Sacrament

In the text of the New Testament, the term μυστήριον originally means any deep, secret thought, thing or action ( 1 Cor. 13: 2 , 1 Tim. 3: 9 ) ^{[3] [2]} and does not apply to priesthood.

According to some researchers, the roots of Christian sacraments go back to pre-Christian mysteries ^[7] . This point of view is criticized by Christian theologians, according to whom the external form of some pagan mysteries was borrowed in the first centuries BC. e. from the spreading Christian rites and sacraments ^[8] .

The doctrine of the six sacraments was recorded at the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries, by an anonymous author who signed with the name of Dionysius , the so-called Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite . The doctrine is stated in the Areopagitics corpus, in the treatise On the Church Hierarchy ^[9], which lists the following sacred actions ( dr. Greek ἱερουργία ):

• Baptism (chap. II),
• Sacrament of the congregation (Eucharist) (chap. III),
• Consecration of the world (chap. IV),
• Ordination (sacrament of the Priesthood) (chap. V),
• Monastic tonsure , (chap. VI)
• Burial (chap. VII) ^[10] .

The pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite is the first early Christian writer to indicate the number of sacraments - six, before him the number of sacraments was not determined by early Christian authors.

The Monk Theodore Studite in the 9th century speaks of six sacraments ^[11] :

• Enlightenment (Baptism);
• Congregation (Eucharist);
• Anointing;
• Priesthood;
• Monastic tonsure;
• Burial.

At the same time, the concepts μυστήριον and ἱερουργία in patristics can be used both synonymously and with the first attempts to separate “sacraments in the narrow sense” into a special group according to certain criteria .

Seven Sacraments

The following list of seven sacraments is widely known ( Thomas Aquinas , Summa of Theology . III, 65, 1) ^[12] In Russian Orthodoxy, the doctrine of seven sacraments is introduced by Tikhon Zadonsky , XVIII century ^[13] :

1. Baptism ( Baptismus ) - a three-time immersion of a baptized person in water or pouring water over him, performed on a person as a sign of his communion with the Church and cleansing from sins;
2. Confirmation ( confirmatio ) - sanctification of a person by anointing him with an aromatic mixture (miro); replaced the laying on of the hands of the bishop with the heads of believers as the number of Christian communities grew;
3. The Eucharist ( Eucharistia ), during which believers, according to the Christian doctrine, partake of Christ (in the Orthodox Church and lay people, and the clergy receive communion with the Body and Blood, in the Catholic: the clergy - always with the Body and Blood; lay people, or with the Body and Blood, or only Body);
4. Repentance ( poenitentia : cf. Penitentiary system ) - revealing to believers of their sins to God in the presence of a priest and receiving remission of sins on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ;
5. Blessing ( unctio ) - when anointing the patient’s body with oil, the grace of God is invoked to heal the soul and body;
6. Priesthood ( ordo ) is the consecration of priests by the bishop.
7. Marriage ( matrimonium ) - a Christian conjugal union of a man and a woman, concluded through priesthood in the temple;

In Orthodoxy

“The Byzantine Church,” writes Fr. John Meyendorf , - never formally recognized any specific list; many authors accept a standard series of seven sacraments — baptism, anointing, Eucharist, priesthood, marriage, repentance, and bare sanctification — while others offer more extensive lists. But there are still others - they insist on the exceptional and outstanding significance of baptism and the Eucharist, the main Christian initiation into a new life. ” And only by the beginning of the 17th century did the scheme of “seven sacraments” become generally accepted in the Eastern Church ^[14] .

Recently, however, a number of Orthodox theologians (for example, A. I. Osipov ) and patrologists believe that in the context of patristic tradition, there are no serious reasons for the dogmatization of the “seven sacraments” scheme. In their opinion, the strict fixation of the number of sacraments, as well as the division of church rites into sacraments and rites, is not found in the creations of the holy fathers. In addition, they believe that if in exceptional cases the ancient and Byzantine sources speak of one or another number of mysterious clergy, then only in the meaning of the “most important” among many others, without attempting to absolutize any particular list ^[15] .

