In these circumstances any discussion of the abstract subject of sacraments in connexion with the Apostolic Church has little primary material to deal with. It must presuppose the whole special study of particular sacramental observances ; and it must confine itself almost exclusively to the general inferences to be drawn from that study. At the outset some definition of the more exact significance in which the term 'sacrament' is used requires to be taken for granted ; and for this purpose the definition provided by the Shorter Cate- chism (Q. 92) of the Westminster Assembly will be found to oU'er certain advantages. It is distin- guished by extreme precision of statement. It postulates, as essential to the nature of a Christian sacrament, not only (1) the outward and sensible sign, and (2) the inward and spiritual grace thereby 'represented, sealed, and applied to believers,' but also another constituent, one of great importance in dillerentiating the sacramental from the magical, namely, (3) the institution and command of Christ, which conjoins the inward and spiritual grace w th the outward and sensible sign, aiul imposes upon participators the attitude of religious obedience. And it com^entrates attention upon the two par- ticular observances, which, in virtue of their special history, sanction, and rank, have always occupied a position apart from all others. If not the only Christian sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist are at any rate by universal consent the Christian sacraments par excellence ; and with the witness which may lie adduced regarding them the apos- tolic authority of the whole system of sacramental practice and doctrine stands or falls. At the same
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SACKAMENTS
SACRAMENTS
time it must be borne in tuind that there are other ind cojinato rites rooted in tlie -soil of this period — sUristn, layinf? on of hands, benediction,, oltites of common worship — whicli partake of a sacramental character, and cannot be left altogether out of account. (See separate articles, Haptism, Euciia- liisT, Anointing, Okdination, etc.)
Whatever inferences may be drawn from a study of the sacraments in this period will be found to have an important bearing upon other and larger Uelds. One le.sson taught by the science of com- parative theology is that the ceremonial associated with any form of religion furnisliesan illuminating index to the origins and contents of that religion. Our whole view of the nature of Christianity and of the history of the Church must l)e aU'ected by tlie conclusions to which we come regarding sacramental practice and theory in the Apostolic Age ; and these conclusions, in consequence, are themselves peculiarly liable to be biased by theo- logical and ecclesiastical prepossessions. The sub- ject, therefore, is one which requires the exercise of candid and dispassionate judgment. It may be dealt with under two heads : (1) inferences as to sacramental observance, and (2) inferences as to sacramental doctrine.
1. Inferences as to sacramental observance. — («) The observance of sacramental rites ivas primitive and universal in the Apostolic Church. All the evidence available goes to establish this conclusion. There is no trace of a period anterior to the practice of sacramental rites ; no record of the subsequent introduction of such a practice ; no vestige of any controversy, like that concerning circumcision, upon the question of obligation or propriety. Direct references to sacramental rites may not be very numerous in the NT ; in the case of the Eucharist they are admittedly scanty. But the references which do occur are of a sort which may be said to offer their actual inf requency as additional constructive proof, and to leave no manner of doubt that sacramental rites were from the first an integral part of the Christian ' way,' that baptism was invariably enjoined upon converts to the faith, and that the ' breaking of bread,' which at least comprised the Eucliarist in its germinal form, wa.s one (Ac 20"-', 1 Co 11-") if not absolutely the chief purpose of Christian gatherings for worship. The only questions concerning the origin of Chris- tian baptism, as an observance, relate to its con- nexion with and ditierentiation from antecedent kindred Jewish rites. Certainty as to the original form of the Eucharist is to some extent obscured by speculations with regard to the supposed primitive custom of the Christian Agape. But the prevalence of that custom in the Apostolic Church, a circum- stance too generally taken for granted, is itself both hypothetical and supported only by somewhat meagre and equivocal evidence (P. BatiHbl, Etudes d'histoire et de thiologie positive^, Paris, 1904, pp. 283-325). The term ' breaking of bread ' in Ac 2^" *<^ 20' may refer to the Agape as well as to the Lord's Supper ; its reference to the latter, however, is not less obvious, but, on the contrary, more obvious, than its reference to the former. The attempt to maintain that St. Paul or any other teacher engrafted a commemorative or sacramental signi- licance upon a custom which before was predomin- antly social and but vaguely religious credits innovation with a facility, speea, and completeness of accomplishment which are to the highest degree improbable.
Kecent research has thrown interesting light upon the environment of jjagan ideas and practice amid which the Gentile Churches were planted ; but its results do not substantiate the hypo- thesis that Christian sacraments owe either in- ception or character to this source. The lineage