Sacramentology

Robert Rollock is best remembered today for the role he played in the development of Reformed covenant theology, a role defined especially by the uniquely mature treatment of a pre-fall covenant of works discovered in his thought. However, scholarship on Rollock’s covenant thought has until now been based almost entirely on an early modern English translation of Rollock’s Tractatus de vocatione efficaci (1597), and has overlooked discussion of the covenant of works found both in Rollock’s 1596 Quaestiones et responsiones aliquot de Foedere Dei, deque Sacramento quod foederis Dei sigillum est and his 1593 Romans commentary. This volume offers the first English translation of Rollock’s entire 1596 catechism as well as English translations of relevant sections from his Romans commentary that deal with the subject of God’s covenants with man. Thus, this volume stands to offer students of Reformed covenant theology a better understanding of Rollock’s thought and the contribution he made to the evolution of Reformed theology, particularly on the matter of God’s covenant with humankind before the fall.

First of all, the author distinguishes between four types of sacra-mentality-the universal sacramentality (appropriate to Christ), the extensive sacramentality (appropriate to the Church), the organic sacramentality (appropri-ate to the seven sacraments) and the concentrated sacramentality (appropriate to the Eucharist). Then, he recapitulates the doctrine as being part of the Church tradition and discerns three types of sacraments-sacraments of the natural order,First of all, the author distinguishes between four types of sacramentality – the universal sacramentality (appropriate to Christ), the extensive sacramentality (appropriate to the Church), the organic sacramentality (appropriate to the seven sacraments) and the concentrated sacramentality (appropriate to the Eucharist). Then, he recapitulates the doctrine as being part of the Church tradition and discerns three types of sacraments – sacraments of the natural order, sacraments of Moses’ Law and sacraments of the New Testament. The following part is dedicated to the concept of salvation history describing its various phases as coexisting layers, so people living in one historical era can belong to various stages of the salvation economy related to the particular types of sacraments. The last part includes a hypothesis that sacramental action of the Church should not be reduced to a celebration of the seven New Testament sacraments but she is called upon to operate with the sacraments prior to the New Testament (or pre-New Testament sacraments) as well. The fullness of revelation enables the Church to recognise their authentic aspects. The author finds support for his hypothesis in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and proposes to call these sacraments prior to the New Testament, the sacraments of hope or the sacraments of humanity.

"Our words indicate our thoughts, but our thoughts don't make anything happen…. It's not the same with God." In Speaking the Love of God: An Introduction to the Sacraments, Dr. Jacob W. Wood shows how Christ gives his Church the power to speak with God's voice in the seven sacraments. In this foundational guide to the sacraments, discover the power of the signs and words that transform us by grace and prepare us for glory.

