Of the Sacraments.
of the New Testament, and how many of them there are.
What actually is a sacrament?
If you take the word sacrament more broadly, it is called a mystery, but we are talking here about the actual common interpretation.
And a sacrament is actually a work instituted by God himself, since the Almighty distributes his heavenly goods through certain external, visible elements mentioned in the word of institution, as a means by which we are promised forgiveness of sins and assurance of the eternal salvation of the soul, if we enjoy the sacraments in true faith and they are applied, given and appropriated to us according to God's foundation.
How many sacraments are in the New Testament?
Actually, there are only two sacraments to talk about: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Just as there were only two in the Old Testament, circumcision and the paschal lamb. Which the old teachers and godly fathers took from the fact
that water and blood flowed from the side of Jesus Christ, and held that baptism was indicated by the water and the supper of Jesus Christ by the blood.
How many sacraments do the popes count?
They number seven: Baptism, the Last Supper, Confirmation, Absolution or Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The last five are not really sacraments of the New Testament, because they do not have all the properties that are necessary and extremely appropriate for a sacrament of the New Testament.
Which are the same properties?
The properties can and should be taken from Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, both of which are sacraments beyond all dispute, with us and the papists, that they are sacraments. Now the following passages are found in them:
First, just as Baptism and the Lord's Supper were not instituted and established by any man or angel, but by Almighty God Himself, so all the Sacraments of the New Testament must be instituted and established by Almighty God Himself.
Secondly, there must be two essential parts: an earthly part that is seen and a heavenly part that is not seen, for these are found in both sacraments: in Baptism, the water and the Spirit, and in the Lord’s Supper, the bread and body, wine and blood of Jesus Christ.
Thirdly, the gracious promise of the forgiveness of sins is attached to the sacraments in specie and thus it happens in Baptism, Romans 6, Ephesians 5, Titus 3, and in Holy Communion, Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22.
Fourthly, the sacraments are a thesaurus solius Ecclesiae, which are distributed only in the Church of God among those who profess and profess the faith of Jesus Christ, not among unbelieving peoples such as Jews or Turks, etc. Thus Baptism and the Lord's Supper are dispensed and distributed only among Christians; the Turks and Jews have neither in use.
Fifthly, they must be admitted to the use of all and every member of the
true Church after their foundation and institution. As can be seen from the two sacraments.
Sixth, the sacraments of the New Testament must be such that they differ in essentials from the sacraments of the Old Testament, since neither Baptism nor the Lord's Supper was in the Old Testament.
In the seventh place, the use of the sacraments must and should not be regarded as free, but as necessary, just as Baptism and Holy Communion should not be set aside.
To the eighth and last they can bear no fruit, nor be useful for eternal salvation, if faith is not present, as can be seen from the use of Baptism and the Holy supper. Nevertheless, the sacraments are complete, even without faith; the bread and the body, the wine and the blood make up the whole sacrament of the Lord's Supper; although the Lord's Supper does not benefit without the faith of the one who takes it, it is nevertheless complete without faith. Sacramenta sino fide integra sunt, sed sine fide non prosunt.
If a sacrament of the New Testament does not have all and each of these properties, then it cannot be considered a sacrament of the New Testament proprie, properly speaking, and therefore the other five sacraments of the popes are not true sacraments that could be compared to the two.
Could this not be explained in more detail?
It is not very necessary, but for the sake of the simple-minded I will examine the five papal sacraments mentioned and show in the briefest possible way that not all and every requisita, proper part can be assigned and attributed to them, which is why they are not held to be sacraments proprie & stricte, properly so called, such as Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
First of all, Confirmation is not a sacrament of the New Testament, because it has no basis in Holy Scripture, for where does it say in the Bible that oil was smeared on people's foreheads? that such oil was exorcized and that several legions of devils were cast out of the oil in the name of the Holy Trinity? Where does it say that Christians were given good slaps in the mouth and cheek-strokes,
and that this action helped people more against the devil than Holy Baptism? There is not a single letter in the whole Bible and almost none of the eight passages mentioned can be attributed to this falsely named sacrament.
Penance likewise cannot be a sacrament of the New Testament, for it is not instituted for any sacrament, it has no visible elements ordained by God, it was also in the Old Testament, and without faith it is not complete, not to mention that in papal penance all kinds of errors about satisfaction through frugal contrition and suffering, all kinds of superstitions are included in the ceremonies.
