Christianity and Morals by Edward Westermarck

IN previous chapters we have considered two different trends of thought as regards the means of procuring salvation. On the one hand there is the moralistic view that salvation is the reward of a moral life wrought out essentially by our own power, and on the other hand there is the belief that it depends upon divine grace, connected with the faith in Christ as our redeemer through his death on the cross. In the Catholic Church the two views were combined by the idea that merits are the gifts of God, while in Protestantism justification was declared to be due to faith alone and good works to be merely the fruits of faith. But as a matter of fact, whatever importance was attached either to merits or to faith, the doctrine of salvation was at the same time influenced by the belief in a mystical efficacy of sacraments.

What is a sacrament? It was found easier to describe the particular rites called by that name than to give a general definition of it. Augustine made various statements on the notion of the sacrament, but evolved no harmonious theory on the subject. He says that when "the Word is added to the element. a sacrament is constituted, itself being, as it were, a visible Word"; and in many passages the sign is described as a figure, although at the same time it is not an empty **sign. "It is not that which is seen that feeds, but that which is believed." The gift conveyed in the Eucharist is a spiritual gift, and the eating and drinking are a spiritual process. That of which we partake is not the sensual flesh, but of this flesh we receive its essence, the spirit which quickens it. The Schoolmen's doctrine of the sacraments has its root in that of Augustine, but goes beyond it both formally and materially. The "word" disappears behind the sacramental sign, and the conception becomes still more magical. The definition of the Lombard, which lies at the foundation of the later definitions, runs thus: "That is properly called a sacrament which is a sign of the grace of God, and a form of invisible grace in such a way that it bears the image thereof and exists as a cause. Sacraments, therefore, are instituted for the purpose, not merely of signifying, but also of sanctifying."