Trên hành trình sống đức tin mà Đức Gioan Phaolô II đã đưa ra cho Giáo Hội vào lúc bình minh của ngàn năm thứ ba, ngày 17 tháng 4 năm 2003, thứ năm Tuần Thánh, năm thứ 25 triều đại giáo hoàng của ngài và cũng là năm Mân Côi, Thông điệp Ecclesia de Eucharistia - Về bí tích Thánh Thể trong tương quan với Hội Thánh đã được ban hành. Qua Thông điệp này, Đức Gioan Phaolô II muốn toàn thể Giáo Hội suy tư về Thánh Thể, khơi lại tâm tình ngưỡng mộ Thánh Thể và xác định chỗ đứng trung tâm của bí tích Thánh Thể trong toàn bộ đời sống Giáo Hội. Với tinh thần đó, ngày 13 tháng 6 cùng năm, nhân ngày kính Mình và Máu Chúa Kitô, Đức Gioan Phaolô II tuyên bố khai mở “Năm Thánh Thể” bắt đầu từ Hội Nghị Thánh Thể Thế Giới diễn ra vào tháng 10 năm 2004 tại Guadalajare Mexico và kết thúc vào tháng 10 năm 2005 trong kỳ họp Thượng Hội Đồng Giám Mục Thế Giới tại Rôma. Và Tông thư “Lạy Chúa, xin hãy ở lại với chúng con” (Mane nobiscum Domine) chính là Tông thư dùng để khai mạc năm Thánh Thể này.
Tông thư (Littera Apostolica) thứ 44: Mane nobiscum Domine là một trong những Tông thư cuối cùng của của Đức Gioan Phaolô II, được ấn ký vào ngày Lễ Kính Ðức Mẹ Mân Côi - mùng 7 tháng 10 năm 2004. Tông thư có 31 số, gồm phần mở đầu và bốn chương. Trong đó, ba chương sau chứa đựng những tư tưởng thần học Thánh Thể, điều mà chúng ta cần làm rõ hơn ở bài viết này. Theo cấu trúc đó, bài viết này trình bày về các điểm thần học Thánh Thể của Tông thư cũng gồm ba phần:
Phần I: Thánh Thể, mầu nhiệm sự sáng. Phần này chúng ta triển khai mầu nhiệm Sự sáng của Thánh Thể qua việc khẳng định Sự sáng bắt nguồn từ Đấng là ánh sáng; Sự sáng đó được liên kết với Lời Chúa; và cuối cùng được diễn tả nơi các dấu chỉ và biểu tượng.
Phần II: Thánh Thể, mầu nhiệm Hiệp thông. Phần này chúng ta trình bày mầu nhiệm Hiệp thông nơi bí tích Thánh Thể trong ba khía cạnh: Hiệp thông với Thiên Chúa; Hiệp thông với Giáo Hội và Hiệp thông với tha nhân.
Phần III: Thánh Thể, nguyên tắc và kế hoạch truyền giáo. Phần này trình bày mối liên hệ giữa Thánh Thể và sứ mạng tối hậu của Giáo Hội là truyền giáo. Qua đó cho thấy vai trò của Thánh Thể cũng như bổn phận và trách nhiệm của mỗi chúng ta.
Trong mỗi phần chúng ta cũng sẽ so sánh tư tưởng thần học Thánh Thể của Tông thư với tư tưởng thần học Thánh Thể trong lịch sử, để làm nổi bật những điểm tương đồng cũng như những điểm mới mẻ. Trước khi đi vào chi tiết các phần, chúng ta cần lưu lý rằng thần học Thánh Thể trong lịch sử được khởi đi từ các bản văn Kinh Thánh, trải qua nhiều giai đoạn và từ nhiều yếu tố khác nhau, nó được hình thành (thế kỉ I-IV), phát triển (thể kỷ V-XI), hệ thống hóa (thế kỷ XIII-XX) và được canh tân (CĐ Vaticanô II). Do đó, để phục vụ cho việc so sánh với thần học Thánh Thể trong Tông thư Mane nobiscum Domine, trong giới hạn của mình, chúng ta không đi vào phân tích các điểm thần học lịch sử đó mà chỉ đề cập đến vài điểm liên hệ. Giờ đây, chúng ta cùng đi vào từng phần của bài viết.

For centuries, Christian theology has understood the Eucharist in terms of metaphysics or in protest against it. Today an opening has been made to imagine the sacrament through the method of phenomenology, bringing about new theological life and meaning. In Dialectical Anatomy of the Eucharist, Donald Wallenfang conducts a sustained analysis of the Eucharist through the aperture of phenomenology, yet concludes the study with poetic and metaphysical twists. Engaging the work of Jean-Luc Marion, Paul Ricoeur, and Emmanuel Levinas, Wallenfang proposes pioneering ideas for contemporary sacramental theology that have vast implications for interfaith and interreligious dialogue. By tapping into the various currents within the Judeo-Christian tradition--Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant--a radical argument is developed that leverages the tension among them all. Several new frontiers are explored: dialectical theology, a fourth phenomenological reduction, the phenomenology of human personhood, the poetics of the Eucharist, and a reinterpretation of the concept of gift as conversation. On the whole, Wallenfang advances recent debates surrounding the relationship between phenomenology and theology by claiming an uncanny way out of emerging dead ends in philosophical theology: return to the fray.

This study is intended to assess the traditional Salvation Army understanding of its own sacramental theology and then to show that this can be deepened and better explained using a theological framework developed from N. T. Wright. I will be showing that for The Salvation Army the essential concept regarding its own sacramental theology is holiness, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer. I will show that the theology of N. T. Wright, especially his eschatological and pneumatological emphasis, provides an excellent source of expression for Salvationist sacramental theology. I have shown that a clear point of intersection between N. T. Wright and Salvationist theology is the incarnational element of the Holy Spirit, especially in temple theology and God’s people as the new eschatological temple.  This then provides a point of development for Salvationist sacramental theology, positioning the individual believer as being a conduit through which the grace of God may be mediated, which ultimately leads to the suggestion that the sanctified believer is a sacrament. This then becomes the main foundation of Salvationist sacramental theology, that the believer is the true sacrament. This then provides the source from which Salvationist sacramental theology, it is my hope that the findings from this study can serve as a stepping stone for The Salvation Army to continue to think about and develop its sacramental theology in a truly distinctive way without the need to return to the traditional sacraments. I think that Orthodox theology would offer a particularly fruitful avenue of investigation in the development of sanctification as The Salvation Army’s sacramental theology.

