The History of Christian Theology

Lecture 17: The Sacraments

consequence of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is that rebirth is not

a guarantee of ultimate salvation. What makes a sin mortal is precisely that

it takes away the new life gained in baptism. To die in a state of mortal sin

is to be damned. It is not easy to distinguish mortal sins from venial sins.

Unlike mortal sins, venial sins do not remove sanctifying grace from the

soul. Mortal sin is fundamentally sin against charity, a turning of the will

against love for God and neighbor.

Penance or “Confession” is the sacrament through which sins are forgiven.

Penance consists of four parts. Confession: Sinners or penitents confess their

sins to a priest. Contrition: Sinners sincerely hate their sins and have a ¿ rm

intention not to sin again. Absolution: The priest announces forgiveness of

sins using the words, “I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Satisfaction:

Sinners make up for their sins, sometimes

by saying “penance,” that is, a certain

number of prayers.

The priest in the sacrament, called a

“confessor,” serves as a moral guide and

spiritual director for the penitent. In the

early church the penitential disciplines,

which might include years of exclusion from the Eucharist, dealt with

notorious sins such as idolatry, murder, and adultery which separated the

sinner from the life of the church. The Lateran Council (A.D. 1215) required

all Christians to confess their sins at least once a year and to receive the

Eucharist at Easter. Beginning in the Middle Ages, the sacrament of Penance

became private, a context of moral guidance and spiritual direction for

individual Christians. Much of what the West understands by “conscience”

developed in these secret conversations between penitent and confessor

exploring the sinful depths of the human heart.

The key theological question about the Eucharist concerns the presence of

Christ’s body and blood. The Eucharist is a sacred meal modeled on Jesus’s

Last Supper. Its sign includes bread and wine. The words of institution are

Jesus’s words at his Last Supper: “This is my body” and “This is my blood.”

The eucharistic liturgy begins with a call to the congregation to lift up their

Sacraments were de¿ ned

as outward signs that

conferred the inner grace

they signi¿ ed.