicholas Gendle, preface by Jaroslav Pelikan. John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell (with notes by Norman Russell), introduction by Kallistos Ware, preface by Colm Luibheid. Akathistos, Byzantine Hymn to the Mother of God. Translated for chant and choral recitation by Paul M. Addison. John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Translated by Colm Luibheid and Norman Russell (with notes by Norman Russell), introduction by Kallistos Ware, preface by Colm Luibheid. Akathistos, Byzantine Hymn to the Mother of God. Translated for chant and choral recitation by Paul M. Addison. The Cistercian Alternative. By Andre Louf. The Implications of Literacy: Written Language and Models of Interpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. By Brian Stock. Politics, Finance and the Church in the Reign of Edward II: Walter Stapledon Treasurer of England. By Mark Buck. The Common Lawyers of Pre‐Reformation England: Thomas Kebell, A Case Study. By E.W. Ives. My Dear Peter:‘The Ars Poetica’and Hermeneutics for More's Utopia. By Elizabeth McCutcheon The Sack of Rome, 1527. By André Chastel. The Poet's Time: Politics and Religion in the Work of Andrew Marvell. By Warren L. Chernaik. The Anglican Spiritual Tradition. By John R.H. Moorman. Probability and Certainty in Seventeenth‐Century England: a Study of the Relationships between Natural Science, Religion, History, Law, and Literature. By Barbara J. Shapiro. A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain, Vol. 3. Edited by R. Davies, A.R. George and G. Rupp. Evangelicals United: Ecumenical Stirrings in Pre‐Victorian Britain, 1795–1830. By Roger H. Martin. Beethoven and the Voice of God. By Wilfrid Mellers. Developments in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland 1789–1829. By Christine Johnson. The Sectarian Spirit: Sectarianism, Society, and Politics in Victorian Cotton Towns. By Paul J. Phillips. Revivalism, Social Conscience and Community in the Burned‐Over District: The Trial of Rhoda Bement. By Glenn C. Altschuler and Jan M. Saltzgaber. Old Catholics and Anglicans, 1931–1981. Edited by Gordon Huelin. What Ever Happened to Vatican II? By Michael Winter. Oscar Romero: Bishop and Manyr. By James R. Brockman. Catholics in Apartheid Society. Edited by Andrew Prior. Theologie im 20. Jahrhundert: Stand und Aufgaben. Edited by George Strecker. Why Believe in God? By Michael Goulder and John Hick. The Second Christianity. By John Hick. God Among Us: The Gospel Proclaimed. By Edward Schillebeeckx. God Is New Each Moment. By Edward Schillebeeckx. From Christ to God. By David G.A. Calvert. Interpreting Jesus. By Gerald O'Collins. Son of Man and Son of God. By John C. Dwyer. In Quest of Jesus: A Guidebook. By W. Barnes Tatum. Logos‐Symbol in the Christology of Karl Rahner. By Joseph H.P. Wong. Christo‐Psychology. By Morton T. Kelsey. Sacraments as God's Self‐Giving: Sacramental Practice and Faith. By James F. White. Priesthood and Ministry: Ecumenical Research. By Max Thurian. Authority in the Church. Edited by Piet F. Fransen. Papal Infallibility: An Application of Lonergan ‘s Theological Method. Edited by Terry J. Tekippe. Christian Moral Reasoning. By Garth Hallett. Baron Friedrich von Hügel's Philosophy of Religion By James J. Kelly. Three Faces of Hermeneutics: An Introduction to Current Theories of Understanding. By Roy J. Howard. Science Deified and Science Defied: The Historical Significance of Science in Western Culture from the Bronze Age to the Beginnings of the Modern Era. By Raymond Olson. On History and other Essays. By Michael Oakeshott. Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy. By Leo Strauss with an introduction by Thomas L. Pangle. Myth and Thought Among the Greeks. By Jean‐Pierre Vernant. The Early Greek Concept of the Soul. By Jan Bremmer. Viraha‐Bhakti: The early history of Krsna Devotion in South India. By Friedhelm Hardy. The Outline of Sanity: A Biography of G. K. Chesterton. By Alzina Stone Dale.