This paper explains the value of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist for Filipino Catholics today. Seen as a local Church that flocks for celebrations of the Mass across parishes around the country, this theological work explains the Filipino understanding of the Eucharist as "Hapag" or "the meal", which for the Filipino has various components according to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics: family-oriented, meal-oriented, "kundiman"-oriented, "bayani"-oriented and spirit-oriented. This also explains that in understanding the Eucharist in the Filipino perspective, it may be a way for its further appreciation in part of the New Evangelization in the country which is important, especially in 2012-2013, the Universal Church and the Church in the Philippines celebrated the Year of Faith promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI and continued by Pope Francis.

An essay examining baptismal practices and constructive theology in the Metropolitan Community Churches.  Published as chapter seven in Queering Christianity: Finding a Place at the Table for LGBTQI Christians. edited by Robert Shore-Goss Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2013, 145-178.

We are living in a world torn apart by violence and wars. The more we get absorbed in this world, the less we become attentive to the forces of sin. The Evil one lurks around. The antidote to this evil one is the sacrament of reconciliation. We reconcile with God, with ourselves, with our neighbours as well as with the creation. It is in this regard that this article delves into the sacrament of reconciliation. Not only do we have recourse to the reception of this healing sacrament, but also we must long to return to God as our source, as our ultimate purpose. This article further discusses some points of relevance of this sacrament to our world and seeks to underscore the African context.

Опубликовано в: Труди Київської Духовної Академії. — №36. — К.: Київська духовна академія і семінарія, 2022. — С.131–143.

Hieromonk Mitrophan (Bozhko). Remission of sins in the sacrament of Penance and its formula in the works of St Peter Mohyla [in Russian]

L’autore sottolinea l’articolazione tra i sacramenti dell’iniziazione cristiana alla luce dell’azione dello Spirito. Al Battesimo e alla Confermazione sono attribuito i doni irrevocabili dello Spirito, rispettivamente della figliolanza divina e dell’unzione messianica. Tali doni conferiscono l’identità profonda  (ontologia) e la consacrazione missionaria (deontologia) del cristiano, e trovano il loro culmine nell’Eucaristia, in cui lo Spirito porta alla piena unione con Cristo nel suo pasquale ed eterno offrirsi al Padre- in tale prospettiva – e salva la pericoresi tra le virtù teologali e i tre munera  - si “appropria” la regalità alla rinascita battesimale (fede), la profezia alla testimonianza crismale (speranza) e il sacerdozio al culto eucaristico (carità).

Parole chiavi: Sacramenti di iniziazione; Battesimo, Cresima, Eucaristia; virtù teologali, munus messianico; regalità, profezia, sacerdozio.


Abstract
The author emphasizes the articulation between the sacraments of Christian initiation in the light of the action of the Spirit. To Baptism and Confirmation are attributed the irrevocable gifts of the Spirit; divine sonship and messianic anointing, respectively. Such gifts confer a profound identity (ontology) and a missionary consecration (deontology) of the christian, and reach their climax in the Eucharist, in which the Spirit brings to full union with Christ in his paschal and eternal self-giving to the Father. In this perspective, baptismal rebirth (faith) is related to kingship; chrismal witness (hope) to prophecy and Eucharistic worship (charity) to priesthood.

Keywords: Sacraments of initiation; Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist; theological virtues; messianic munera, kingship, prophecy, proesthood.

Wenn von der konkreten Gestalt des Gottesdienstes gesprochen wird, kann man zur Rechtfertigung von Unachtsamkeit – etwa bei der Nachbesprechung problematischer Feiern oder in für die Vorbereitung zuständigen Gremien – nicht selten das Argument hören, es komme ja nicht darauf an, wie gefeiert werde. Dahinter steht mehr oder weniger ausdrücklich, mitunter auch unbewusst, die seit der Spätantike entwickelte und von der Katholischen Kirche in der Neuzeit auch aus kontroverstheologischen Gründen hochgehaltene Überzeugung, Sakramente wirkten unabhängig von den menschlichen Bedingungen ihrer Feier ex opere operato. Die folgende Skizze versucht zu erläutern, warum die konkrete Gestalt des Gottesdienstes gerade auch aufgrund der lehramtlichen Vorgaben katholischer Sakramententheologie nicht belanglos ist und warum es eben doch darauf ankommt, wie Liturgie gefeiert wird. Dabei wird zunächst von zentralen Texten der Lehrtradition ausgegangen und anschließend gefragt, welche Voraussetzungen und Konsequenzen sich daraus für die Würde und den Ernst der konkreten Feiergestalt ergeben.

