Sunday, January 13, 2008

History, Faith and Reason

1,300 years before St. Ignatius of Loyola, there was Tertullian.

Tertullian on the Sacraments
The statement is often made that the early Christians didn't have sacraments and that they were a later "man-made" addition of the Catholic Church. Could this early Christian have gotten it wrong so soon after the death of the last apostles?

"No soul whatever is able to obtain salvation unless it has believed while it was in the flesh. Indeed, the flesh is the hinge of salvation. . . . The flesh, then, is washed [baptism] so that the soul may be made clean. The flesh is anointed so that the soul may be dedicated to holiness. The flesh is signed so that the soul may be fortified. The flesh is shaded by the imposition of hands [confirmation] so that the soul may be illuminated by the Spirit. The flesh feeds on the body and blood of Christ [the Eucharist] so that the soul too may feed on God. They cannot, then, be separated in their reward, when they are united in their works"

(The Resurrection of the Dead 8:2–3 [A.D. 210]).

Hat tip to Crossing the Tiber (here) Thanks JMJ Joe

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