Studies in Dogmatics: The Sacraments (Berkouwer) / March 16, 1969

Requires Accordance 11.2 or above.

The Sacraments is the eighth volume of Berkouwer’s Studies in Dogmatics.

Berkouwer examines, explicates, and defends the Reformed teaching on the sacraments in the light of the Word of God and church theology. In the process, Berkouwer discusses and evaluates the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and various contemporary views of the sacraments.

His method is to construct a general concept of the “sacraments” first, during which he takes into consideration the sacraments proper (baptism and the Lord’s Supper). He does not seek to analyze the essence of “the sacraments” apart from a consideration of the individual sacraments, for, Berkouwer contends, the nature of the sacraments turns precisely upon the concrete givenness of baptism and the Lord’s Supper in the historical revelation in Christ.

The study proceeds to deal with the questions of: the number of sacraments, the relation between Word and sacrament, the efficacy of the sacraments in relation to faith, the nature of Christ’s presence in the sacrament, the meaning of “sign and seal,” and the controversial questions of infant baptism and open communion. In treating these issues, Berkouwer sorts out the massive complications that have developed over the years and, with devout faith and unfaltering logic, threads his way between confusion and oversimplification.

About the Series

In this series rooted in the normative significance of Scripture, noted Dutch theologian G. C. Berkouwer examines great doctrines of the Reformed faith, developing and defending Reformed theology through interaction with a wide range of theologies and theologians.