ther claimed nor pretended to exercise the power of confer- ring the sanctifying or saving influences of the Spirit. As the Church of Rome claims for its clergy a power far above that of angels or archangels, so it claims for its bishops powers far tran- scending those of the Apostles.
Matrimony.
Matrimony is declared to be a sacrament because, although not instituted by Christ, it was made by Him the symbol of the mystical union between the Church and its divine head ; and be- cause by its due celebration divine grace is conferred upon the contracting parties. It is thus denned : " Sacramentum novae legis, quo significatur conjunctio Christi cum Ecclesia, et gratia confertur ad sanctificandam viri et mulieris legitimam conjunc- tionem, ad uniendos arctius conjugum animos, atque ad prolem pie sancteque in virtutis officiis et fide Christiana instituendam." 1
Extreme Unction.
This is defined to be a sacrament wherein by the anointing with oil (per unctionem olei benedicti) and prayer in the pre- scribed form, by the ministration of a priest, grace is conferred to the baptized dangerously ill, whereby sins are remitted and the strength of the soul is increased. " Si quis dixerit, sacram in- firmorum unctionem non conferre gratiam, nee remittere peccata, uec alleviare infirmos; sed jam cessasse, quasi olim tantum fuerit gratia curationum; anathema sit." "Si quis dixerit, presbyteros Ecclesiae, quos B. Jacobus adducendos esse infirmum inunguendum hortatur, non esse sacerdotes ab Episcopo ordinatos, sed aetate seniores, in quavis communitate ; ob idque proprium extremes unctionis ministrum non esse solum sacerdotem ; anath- ema sit." 2
Reasons for facing the Number of the Sacraments at Seven.
It is a work of supererogation for Romanists to assign any reason for making the number of the sacraments seven, and neither more nor less, other than the decision of the Church. If the Church be infallible her judgment on the question is deci- sive ; if it be not infallible no other reason is of any avail. They admit that there is no authority from Scripture on this point,
1 Perrone, ut supra. Be Matrimonio, 1. vol. ii. p. 407.
a Cone. Trident, sess. xiv. u De sacramento extremse unctionis," can. 2, 4; Streitwolf, vol. i. pp. 70, 71.
496 PART m. Ch. XX.— THE MEANS OF GRACE.
and on no subject in dispute between them and Protestants, can appeal be made with less show of reason to the testimony of tra- dition. Romish theologians, therefore, while they claim com- mon consent in support of their doctrine on this subject, avail themselves of all the collateral aid they can command. Thomas Aquinas says that there is an analogy between the natural and spiritual life of man. He is born; he is strengthened; he is nourished ; he needs means of recovery from illness ; he needs to propagate his race ; to live under the guidance of legitimate au- thority ; and to be prepared for his departure from this world. The sacraments provide for all these necessities of his spiritual life. He is born in baptism ; strengthened by confirmation ; nourished by the Lord's Supper ; recovered from spiritual illness by penance ; the Church is continued by holy matrimony ; the sacrament of orders provides for the Christian a supernaturally endowed guide; and extreme unction prepares him for death. Thus through the seven sacraments all his spiritual wants are supplied.
Then again as there are seven cardinal virtues, there should be seven sacraments. Besides seven is a sacred number : there are seven days in the week ; every seventh year was Sabbatical ; and there were seven golden candlesticks, and seven stars in the right hand of Christ. It is not wonderful therefore that there should be seven sacraments. It is obvious that all this amounts to nothing. The two sacraments instituted by Christ for the definite purpose of " signifying, sealing, and applying to believ- ers, " the benefits of redemption, stand alone in the New Testa- ment. No other ordinance has the same characteristics or the same design. Admitting, therefore, that the Fathers and the Church were unanimous in calling any number of other sacred institutions sacraments, that would not prove that they belong to the same category as baptism, and the Lord's Supper.
It is, however, notorious that no such general consent can be pleaded in support of the seven sacraments of the Romanists, The simple facts on this subject are, — (1.) As already re- marked, in the early Church every sacred rite was called a sacra- ment. Then their number was indefinite. (2.) The preeminence of baptism and the Lord's Supper over all other sacred rites being recognized, they were called, as by Augustine, the chief sacra- ments. (3.) When attention was directed to the fact that some- thing is true of baptism and the Lord's Supper, which is true of no other sacred ordinances or rites, that they, and they only, of