Sacraments as God's Self-Giving: Sacramental Practice and Faith. James F. WhiteSacraments and Sacramentality. Bernard Cooke

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsSacraments as God's Self-Giving: Sacramental Practice and Faith. James F. White Sacraments and Sacramentality. Bernard Cooke Joseph L. PriceJoseph L. Price Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Religion Volume 65, Number 4Oct., 1985 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/487325 Views: 4Total views on this site Copyright 1985 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Sacraments as God's Self Giving: Sacramental Practice and Faith by James F. White Nashville, Abingdon, 1983. 160 pp. $8.95

Sacraments as God's Self Giving: Sacramental Practice and Faith <i>by James F. White</i> Nashville, Abingdon, 1983. 160 pp. $8.95

A Valentinian Interpretation of Baptism and Eucharist — and Its Critique of “Orthodox” Sacramental Theology and Practice

The question of how different gnostic Christians interpreted and practiced sacraments — so long limited to the sparse references in the anti-gnostic writers — is being reexamined in the light of recently available gnostic documents. Yet one source long available — the fragments of Heracleon that Origen cites in his ownCommentary on John— yields evidence that Heracleon not only interprets the sacraments in terms of Valentinian theology, but also criticized, from this theological standpoint, the sacramental theology and practice of the “great church.” Heracleon's sacramental theology, however, has escaped the notice of those researchers that have limited their investigation to the quoted fragments themselves. Analysis of Origen's commentary as a whole reveals that other statements of Heracleon's doctrine frequently appear apart from the direct quotations. Such statements, recognizable by their concurrence of terminology and doctrine with the quoted fragments, Origen introduces as the opinion of “the heterodox,” 3 or “those who introduce the doctrine of natures,” or in the voice of the imaginary interlocutor. As Heracleon is his principal protagonist, these often set forth his views. Extending our methodology to include investigation of Origen's arguments — which are characteristically structured, in theJohncommentary, to refute Heracleon's allegations — we discover in the extant debate evidence for a Valentinian theology of baptism and the eucharist.

PROEVE VAN EEN ECUMENISCHE BESCHOUWING OVER DE SACRAMENTEN

SUMMARY This is an attempt to formulate the nature of the sacraments in relation to the Church, to the deposit of faith, and to church order, in order to try to establish a way of viewing sacramental practice in terms more positive than validity and invalidity, which now loom uncomfortably large over ecumenical relationships. Part I, dealing with three preliminary questions, first gives a survey of the pronouncements of the Church on the invalidity of Protestant sacraments; added to the defectus intentionis the Church denounces in the Protestant ministry a lack of competence to administer the sacraments after Baptism, even in the case of the Anglican Church, which claims a valid ministry. After this it is laid down that whereas the concept of (in)validity is only prominent in paradoxical situations (especially those in which mala fides plays a part), traditional theology has formulated the nature of the sacrament almost exclusively in terms of (in)validity, thus basing itself on a marginal concept of the ...

Considerations on the Definition of a Sacrament

In the Westminster Confession, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, a section with the definition of a sacrament precedes the sections interpreting Baptism and the Lord's Supper (W.C.F., Chap. 27; L.C., Qq. 161, 162, 163; S.C., Q.q. 91, 92). In considering these it is important to remember that the authors of these statements were not interested in propounding a sacramental theory of religion for its own sake. They were confronted with an existing sacramental system and practice which appeared to them as idolatry and superstition. What we find then in our standards is not academic discussion but polemical and critical reaction to an existing situation with a view to cleansing the worship of God from error and corruption. The starting point in Scripture and the institution of Christ ensured that the essential points were brought into prominence. Nevertheless it is legitimate to inquire whether some of the elements and emphases in the teaching have not been influenced and affected by the historical situation, the general outlook and atmosphere and the modes of thought of that time.