Seven Sacraments, from Cradle to Grave
For a faithful Catholic, the sacraments mark the whole of life. A child is baptized as an infant, receives First Communion and confirmation as he grows, confesses his sins to a priest, may marry or be ordained, and at the end is anointed and given Communion as he prepares to die. The Catechism names them plainly: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony (§1113).
Rome teaches that these seven are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, through which divine life is given to us (§1131). They do not merely picture grace; they confer it. And the Catechism states that “for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation” (§1129).
A visible rite instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church that contains and confers the grace it signifies on those who receive it rightly (Catechism, §§1127, 1131; Trent, Session 7, Canon 6).
A rite Christ commanded His churches to keep, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which pictures the Gospel and a salvation already received by faith, and which is observed in obedience, not to obtain grace (Matthew 28:19–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26).
Catholics and Baptists agree that Christ commanded baptism and the Lord's Supper, that marriage is a holy covenant of one man and one woman, and that churches need faithful leaders and should pray for the sick. We do not disagree about whether these things matter. We disagree about what they do, and whether grace comes to the sinner through them or through faith in Christ.
This topic covers the sacraments in general, baptism, and the four sacraments not treated elsewhere in this series. The Eucharist has its own topic, The Mass and Transubstantiation, and Penance is covered in Confession, Penance, and the Priesthood.
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For Deeper Study
- Catechism of the Catholic ChurchAmazon The primary source for Catholic teaching today. Its treatment of the seven sacraments runs from §1210 to §1666. Roman Catholic.
- The Canons and Decrees of the Council of TrentAmazon H. J. Schroeder, trans.A primary source. Session 7 (1547) gives the canons on the sacraments in general, baptism, and confirmation. Roman Catholic.
- Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in ChristAmazon Thomas R. Schreiner and Shawn D. Wright, eds.Baptist scholars make the biblical and historical case for believer's baptism and answer the case for infant baptism. Reformed in its wider theology.
- Roman Catholic Theology and Practice: An Evangelical AssessmentAmazon Gregg R. AllisonA Southern Baptist theologian works through the Catechism's teaching on each sacrament, describing it fairly before answering it.
- The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and the Word of GodAmazon James G. McCarthyA former Catholic explains the sacramental system from Catholic sources and compares it with Scripture.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Believer's Baptism by Immersion
Baptism is for those who have believed, by immersion, picturing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It follows salvation; it does not cause it. Infant baptism is a later departure from the New Testament.
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