" Accedit verbum ad elenientum, et fit sacramentum ; " the latter,1 M Sacramentum est invisibilis gratiae visibilis forma." These defi- nitions however are too vague.
It is obvious that the only safe and satisfactory method of ar- riving at the idea of a sacrament, in the Christian sense of the word, is to take those ordinances which by common consent are admitted to be sacraments, and by analyzing them determine what are their essential elements or characteristics. We should then exclude from the category all other ordinances, human or divine, in which those characteristics are not found. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are admitted to be sacraments. They are (1.) Ordinances instituted by Christ. (2.) They are in their nature significant, baptism of cleansing ; the Lord's Supper of spiritual nourishment. (3.) They were designed to be perpetual. (4.) They were appointed to signify, and to instruct ; to seal, and thus to confirm and strengthen ; and to convey or apply, and thus to sanctify, those who by faith receive them. On this prin- ciple the definition of a sacrament given in the standards of our Church is founded. " A sacrament,'' it is said, " is an holy ordi- nance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the New Covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers." 2
To the same effect the other Reformed Symbols speak. For example, the Second Helvetic Confession says : " Sunt sacramenta symbola mystica, vel ritus sancti, aut sacrae actiones, a Deo ipso institutae, constantes verbo suo, signis, et rebus significatis, qui- bus in ecclesia sum ma sua beneficia, homini exhibita, retinet in memoria, et subinde renovat, quibus item promissiones suas ob- signat, et quae ipse nobis interius praestat, exterius repraesentat, ac veluti oculis contemplanda subiicit, adeoque fidem nostram, Spir- itu Dei in cordibus nostris operante, roborat et auget : quibus denique nos ab omnibus aliis populis et religionibus separat, sibique soli consecrat et obligat, et quid a nobis requirat, sig- nificat." 3
The definition given in the Geneva Catechism is that a sacra- ment is " externa divinas erga nos benevolentiae testificatio, quae visibili signo spirituales gratias figurat, ad obsignandas cordibus nostris Dei promissiones, quo earum Veritas melius confirmetur." *
The Heidelberg Catechism says, that sacraments are " sacra et
1 Lombard, ut supra.
2 Westminster Shorter Catechism, quest. 92.
8 xix.; Niemeyer, CoUectio Confessionum, Leipzig, 1840, p. 513. * v. de Sacramentis ; Ibid. p. 160.
488 PART III. Ch. XX.— THE MEANS OF GRACE.
in oculos incurrentia signa, ac sigilla, ob earn causam a Deo in- stituta, Tit per ea nobis promissionem Evangelii magis declarat et obsignet : quod scilicet non universis tantum, verum etiam singulis credentibus, propter unicum illud Christi sacrificium in cruce peractum, gratis donet remissionem peccatoruin, et vitam aeter- nam."1
The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England teach2 that " Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession; but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace, and God's will toward us, by the which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith in Him."
Lutheran Doctrine.
The Lutheran definition of the sacraments agrees in all essential points with that of the Reforme'd churches. In the Augsburg Confession, its authors say : " De usu sacramentorum docent, quod sacramenta instituta sint, non modo ut sint notae prof essionis inter homines, sed magis ut sint signa et testimonia voluntatis Dei erga nos, ad excitandam et confirmandam fidem in his, qui utuntur, proposita. Itaque utendum est sacramentis ita, ut fides accedat, quae credat promissionibus, quae per sacramenta exhiben- tur et ostenduntur." 8
In the Apology for that Confession it is said : " Si sacramenta vocamus ritus, qui habent mandatum Dei, et quibus addita est promissio gratiae, facile est judicare, quae sint proprie sacramenta. Nam ritus ab hominibus instituti non erunt hoc modo proprie dicta sacramenta. Non est enim auctoritatis humanae, promittere gra- tiam. Quare signa sine mandato Dei instituta, non sunt certa signa gratiae, etiamsi fortasse rudes docent, aut admonent ali- quid." 4
" Dicimus igitur ad sacramenta proprie sic dicta duo potissi- mum requiri, videlicet verbum et elementum, juxta vulgatum illud Augustini : i Accedit verbum ad elementum, et fit sacramentum.' Fundament um hujus adsertionis ex ipsa natura et fine sacramen- torum pendet, cum enim sacramenta id, quid in verbo evangelii praedicatur, externo elemento vestitum sensibus ingerere debeant, ex eo sponte sequitur, quod nee verbum sine elemento, nee elemen- tum sine verbo constituat sacramentum. Per verbum intelligitur primo mandatum atque institutio divina, per quam elementum
1 Ixvi. ; Niemeyer, p. 444. 2 Art. xxv.
• i. xiii. 1, 2; Hase, Leipzig, 1846, p. 13. * vii. 3; Hase, p. 200.