Sacraments: 2 or 7?

Discussion in 'Sacraments, Sacred Rites, and Holy Orders' started by Lowly Layman, Aug 17, 2013.

?

Does the Anglican Church recognize only 2 sacraments or 7?

  1. 2 sacraments only: Baptism & The Lord's Supper

    15.0%
  2. 7 sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation,Eucharist, Confession, Extreme Unction, Matrimony, & Orders

    20.0%
  3. The church recognizes all 7 but holds that only 2 were ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel

    30.0%
  4. Only 2, the other 5 rites may be used but are not to be counted as Sacraments of the Gospel

    35.0%
  1. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    Whaddya think?
     
  2. Lux Christi

    Lux Christi Active Member

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    Hahah this has always been a contentious point, so I will just go with Seven since my parish believes in them all. I know that outside my parish though, all seven are recognised, but only two are Sacraments of the Gospel.
     
  3. The Hackney Hub

    The Hackney Hub Well-Known Member

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    I understand the option I voted for to mean that there are two sacraments only, the other five rites are used in the Church but not sacraments.
     
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  4. Spherelink

    Spherelink Active Member

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    What is recognized understood to mean here?
     
  5. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    i realize it's a little confusing but yes, that is what it means.
     
  6. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    i mean allowed or performed. the nuance i was trying create was that the third option sees all seven as sacraments but there is a division between dominican and ecclesiastical sacraments.
     
  7. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    while the fourth option sees all seven as valid rites but only two as sacramental.
     
  8. Ogygopsis

    Ogygopsis Active Member

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    Baptism and Communion. (We don't tend to use the term "Lord's Supper" here).

    The rest are subject to the rubric often cited as: "None must, some should, all may."
     
  9. Lux Christi

    Lux Christi Active Member

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    Is coffee an Anglican rite or a sacrament? XD
     
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  10. Ogygopsis

    Ogygopsis Active Member

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    Oh my!

    It's tea -- not coffee! (face palm, head bang on wall, tears running into ears)
     
  11. Lux Christi

    Lux Christi Active Member

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    Lawl!!!

    Most of us use coffee here (or give coffee and tea together as options. But it is an invalid sacrament unless there is sugar and cream. And then along with the cookies, and elevation into immediate consumption. "Behold the cup of coffee that taketh away fatigue after Mass; happy are they that are called to the snack table." ;)

    I know I know, bad joke. XD
     
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  12. historyb

    historyb Active Member

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    In mine we have all 7
     
  13. Ogygopsis

    Ogygopsis Active Member

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    Tea, coffee and what else exactly? Don't tell me you elevate the sugar and milk (nay to cream, negatory!) to the level of the 2? Goodness knows what else then. Beer perhaps?
     
  14. historyb

    historyb Active Member

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    I do not appreciate you coming here and making fun of the sacraments
     
  15. Admin

    Admin Administrator Staff Member Typist Anglican

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    Let's return the discussion back on topic please.
     
  16. Lux Christi

    Lux Christi Active Member

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    Forgive the little glitch in the conversation; I was only making a joke common in some Anglican and Episcopalian circles to see coffee hour or tea as the next 'sacrament' in the liturgy! May the Lord strike us down if we have offended anyone.

    In all due seriousness though, I am not sure myself about the sacraments. I do believe that most Anglicans will only count the two Sacraments of Baptism and Communion as that ordained in the Gospel. I personally see the two as Major Sacraments, and the last five as Minor Sacraments. While the two are for our salvation, the others are ways of encountering grace continually in our lives and increase holiness and a sacramental lifestyle. Since the Anglican Church of Canada is non-confessional, it is difficult to really say one to the other.

    In the 1962 Book of Common Prayer, in the Catechism, it notes:

    Of course in the new book, the Book of Alternative Services, it has nothing that even comes to mentioning sacraments, but rather calls them as 'rites' such as the Rite of Marriage, the Rite of the Holy Eucharist, and the Rite of Reconciliation.

    And of course, the website of the Anglican Church of Canada doesn't really delineate anything. The Solemn Declaration of 1893 simply mentions that our national Church and parishes "partake of the same divinely ordained Sacraments..."

    My parish priests, being of the catholic tradition, see the Sacraments as sevenfold. The Saint Augustine's Prayer Book mentions a few in the Six Precepts of the Church.

     
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  17. historyb

    historyb Active Member

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    It wasn't you, it was the way that Ogygopsis said it. I do take things like the sacraments seriosly

    In my Church (CEC) we view all seven as sacraments we do not minimize them to just two. We use the 1979 prayer book or at least take some things from it
     
  18. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    i tend to vascillate between the third and fourth, but generally lean towards the third. i guess it comes down to the definition of the sacrament and its requirements.
     
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  19. Ogygopsis

    Ogygopsis Active Member

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    Seriousness doesn't equate to no sense of humour. There was a little joke going on, and the discussion of of it is common as neigh cum sacramental where I live. No offence or offensiveness was intended nor would be. I have no disagreement with wanting more or less sacraments as I'd previously posted. If my comment was insensitive to your views and feelings on the matter, I did not intend offence and sincerely apologize for it.
     
  20. Lux Christi

    Lux Christi Active Member

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    Yes. I do think that they are all Sacraments, really. Plus, it lines up perfectly with our sister Church of Rome, which also has seven Sacraments. They are ways in which we can encounter through an outward and visible sign, an inward and invisible grace.

    Otherwise, our parish rector wouldn't feel so rallied and fired up around Lent and preach about the Apostolic gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and how we should partake of its benefits and blessings! :p We are currently hoping to begin instituting regular Confession times, perhaps before Mass and in the week, by next year.