external ceremonies were appointed to be " means of grace," then they were declared in this light to be the only Christian sacra- ments. Justin Martyr,1 Cyril of Jerusalem,2 and Augustine,3 so speak of them.4 (4.) As a ritualistic spirit increased in the Church, first one and then another rite was assumed to be a 44 means of grace," not always, however, the same rites, and thus the number of sacraments was increased. (5.) For centuries, how- ever, no definite number was admitted by anything like general consent. Some made the number three ; the Pseudo Dionysius in the sixth century made six. Peter Damiani, the friend of Gregory VII., made twelve. 44 Ratherius, Bishop of Verona (f 974), Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres (f 1028), Bruno, Bishop of Wurzburg (f 1045), Rupert, Abbot of Deutz (| 1135), ad- mitted only baptism and the Lord's Supper; others, as Theo- dulf, Bishop of Orleans (f 821), Agobard, Bishop of Lyons (f 840), Lanfranc, Bishop of Canterbury (f 1089), Hildebert, Bishop of Tours (f 1134), Hugo, of St. Victor (f 1141), call them 4 duo sanctae ecclesiae sacramenta.' " 5 (6.) It is certain, says the writer just quoted, that Peter Lombard (f 1164) is the first who enumerated the seven sacraments as held by the Romanists. He gives no reason for fixing on the number seven ; but that which was already on hand in the traditional sanctity, attributed to that number. It was regarded as the symbol of universality and perfection. This was sufficient for deciding on an arbitrary number. What has been said is enough to show that Romanists have not even any plausible ground for their appeal to common consent in support of their doctrine on this subject. Such appeal on their theory is unnecessary. If the Church be infallible, and if the Church testifies that Christ or- dained matrimony, extreme unction, etc., to be sacraments ; that testimony is decisive. If, however, the Church, in the papal sense of the word, be the very reverse of infallible, then its testi- mony, so far as the faith of Christians is concerned, amounts to nothing.
1 Apologia i [n.] AdAntoninum Pium, 65, 66 ; Works, edit. Commelinus, Heidelberg, 1593, p. 76.
2 Catechesis Mystagogica Qumque, Schram, Analysis Patrum, Augsburg, 1789, vol. x. pp. 250-268.
« Enarratw in Psalmum ciii. 14; Works, edit. Benedictines, Paris, 1836, vol. iv. p. 1626, <L
4 Perrone in his Preelections Theologicce, Ify Sacramentis in genere, i. 14; edit. Paris, 1861, vol. ii. p. 217 ; refers to these and tries to explain the facts away.
5 Herzog's ReaUEncyklopadie, Art. " Sacramente," vol. xiii., p. 241. The writgr of the elaborate article in Herzog refers to th'e thorough investigation of this question in the Dis- sertation by G. L. Hahn, entitled, Doctrines Rom. de numero Sacramentorum septenario
ationes historicce,YT&tte\. 1859. vol.. m. 32
498 PART HI. Ch. XX. — the means of grace.
§ 4. The Efficacy of the Sacraments, Zwinglian and Remonstrant Doctrine.
According to the doctrine of Zwingle afterwards adopted by the Remonstrants, the sacraments are not properly " means of grace." They were not ordained to signify, seal, and apply to believers the benefits of Christ's redemption. They were indeed intended to be significant emblems of the great truths of the Gospel. Baptism was intended to teach the necessity of the soul's being cleansed from guilt by the blood of Christ and purified from the pollution of sin by the renewing of the Holy Ghost. They were further designed to be perpetual memorials of the work of re- demption, and especially to be the means by which men should, in the sight of the Church and of the world, profess themselves to be Christians. As a heathen, when he desired to be admitted into the commonwealth of Israel, received circumcision, which was the divinely appointed seal of the Abrahamic covenant, so par- ticipation in the Christian sacraments was the appointed means for the public profession of faith in Christ. Paul presents the matter in this light in 1 Corinthians x. 15-22, where he argues that participation in the sacred rites of a religion involves a pro- fession of that religion, whether it be Christian, Jewish, or hea- then. The sacraments, therefore, are " badges of Christian men's profession." This doctrine, however, attributes to them no other than what Zwingle calls in the passage above quoted, " an objec- tive power; " that is, the objective presentation of the truth which they signify to the mind.
" Ex quibus hoc colli gitur sacr amenta dari in testimonium
publicum ejus gratise, quae cuique privato prius adest Ob
banc causam sacramenta, quae sacrae sunt cerimoniae (accedit enim verbum ad elementum et fit sacramentum), religiose colenda, hoc est in precio habenda, et honorifice tractanda sunt, ut enim gra- tiam facere non possunt, Ecclesiae tamen nos visibiliter sociant, qui prius invisibiliter sumus in illam recepti, quod cum simul cum promissionis divinae verbis in ipsorum actione pronunciatur ac promulgatur, summa religione suscipiendum est." 1 In his treatise on true and false religion, Zwingle says : " Impossibile est, ut res aliqua externa fidem hominis internam confirmet et stabiliat." 2 And again he says 3 that the sacraments as other memorials can
1 Zwinglii Fidei Ratio, Niemeyer, vol. i. pp. 25, 26.
2 Works, edit. Schuler und Schultess.(?) See Strauss, Dogmatik, vol. ii. p. 519. 8 Expositio Christiance Fidei, 70 ; Niemeyer, vol. i. p. 49.