In Catholicism

In the Catholic Church, the doctrine of only seven sacraments was defined collectively as dogma, first at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274 (XIV Ecumenical), and then at the Florence Cathedral in 1439 (XVII Ecumenical). This doctrine was finally consolidated already during the period of the Counter-Reformation , at the Council of Trent (XIX Ecumenical Council), which proclaimed: “If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Testament are not established by our Lord Jesus Christ; or that there are more or fewer than seven of them ... or that any of them, in truth and strictly speaking, is not a sacrament, let him be excommunicated from the community of the faithful. " Bishop's congress contrary to common sacrament is not a delusion.

In Protestantism

Most Protestants recognize only two sacraments - baptism and communion , since only they are directly established by Jesus Christ himself . This minimum list, however, can be expanded according to various creed documents of various denominations ^{[16] [17]} .

Apology of the Augsburg Confession , art. XIII, confession and ordination are also referred to the sacraments, Ten articles are repentance, but in the further confessional development of Lutheranism and Anglicanism under the influence of Reformed theology and polemics with Rome, unconditional recognition of the sacraments is left only for baptism and the Eucharist ^[18] .

In ancient Eastern churches

The Assyrian Church of the East recognizes seven sacraments: baptism , the Eucharist , the priesthood , anointing , repentance (without confession ), holy sourdough ( malka ) and the sign of the cross . The sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist are considered basic. The sacrament of holy sourdough is associated with the belief that a piece of bread handed out at the last supper of Jesus Christ was brought by the Apostle Thaddeus to the East, and its particles are constantly used in the preparation of the sacrament. With each new kneading of dough for the preparation of prosphora , grains of old consecrated bread are added ^[19] .

Other

In the Polish National Catholic Church, baptism and anointing are united in one sacrament, and a new one has been introduced - reading and listening to the Gospel. Thus, the number remains equal to seven ^[20] .

In the “ True Church of Jesus, ” washing the feet is considered a sacrament based on John. 13: 1-11 . Church members believe that, like the two other sacraments — baptism and the Eucharist — washing the feet gives saving grace to the receiver — in this case, to have a part with Christ ( John 13: 8 ).

In the " Community of Christ " eight sacraments are recognized : baptism, confirmation, blessing of children, Eucharist, marriage, bare blessing , priesthood, patriarchal blessing .

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the term “sacrament” is used only in relation to the Eucharist. In addition, there are sacred rites ( English ordinance ): baptism, confirmation, ordination to the priesthood of Aaron and Melchizedek, endowment and celestial marriage .

Ex opere operato (or opus operato ) - the principle by which the Church of Rome explains the effect of grace through the sacraments performed, regardless of the personal merits of the secret performer, but depending on his intention (intention). Moreover, in Catholic ^[21] and Orthodox theology it is believed that the action of the gift of grace depends on the state of the person accepting this gift; with “unworthy participation”, union with Christ does not occur, and “communion in condemnation” is also possible ( 1 Cor. 11: 27-30 , see also Rev. Simeon the New Theologian , words 33 and 41). An example of such a condemnation is the sacrament of Judas Iscariot: “And after this piece Satan entered into it” ( John 13:27 ). According to some Orthodox theologians, the Orthodox understanding of the offering of the Holy Gifts in the Eucharist is not identical to Catholic transubstantiation ^[22] .

In Protestantism, it is believed that the sacraments do not act objectively, but subjectively - "by the power of faith." Therefore, a person must participate in them consciously ^[23] . In Lutheran ^[24] , Reformed ^[25] and Presbyterian ^[26] , Methodist ^[27] and a number of other creeds ^[16], sacraments are defined as means of grace ( Latin Media gratiae ), in which the Word of God is combined with a physical element (water, bread and wine) and transferred together to the believer (therefore, in some Protestant traditions the concept of “means of grace” is divided into the Word and the Sacraments in the narrow sense ^[28] ). Moreover, the concept of transubstantiation in the Eucharist by Protestants, as a rule, is not divided, and there are significant theological differences between the Lutheran and Reformed interpretations of such a combination, which historically have become one of the main reasons for the separation of these traditions.

