Sacraments a Dialogue With God the Anglican

Sacraments a Dialogue With God

The Anglican faith is divided between those who are more Protestant in their beliefs and practices, and those who are more Catholic. Anglican Catholicism, sometimes referred to as the "High Church," is very similar to Roman Catholicism, but does not recognize the Pope as the head of the Church. When it comes to the sacraments, the High Church, like the Roman Catholic one, recognizes seven sacraments, while other Anglican churches recognize as little as two. Whether one recognizes seven sacraments, or only two, those sacraments are seen by Anglicans as "channels of grace, by which members of the Church are united to Christ, the centre of unity." (Staley, 1908, p. 64) These channels of grace have often been called a "dialogue with God."

The term "sacrament" comes from the Latin word sacer, meaning devotion to a particular deity, and "mentum," meaning intent, mind, or thought. These Latin terms were combined during the middle ages to form the term "sacramentum;" which translates roughly as "sacred rites." The Church used this term to describe seven ordinances, or rites, which have been attributed to either Christ's "direct institution, as recorded in the Gospels; other to the apostles acting…" (Staley, 1908, p. 257) The two main sacraments are called Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, while the lesser sacraments, which number five, are Confirmation, Penance, Holy Order, Holy Matrimony, and Unction, sometimes called Anointing of the Sick.

The sacraments are necessary because humans are born into a state of sin. All humans trace their lineage back to Adam, and when he rejected God and committed the original sin, it was transferred to all humanity. As Saint Paul stated "By one man, sin entered into the world…By the offense of one, judgment came upon all men…By one man's disobedience, many were made sinners." (Romans 5.12-19) But God's love for mankind was so great that he sent his only son to take the form of man and die for mankind's, thus redeeming him. Jesus Christ came to save humanity from original sin, to be the second Adam and be the head of the new race of man. "For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ all be made alive." (I Corinthians 15.22) It is when humans are brought into union with Christ that the ties to Adam and his original sin is broken. "In short, we need to escape from a natural into a supernatural state- the state of grace." (Staley, 1908, p. 256)

In order to escape from the illness of sin, God has provided "a spiritual medicine by means of corporeal signs." (Aquinas, p. 2) Since man lives on earth and is a corporeal creature, while God in heaven is spiritual, man needs corporeal rites by which he can receive the spiritual grace of God, these rites are the sacraments. God's grace is the key to man's salvation, and since God gives man a way to achieve this salvation, through the sacraments, it is obvious that "man needs the sacraments that he may obtain grace." (Aquinas, p. 3) And God's grace is necessary for the erasure of sin and the acceptance of redemption.

Man is a flawed creature, not only is man infected by original sin, but is tempted and succumbs to sin in his daily life. Mankind is continually sinning against God, and thus is in need of a way to re-establish their relationship with God, therefore, God has given humans a way to gain his grace and receive redemption. God sent his only son to earth to suffer and die for the sins of humanity, and by accepting Christ, a person comes into God's grace. But simply believing that Christ is the messiah and the redeemer of mankind is not enough for man. Humans are corporeal creatures, people live in the imperfect real world, not the perfect spiritual world of God, and therefore need a corporeal way to connect with the perfection of God. They need a worldly way to reach a spiritual realm.

In order to do this, God has given mankind the Sacraments. They are a way for humans to connect with God in the corporeal world, for the physical to reach the spiritual. C.S. Lewis asserted that through the administering of the sacraments, the priest "Speaks to us for God." (Lewis, 2009) In this way the sacraments are a way for humans, who reside in the corporeal world, to commune with God; to create a dialogue between the Almighty and mankind. And by undergoing the rituals of the sacraments, mankind begins this dialogue with God with the means that God has provided. But a dialogue is a two way street, and while man speaks to God by performing the sacraments, God replies to this dialogue by providing his grace to man.