Many Protestants are weirded out by, and water down, this “sacrament” language.
- ORDINANCE
'ɔr.dɪ.nəns, 'ɔrd.nəns noun. Authoritative order or decree. - 2. Religious ritual; particularly one ordained by Christ.
- 3. What Evangelical Christians call sacraments.
I refer to certain Christian rituals as
Why? Officially, lots of reasons. Unofficially it’s
See, a lot of Evangelicals come from churches and traditions which are historically anti-Catholic. True, all the original Protestants originated from various spats with Catholicism. But these folks were raised to be particularly leery of Roman Catholic beliefs. To them, “sacrament” has a lot of bothersome theological baggage attached. So they refuse to use it.
But we gotta call our rituals something, and for some reason “ritual” is out. So what these folks have chosen to emphasize is the fact Christ Jesus ordained certain rituals among us Christians: He ordered us to do ’em, and that’s why we do ’em. The two these people single out are holy communion
You’ll also find these Christians still practice a lot of the other sacraments. They just won’t call ’em ordinances either, ’cause Jesus didn’t ordain them. Although often the apostles did.
CATHOLIC SACRAMENTS | EVANGELICAL EQUIVALENTS | WHO ORDAINED IT |
---|---|---|
Baptism | Baptism | Jesus |
Confirmation | Confession of faith at baptism | Peter |
Eucharist | Holy communion | Jesus |
Penance | Counseling, confession, and intercession | James |
Anointing the sick | Anointing the sick | James |
Holy orders | Laying hands on people for ministry | The L |
Matrimony | Wedding ceremonies | 9th-century Christians |
As you notice, Evangelicals still anoint and pray for the sick. Still lay hands on people they’re sending out to do ministry. Still perform wedding ceremonies, funerals, and baby dedications. Still counsel and
It’s all about “not doing as Catholics do,” even though we’re totally doing as Catholics do.