What does the new ACNA catechism teach about the sacraments? (Part 1)

By Robin G. Jordan

In this fifth article in the series, “The New ACNA Catechism – A Closer Look,” we continue our examination of the catechism proper. We will be looking at the questions and answers on the sacraments in Part II of the catechism. We will be examining each question and answer in this section of the catechism. Like the questions and answers in the catechism that we have so far examined, the questions and answers on the sacraments favor a particular theological school of thought. In these questions and answers the teaching of the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism and the doctrine of the 1571 Articles of Religion are also repeatedly and by all appearances intentionally misrepresented.  

Concerning Sacraments

102. What is a sacrament?

A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. God gives us the sign as a means whereby we receive that grace, and as a tangible assurance that we do in fact receive it. (1662 Catechism)

The answer to question 102 gives the new ACNA catechism’s definition of a sacrament. It also gives the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism as the source of this definition.  Someone who is not familiar with the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism might erroneously conclude from this reference that the definition of a sacrament in the new ACNA catechism is identical to that in the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism. This is not the case. While the new ACNA catechism’s definition of a sacrament may contain language from the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism’s definition of a sacrament, it is not the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism’s definition. A critical element has been omitted—the phrase “ordained by Christ.” This omission is deliberate as we shall see.

In his notes on Article 25 of the Thirty-Nine Articles in An Introduction to the Theology of the Church of England in an Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles, T. P. Boultbee makes a number of pertinent observations:

There is a very clear explanation of this absence of precision in the use of the word in the Homily on Common Prayer and the sacraments: “In a general acceptation the name of a sacrament may be attributed to anything whereby a holy thing is signified. In which understanding of the word, the ancient writers have given this name, not only to the other five, common of late years taken and used for supplying the number of the seven sacraments; but also to divers and sundry other ceremonies, as to oil, washing of feet, and such like; not meaning thereby to repute them as sacraments, in the same signification that the two forenamed sacraments are.” The Homily proceeds to refer to passages in St. Augustine speaking expressly of the sacraments of the Gospel as only two in number. The Homily moderately says of other things that “no man ought to take them for sacraments, in such signification and meaning as the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are.” The danger of confusing ideas in the popular mind by using the same name for religious ceremonies of different origin and degrees of obligation is obvious.

For this reason our Church has avoided giving the name of sacrament to any ordinance excepting the two instituted by Christ. The Homily has noticed the absence of precision in the early use of the word. It is in the Catechism that our Church gives the definition of the word sacrament.

“Q. How many sacraments has Christ ordained in His Church?
“A. Two only as generally necessary to salvation, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.

“Q. What meanest thou by this word sacrament?
“A. I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given unto us, ordained by Christ Himself, as a means whereby we may receive the same, and a pledge to secure us thereof.”

According to these statements there are three essential constituents of a sacrament, which are these: –

1. It has an outward sign.

2. It has an inward grace of which it is the pledge and means.

3. It was ordained by Christ.

The Article gives no definition, but its statements are in perfect harmony with that obtained from the Catechism, and presupposes the above three essential parts of a sacrament.

The effect of the above definition is not only positive, but also negative and exclusive; for by necessary consequence it denies the name of sacrament to every rite excepting the two. This is obviously the safer course, as tending to perspicuity, and excluding the confusion of ideas which follows on the confusion of terms. (T. P. Boultbee, An Introduction to the Theology of the Church of England in an Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles)

The omission of the third constituent—being ordained by Christ—from their definition of a sacrament permits the authors of the new ACNA catechism to give the name of sacrament to the rites of confirmation, penance, ordination, matrimony, and unction.

103. How should you receive the sacraments?

I should receive the sacraments by faith in Christ, with repentance and thanksgiving. Faith in Christ is necessary to receive grace, and obedience to Christ is necessary for the benefits of the sacraments to bear fruit in my life. (1662 Catechism; Articles of Religion, 28)

The answer to question 103 gives the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism and Article 28 of the Thirty-Nine Articles as the source of this answer. But are they?

In response to the question “What is required of persons to be baptized?” the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism states, “Repentance, whereby they forsake sin: and faith, whereby they stedfastly believe the promises of God, made to them in that Sacrament.” In response to the question “What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper?” the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism states:

To examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, stedfastly purposing to lead a new life; have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death; and be in charity with all men.

Article 28 states “for those who rightly, worthily, and with faith receive it the bread that is broken is a partaking of the body of Christ and the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ (1 Cor 10.16).” It goes on to state, “…faith is the means by which the body of Christ is received and eaten in the supper.” (Philip Edgcombe Hughes, The Thirty-Nine Articles A Restatement in Today’s English)

The 1662 Prayer Book Catechism identifies repentance and faith as essential conditions for receiving the sacrament of baptism. The 1662 Prayer Book Catechism and Article 28 identify repentance and faith as essential conditions for receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only sacraments that the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism and the Thirty-Nine Articles recognize.

