Category Archives: Sacramentalism

Baptist Sacramentalism 2

A while back, I posted the full text of an article by Stanley K. Fowler noting the increasing convergence of Baptist and Church of Christ baptismal theology. It turns out that was a pre-publication copy of an article to be … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? Working Our Way Back to Eden

I recently posted an article on Ephesians 4 and Paul’s theology of service. Service, for a Christian, is the fulfillment of God’s very purpose in saving us. (Eph 2:8-10) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? The Assembly and the Spirit

Not only is Jesus himself present in our assemblies, but so is the Spirit. Consider these verses– (1 Cor 3:16-17) Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you [all]? 17 If anyone … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? Sex, Children, and Such

In the previous posts, I tried to give a taste of the sacramental nature of the Spirit — how human actions, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit — cause spiritual things to happen here on earth. But there are other examples. … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? The Creation

In a previous post, we considered the verses that teach that God acts on us, through his Spirit, as we study the Bible. This makes Bible study — or listening to the word taught or preached — sacramental, as a … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? Marriage as a Sacrament, and the Church

Recall Hicks’ definition of “sacrament”– The material elements do not merely represent, but they participate in the reality to which they point. They are not mere signs, but symbols that mediate a spiritual reality. The signs become symbols because God … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? The Lord’s Supper and the Assembly

Back a few weeks ago, I started an exploration of the Eastern Orthodox understanding of “sacrament.” Their approach is quite different from the Catholic/Protestant approach. Let’s just, for fun, you know, see if we can find evidence of a sacramental … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? The Orthodox View, the Spirit, the Word, and Prayer

We’ve seen that the Orthodox Church has a very different view of the sacraments from the Western churches. The West sees the sacraments as two or seven distinct ways by which God’s grace is brought to believers by human action. … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? The Orthodox View, Part 1

We don’t study the teachings of the Eastern Orthodox that much, although it’s one of the largest denominations of believers on the planet. This is largely due to the Protestant’s common history with Catholicism. We have less in common with … Continue reading

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Are We Sacramentalists? The Lord’s Supper

[I’m reposting this to get it in right order within the series.] Most Protestants consider the Lord’s Supper to be a sacrament. The Churches of Christ do not. Rather, we follow the view of Zwingli that the communion is purely … Continue reading

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