Who needs the sacraments? - 25 November 2010 |
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Here are the questions for session 40 of the Emmanuel Evangelical Church Guided Reading Course.
This week we turn to the topic of the sacraments. Calvin devotes four chapters to this subject – one to sacraments in general, two to baptism, and one to the Lord’s Supper. We’ll begin with the chapter on sacraments in general (Institutes, IV.xiv [1:1276-1303]). In the tutorial we’ll also cover the material from chapter 3 of Peter Leithart’s Against Christianity.
Before you start reading, ask yourself this question: How do you think your Christian life would be affected if you had never been baptised and you never again received the Lord’s Supper?
1. How does Calvin define a sacrament (IV.xiv.1)? Where did the term originate (IV.xiv.2)?
2. How are sacraments related to God’s word? Why does God deal with us in this way (IV.xiv.3-4)
3. How might what Calvin has said thus far be misunderstood to support what Peter Leithart calls “the heresy of heresies” (Against Christianity, p. 13)?
4. What illustrations does Calvin set out in IV.xiv.5-6, and how do they support his argument?
5. What objections does Calvin address in IV.xiv.7-8, and how does he respond? Why do you think he feels it necessary to address these objections? Might the objections have been avoided in some other way?
6. How is the ministry of the sacraments connected with the work of the Holy Spirit (IV.xiv.9-12)?
7. What was the error of “the schools of the Sophists” (IV.xiv.14)? How does this differ from the position Calvin himself taught? How does Calvin respond in IV.xiv.15-16?
8. How does Calvin’s comparison of the sacraments and the word of God illuminate his position (IV.xiv.17)?
9. What does Calvin say about other “sacraments” in IV.xiv.18, and how does this illuminate his discussion of the sacraments in the previous sections?
10. What were the sacraments of the Old Covenant? How are they related to the New Covenant sacraments (IV.xiv.20-23)?
11. If the sacraments of the Old Covenant were so wonderful, why does the New Testament disparage them (IV.xiv.24-25)
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Guided Reading Course, Minister's Blog