The Sacraments Across Traditions
Baptism and the Lord's Supper — what the church has agreed and disagreed about.
From the earliest days of the Christian Church, the sacraments have stood at the very centre of Christian worship and identity. Broadly understood across the historic orthodox consensus, sacraments are sacred, visible signs and seals of invisible, divine grace. The term itself derives from the Latin sacramentum, which originally denoted a military oath of allegiance, and was used by early Latin writers to translate the Greek word musterion (mystery). In this sense, a sacrament is a holy mystery wherein God operates through earthly elements to confer spiritual blessings upon the believer, while the believer simultaneously binds themselves in covenantal loyalty to God.
By the end of this lesson
- Summarise four traditional positions on infant baptism vs believer's baptism
- Distinguish transubstantiation, real presence, memorial, and spiritual presence views of the Lord's Supper
- Identify the key New Testament passages each tradition relies on most heavily
Scripture
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