The last anointing or unction is not a sacrament, because it is not dedicated to the sacrament of Christ, because it has no substatialia, essential parts mentioned and determined in God's Word, because it does not receive the special promise of the remission of sins, and because all kinds of abuses are involved in the papal ordination. Now I know very well that they want to whitewash this primarily from two passages in Holy Scripture. One is found in Mark 6 [:12]: They went out and preached that people should do penance, and cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil, and healed them.
The other is written by James 5 [:14-16]: If anyone is sick, let him call to him the elders of the church and let them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will help the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
But these two passages do not help them at all, for none of them imply that anointing or unction should be considered a sacrament of the New Testament. Moreover, there is a great difference between apostolic and papal anointing. The former was not spared until a person was in the throes of death, but the latter is spared until the very end, when the soul is already on the tongue, as the saying goes. The former helped the sick to get well, but this papal one can help no one to keep alive. And since the apostolic gift of making the sick well has ceased altogether, it is certain that this papal ordination can and should not be passed off as a human poem and be regarded as a sacrament.
Ordo, the Orders [Ordination], is not a sacrament of the New Testament. 1. because it did not ask for an external sacramental element like the two sacraments. 2. Nor is there any promise of the forgiveness of sins attached to it. 3. And the holy office of preaching was also in the Old Testament. 4. It is bound to certain people, namely to clergy groups, since otherwise the sacraments of the New Testament are granted to the secular state as well as to the spiritual. 5. Not to mention that there are all kinds of ridiculous and abominable things in the papal order. Therefore even their own teachers cannot certainly and unanimously say that the order is proprie, properly a sacrament of the New Testament, as may be seen from Bellarmino, Tom. 2. controvers. 4. lib. 1. c. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Some of them put forward such arguments in order to prove that the Ordination is a sacrament, 1. because the office of preaching was instituted by God. Answer: The state of authority is also instituted by God, so it must follow that it is also a sacrament. 2. and because the holy office of preaching was also in the Old Testament, it is not a sacrament proprie, actually of the New Testament. Moreover, there is a great difference between the divine order of the sacred ministry of preaching and the papal order.
2. Furthermore, they prove their opinion thus: The order has an external element, namely the laying on of hands. Answer: The imposition of hands cannot be such an element as water, bread, wine, but is only a mere rite, use, and external ceremonia, which, though it is used in the New Testament, was never commanded and instituted by Christ as a perpetual sacramental ceremonia, but was a libera ceremonia, a free ceremony. And it is well to note that for a sacrament of the New Testament it is not enough to have one or two requisites, but the above-mentioned eight properties are to be found in each and every sacrament.
Finally, marriage cannot be considered a sacrament of the New Testament. For 1. there is no external element instituted by God. 2. there is no promise of the forgiveness of sins. 3. it would follow that the sacrament of the New Testament was also in the Old Testament, which is inconsistent. 4. And then the sacred sacraments would no longer be a thesaurus, a treasure
of the Christian churches, but would be found among the unbelieving Jews, Turks, and heathens, as well as among Christendom, which is especially abominable to hear. 5. How is it fitting that marriage should be a sacrament and yet, in the opinion of the popes, such a state that is not pleasing to God, as a carnal state? 6. And how have the papal clergy been so guilty that they may use all the sacraments without this? They must be convinced in their hearts that marriage is not a sacrament of the New Testament. Nevertheless, holy matrimony can be kept honest by everyone (Heb. 13), as an ordinance and endowment of God (Gen. 2), as well as the state of authority, and yet not be a sacrament.
From which it is clear as day to see how unfounded the doctrine of our adversaries is concerning the seven sacraments, since no more than two sacraments proprie sic dicta, properly so called, can be proved from sacred Scripture. Otherwise, if these things are all to be sacraments, such as baptism and the Lord's Supper, which are called sacraments in the Latin Bible, then the popes themselves know that not only seven, as they wish, but probably ten or more must be accepted. But here they can make a fine distinction between what is a sacrament, proprie, actually according to the nature of the two sacraments, and what is generally called and named a sacrament in common. All of which is useful to us for the confirmation of our doctrine and the prevention and refutation of the aforementioned errors.
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