Summary: In this, the 70th Episode of CS ver. 2, we take a look at Sacramentalism; a mindset that dominated the religious landscape of late Medieval Christianity. The question that consumed Europeans of the Middle Ages was, “How can I be saved? What must I believe and do that will preserve my soul from the torment of hell?” Rome answered that with what’s called Sacramentalism. Now, let me be clear; the basic answer was, “Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.” But the Church went on to define what that trust looked like with a set of rules & required practices. Yes, people are saved by grace through faith, but that grace is received by special acts only authorized clergy can conduct. These acts were called “sacraments” from the word “sacred” meaning holy. But there was a specific flavor to the word sacrament that carried the idea of mystery. Precisely HOW the sacraments communicated grace was unknown, but that they did was a certainty. So while salvation was by grace, one had to go to the Church to get that grace. The sacraments were channels of grace and the necessary food of the soul. They accompanied human life from the cradle to the grave. An infant was ushered into the world by the sacrament of Baptism while the elderly were sent on their way out by the sacrament of Extreme Unction. (more…)
