Sacraments, mysteries, and ordinances
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are central instituted rites in most Protestant churches. Baptists often call them ordinances; Lutherans and many Anglicans speak strongly of sacraments. Reformed churches also call the two sacraments, while their explanations differ from Lutheran and Baptist accounts.
Tradition note
These examples represent several Protestant families, not a single Protestant confession.
Avoid overclaiming
Distinguish a biblical passage, an early local witness, a later confessional definition, and modern catechesis. Neither Nicaea nor a single New Testament verse supplies a universally agreed list of seven. Quaker practice is an important exception to the assumption that every Protestant church celebrates outward baptism and communion.
Key points
- Some Lutheran accounts also name absolution as a sacrament in a broader sense.
- Confirmation, confession, anointing, ordination, and marriage may be important church practices without sharing one Protestant sacramental status.
- British Quakers do not hold outward baptism and communion necessary for God's grace, so even the two central rites are not universal Protestant practice.
Scripture
- Matthew 28:19 — Jesus commands baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 — Paul transmits the tradition of the Lord's Supper and its proclamation of Christ's death.
Primary sources
The Orthodox Church in America explains:
An Orthodox catechetical text describes the Church's whole life as sacramental or mystical.
to consider everything which is in and of the Church as sacramental or mystical
Passage context and translation
The OCA says seven mysteries are usually counted but warns that treating the number as an exhaustive boundary can mislead. This is a catechetical explanation, not a universal inventory of all Orthodox terminology.
Before the excerpt
The more ancient and traditional practice of the Orthodox Church is
After the excerpt
The Church may be defined as the new life in Christ.
The Catechism lists:
The Catholic Catechism explicitly enumerates seven sacraments.
There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony.
Passage context and translation
The Catholic enumeration of seven sacraments; the biblical texts attached to the node do not enumerate seven.
Before the excerpt
Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law.
Article XXV states:
The Anglican Articles identify two sacraments instituted by Christ in the Gospel.
There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel
Passage context and translation
Article XXV immediately names Baptism and the Lord's Supper, while also discussing five other rites commonly called sacraments. This Anglican distinction is not a statement for all Protestants.
After the excerpt
that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.
Trent's canon I names:
Trent explicitly defines a seven-sacrament list in a Reformation-era Catholic council.
Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony;
Passage context and translation
Canon I rejects saying that the sacraments of the New Law are more or less than seven, or that any named rite is not truly a sacrament. It is a Catholic conciliar definition in the Reformation controversy, not the beginning of these rites.
Before the excerpt
or, that they are more, or less, than seven, to wit,
After the excerpt
or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament;
The Apology explains:
A Lutheran confession names Absolution alongside Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Therefore Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Absolution, which is the Sacrament of Repentance, are truly Sacraments.
Passage context and translation
Section 3 defines sacraments by God's command and an attached promise of grace. Sections 11-12 also allow sacramental language for ordination when understood as the ministry of the Word. The argument is not simply a competing fixed numerical list.
Before the excerpt
Therefore signs instituted without God's command are not sure signs of grace,
After the excerpt
For these rites have God's command and the promise of grace, which is peculiar to the New Testament.