After holding the front of the media scene in the two years of the synod on the family, the delicate question of Eucharistic communion for divorced and remarried continues to feed most of the discussions on Pope Francis's post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. Commentators, focussing on chapter 8 and in particular on the note 351, are very divided as to whether the note has changed or not the discipline established by Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio. The article seeks to promote the reception of the text by showing that it can and should be interpreted in accordance with the previous magisterium. A new light is given, which determines a real pastoral and disciplinary change, but under a homogeneous doctrinal progress. The distinction made in terms of moral theology between objective situation of sin and subjective liability depending on the circumstances is resituated in the traditional framework of the science of the confessional. But the sacramental regime can not depend only on the internal forum, because sacraments are also public acts. Thus Familiaris Consortio, reread in the light of Amoris Laetitia, enlightens it in return.

Résumé. – Après avoir occupé le devant de la scène médiatique durant les deux années du synode sur la famille, la question délicate de la communion eucharistique des divorcés remariés continue à nourrir la plupart des discussions sur l’exhortation apostolique post-synodale Amoris Laetitia du pape François, qui se concentrent sur le chapitre 8 et en particulier sur la note 351 ; les commentateurs étant très partagés sur le point de savoir si cette note a changé ou non la discipline établie par l’exhortation apostolique Familiaris consortio du pape Jean-Paul II. L’article cherche à favoriser la bonne réception du texte en montrant qu’il peut et doit être interprété conformément au magistère précédent. Une lumière nouvelle est donnée, qui détermine un réel changement pastoral et disciplinaire, mais au titre d’un progrès doctrinal homogène. La distinction qui est faite au plan de la théologie morale entre situation objective de péché et imputabilité subjective selon les circonstances est resituée dans le cadre traditionnel de la science du confessionnal. Mais le régime sacramentel ne saurait découler du seul for interne, s’agissant aussi d’actes publics. Familiaris consortio, relue à la lumière d’Amoris laetitia, vient alors éclairer celle-ci en retour.

In Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Disagreements, Norman Geisler and Ralph E. MacKenzie (G&M) have engaged in the concerted effort “to examine some of our common spiritual roots and see if we have any theological or moral bridges upon which we both can travel.”  With many inconsistencies surrounding the topic, it is difficult to separate truth from fiction leading to confusing mischaracterizations such that Protestants indict Catholics as idolatrous Pope-worshippers, and Catholics presume Protestants to be no more than antagonistic pagans. Though both sides have misrepresented the other over their dissimilarities, not all of the controversies are misconceptions, there are some “real and fundamental-sounding differences in interpretation and application, where each side thinks itself right.”  It is here, in the gap between these similar, yet estranged faith traditions that G&M stand, and this book is a product of their labors.

Mark of Ephesus and his theology of Eucharistic consecration has been discovered, ironically, to be exactly reflected in the latest Roman Catholic edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1992). Essentially, Mark held an explicit doctrine that both the words of institution (dominical words at the last supper), the epiclesis, and the three accompanying signs of the cross are all together necessary for any valid transmutation of the elements of bread and wine. While his position was opposed at the Council of Florence by the Dominicans, it had strangely coincided with the Eucharistic theology of Bonaventure in his Commentary on Lombard's Sentences.

The entire debate at Florence actually marked a misrepresentation of Catholic dogma as it existed in the 14th century in favor of theologoumena or theological opinions that were predominant in the universities but that also enjoyed no dogmatic status. The Latin arguments on behalf of the Eucharistic transmutation or transubstantiation mark such a case. The Dominican that was entrusted with the debates attempted to require of Greeks Aquinas' "instrumental causality" of the priest as the real or a truly formal cause of changing bread and wine. Ironically, it was principally the Franciscans that reproved this doctrine as contradictory and simplistic. Furthermore, the Latin arguments against Mark of Ephesus required them to ignore and fail to address parts of both Aquinas' ST (affirming the authority and existence, for example, of the anaphora of James the apostle), and even Augustine. What is more one crux of the debate lie in the interpretation of the Roman canon by Nicholas Cabasilas, which subsequently proves to be correct by commentaries and comparison of Cabasilas' argument with Lombard's own tradition and sources.