According to the head of the theology and catechesis department of the ECB RS M.V. Ivanov, the rites and ceremonies of evangelical Christian Baptists are “difficult to call sacraments” ^[29] , while M. Ya. Zhidkov in an essay read at the 41st ECB congress calls the Lord's Supper “the sacrament of remembrance” ^[30] , and the EAA President S. V. Sannikov insists on the theological legitimacy of the term, while he calls the “symbolic” interpretation also present in the ECB environment a consequence of the Dukhoborsky-Molokan background in its tradition. ^[31] According to the Baptist theologian K. A. Prokhorov, under the influence of Orthodoxy, “the symbolic interpretations of“ church institutions ”, reflected in the modern official religion of the ECB,“ are tacitly subordinate to the idea of ​​sacrament, which makes the overall picture of the ecclesiological views of Russian Baptists deeper and nontrivial " ^{[17] [32]} . This coexistence of different points of view on the nature of the sacraments is also characteristic of Anglicanism , united churches (Lutheran-Reformed) and some other Protestant denominations.

The concept of the "automatic" action of the sacraments, which "themselves convey grace and can even provide personal salvation " ^[33] , sometimes referred to as the term "sacramentalism" ^{[33] [34]} (in the broad sense, without negative connotation, this term is used to denote the doctrine of the sacraments itself ^{[35] [17]} ), it may be present in “ popular piety, ” but it is not confirmed by official creeds of the main Christian denominations, which emphasize that mechanical participation in the sacraments is in itself without personal faith and conscious (“Worthy”) participation not only does not bear fruit, but can lead to condemnation ^[36] . In this regard, the ordinances of the sacraments, as a rule, include parting words to the participants about the need for worthy participation and prayer that it should serve them not for condemnation, but for good. ^[37]

Of all the sacraments, repentance was most criticized. Protestant theologians condemned him on the grounds that confession, in their opinion, implies the believer's dependence on the priest and the church hierarchy. This concept, already in the aspect of emerging psychological dependence, was developed in psychology, in particular, in psychoanalysis ^[38] .

An analysis of the organization of the sacrament system of the Christian church influenced the creed of some new religious movements . Thus, the so-called “ auditing ” was included in the Scientologists ’ religious practice, a procedure that was traced from the sacrament of confession and often criticized for hypnotic (suggestive) techniques and the formation of persistent psychological addiction.

• Mysteries

• Branitsky A.G. , Kornilov A.A. Religions of the region . - N. Novgorod : NNGU named after N.I. Lobachevsky , 2013 .-- 305 p. Archived July 28, 2014. Archived July 28, 2014 on Wayback Machine
• Davydov I.P. Sacraments Christian // Religious Studies: Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ed. A.P. Zabiyako , A.N. Krasnikova , E.S. Elbakyan . - M .: Academic project , 2006. - 1254 p. - ISBN 5-8291-0756-2 .
• Davydov I.P. Christian Sacraments // Encyclopedia of Religions / Ed. A.P. Zabiyako , A.N. Krasnikova , E.S. Elbakyan . - M .: Academic project , Gaudeamus, 2008 .-- S. 1227. - 1520 p. - (Summa). - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8291-1084-0 , ISBN 978-5-98426-067-1 .
• Sacraments // Religion: Encyclopedia / Comp. and commonly. ed. A.A. Gritsanov , G.V.Sinilo . - Mn. : Book House, 2007 .-- 960 p.
• Sacrament // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Sacraments of the Orthodox Church
• Number of Sacraments of the Orthodox Church

Links to Critical Publications

• Criticism of the sacraments by Leo Tolstoy
• Chapter 3 // Fromm E. , “Psychoanalysis and Religion”.
• Ranovich A. B. The Origin of Christian Sacraments, M. — L., 1931.
• Emelyah L.I. The Origin of Christian Sacraments, M., 1956.