The new ACNA catechism, on the other hand, recognizes five additional sacraments to baptism and the Lord’s Supper—confirmation, penance, ordination, matrimony, and unction. The answer to question 103 is referring to these additional sacraments as well as baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It is misrepresenting the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism and the Thirty-Nine Articles as supporting what it teaches.

The answer to question 103 also contains this statement:

Faith in Christ is necessary to receive grace, and obedience to Christ is necessary for the benefits of the sacraments to bear fruit in my life.

The answer to question 138 in the new ACNA catechism maintains that God does not give his grace only to believers. Presumably the statement is referring to sacramental grace. It is not clear.

The doctrine articulated in this statement does not come from the 1662 Prayer Catechism or the Thirty-Nine Articles. It appears to come from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

In section 1127 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church we find this statement, “Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.” The statement concludes with a reference to a footnote which directs those studying the catechism to consult the decrees of the Council of Trent (1547), in particular DS 1605; DS 1606.

Further on the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

1131 The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. the visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions [emphasis added].

1133 The Holy Spirit prepares the faithful for the sacraments by the Word of God and the faith which welcomes that word in well-disposed hearts. Thus the sacraments strengthen faith and express it.

1134 The fruit of sacramental life is both personal and ecclesial. For every one of the faithful on the one hand, this fruit is life for God in Christ Jesus; for the Church, on the other, it is an increase in charity and in her mission of witness.

The new ACNA catechism gives all appearances of passing off Roman Catholic doctrine as the teaching of the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism and the Thirty-Nine Articles.

104.What are the sacraments of the Gospel?

The two sacraments ordained by Christ, which are generally necessary for our salvation, are Baptism and Holy Communion, which is also known as the Lord’s Supper or the Holy Eucharist. (Articles of Religion, 25)

The answer to question 104 gives Article 25 as the source of the doctrine articulated in the answer. The answer itself is an adaptation of an answer to a question about the number of sacraments in the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism.

Question. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church?
Answer. Two only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord

The 1662 Prayer Book Catechism does not refer to baptism and the Lord’s ‘Supper as “sacraments of the gospel,” but only as “sacraments.” The 1662 Prayer Book Catechism recognizes no other sacraments beside these two.

The only connection that this question and answer have to Article 25 is the question’s use of the phrase “sacraments of the Gospel.”  Article 25 states that the five rites commonly called sacraments—confirmation, penance, ordination, marriage and extreme unction—are not to be regarded as “sacraments of the gospel,” that is sacraments instituted by Christ in the gospel. “They have in part developed from a false understanding of apostolic practice and in part represent states of life allowed in the Scriptures” (Philip Edgcombe Hughes, TheThirty-nine Articles – A Restatement in Today’s English). “They are not of the same nature as the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper since they do not have any visible sign or ceremony instituted by God” (An English Prayer Book – The Articles of Religion).

Neither the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism nor the Thirty NineArticles refer to the Lord’s Supper as Holy Communion or the Holy Eucharist.  The Lord’s Supper is referred to as Holy Communion in the rubrics of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

105. What is the outward and visible sign in Baptism?

The outward and visible sign is water, in which candidates are baptized “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” – the name of the Triune God to whom the candidate is being committed. (1662 Catechism, 1 Peter 3:21; Matthew 28:19)

This question and answer is an adaptation of a question and answer in the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism.

Question. What is the outward visible sign or form in Baptism?
Answer. Water: wherein the person is baptized, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

In searching the Internet for the origin of the phrase, “… the name of the Triune God to whom the candidate is being committed…,” I came across the website of the Chapel of Christ the King, an ACNA affiliate, which uses what may be an earlier version of the questions and answers on baptism in its explanation of baptism. While the phrase has been shortened by the omission of the words “…set apart and…,”  it is still superfluous and makes the question and answer more difficult to remember .

The Scripture reference—1 Peter 3:21, while it pertain to baptism, has nothing to do with the question or the answer.

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ… (ESV)

In the next article in the series “The New ACNA Catechism – A Closer Look” we will continue our examination of the questions and answers on sacraments in Part II of the catechism. As we have seen so far, the authors of the catechism, while using language from the 1662 Prayer Book Catechism and the Thirty-Nine Articles and appealing to their authority, depart from what they teach about the sacraments.

Also see
What does the new ACNA catechism mean for Anglicans in North America? outside of North America?
What Does the New ACNA Catechism Teach about the Holy Spirit?
How Reliable Is the New ACNA Catechism?
Does the New ACNA Catechism Teach a Synergistic Arminian View of God and Salvation?
The New ACNA Catechism – A Closer Look
Tada! New ACNA Catechism Finally Online