Both Latin and Greek tradition knew of a consecratory epiclesis in their respective Latin and Greek liturgies until a gradual theological shift began in the thirteenth century in the West. Mark of Ephesus and Nicholas Cabasilas surprise us in their explanation of the epiclesis by coinciding with traditional Latin exegesis of St. Ambrose of Milan, through Medieval Latin authors, even until St. Bonaventure. The Dominican approach of John Torquemada has interesting holes and lacunae, some of which must be accredited to the patristic and historical deficits in Aquinas' own research.

The story of the "moment/s" of consecration has really never been told from the perspective of the sources and underlying controlling idea of the Theotokos at the Annunciation as the universal point of departure for theological reflection on the transmutation of the gifts. Perhaps an ancient, if forgotten, starting point may finally overcome thomistically inspired preoccupations by recourse to the Fathers and to the solutions lurking within the Franciscan tradition of the Eucharist?

"Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada dia" decimos en el Padre Nuestro. Dios es alimento y vida del alma. Mira de qué se nutre quien hace Su Voluntad: La Divina Voluntad forma la verdadera y perfecta consagración de la Vida Divina en el alma. A la vida le es necesaria la nutrición, y Jesus en el Sacramento quiere ser alimentado, pero quiere ser nutrido y alimentado con Su mismo alimento, esto es: El alma hará suya Su Voluntad, Su Amor, Sus oraciones, las reparaciones, los sacrificios, y se los dará a El como cosas suyas y El  se nutrira.  Los misterios más profundos son el sacramento de la eucaristía y la resurrección de nuestros cuerpos a la gloria.

El siglo XX ha asistido a un boom de publicaciones sobre los sacramentos, tanto en su aspecto teórico como práctico. Son muchos los autores que piden una revisión del modelo clásico de los manuales de Sacramentaria general. Por su parte, las aportaciones del Movimiento litúrgico que llegan al Vaticano II han ayudado a tomar conciencia del aspecto celebrativo y mistérico de la liturgia. En este artículo se sintetizan las principales propuestas de esta renovación y se exponen algunas líneas para una mejor articulación de las ciencias teológicas interesadas en los sacramentos

This paper argues that the origin of the Seven Sacraments in Orthodoxy has been incorrectly catalogued in the past.

Secondly, the real source for adoption of said sacraments derives from lesser known Greek sources and proto-Scholastic Peter Lombard. The Seven Sacraments -I argue- have been mistakenly said to derive from Latin influence of II Lyons (1274). Not only do I debunk this myth, but show the great individuality, really idiosyncrasy, even creativity, in each famous author's adoption of the 7 sacraments in Byzantium. Furthermore, I claim to discover both Nicholas Cabasilas and Symeon of Thessalonica citing from Peter Lombard's "Sentences." If my thesis proves acceptable, it should mean that the entire narrative of the adoption and origin of a sevenfold sacramental system in Byzantium will need to be greatly revised.

NB, subsequently a colleague of mine alerted me to one error in the paper. Wherever 1260 or 12 60 synod occurs please read "so-called" for it is more probable that the so-called synod was invented with a terminus ante quem 1283

A doutrina e prática pedocomunialista tem crescido nos últimos anos dentro das igrejas protestantes, especialmente entre aquelas que abraçam a tradição reformada. Por quais razões isso tem acontecido? Este artigo tem como objetivo fornecer um traçado histórico da prática pedocomunialista, apresentar os principais argumentos teológicos pró e contra e, ao final, elaborar uma posição em relação ao assunto que seja coerente com a Escritura e a teologia da aliança.

Medievalists have long debated the function of miniatures of rulers embedded in liturgical manuscripts. This phenomenon begins in the early ninth century and ends in the late eleventh. Many scholars have treated the iconography of medieval rulers as the visual propaganda of kings striving to elevate their power vis-à-vis Empire and Church. Recently, however, scholars have begun to interpret these images according to the liturgical function of the book in which they were included.

I take up this recent approach and show that Ottonian images of rulers should be interpreted in the context of liturgical texts. I analyze the famous ‛Coronation of Henry II’ in the Sacramentary of Regensburg (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4456, fol. 11r) and ‛Coronation of Otto’ in the Warmund Sacramentary (Ivrea, Biblioteca Capitolare, Ms. LXXXVI, fol. 160v). I compare the iconography of these illuminations with liturgical prayers for rulers preserved in the same manuscripts. Moreover, I contextualize the iconography and prayers within the broader symbolic function of liturgical books in the Middle Ages in order to argue that the selected miniatures are not only visualizations of texts, but also performances of prayers for rulers. Thus, the miniatures of rulers had the sacramental function of making present the invisible graces of God.