Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Sacrament

A sign instituted by Christ that both signifies and (in most traditions) conveys grace — classically baptism and the Lord's Supper; in Catholic and Orthodox teaching, seven.

Latin sacramentum (a soldier's oath, a sacred thing), used to render Greek mystērion.

No single term; the rites are commanded (Matt 28:19; 1 Cor 11:23–26) and interpreted as effective signs (Rom 6; 1 Pet 3:21; 1 Cor 10:16).

Augustine: 'a visible sign of an invisible grace'. The medieval West settled on seven; the Reformers reduced them to two (or three, including absolution, in early Lutheranism) as those with a dominical command and an attached promise.

Catholic/Orthodox: sacraments confer grace ex opere operato (by the work worked), received by faith. Reformed: signs and seals that the Spirit uses. Zwinglian/Baptist: ordinances that testify and confess.

The number, the definition, and whether they convey or merely signify grace.

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