Reasoning steps: Number and nature of sacraments

Verdicts: S6 · Number and nature of sacraments. Shared notes and post-750 development: other-sacraments.

S06.1 (was other-sacraments/K1): Post-baptismal anointing or laying on of hands

Step S06.1.1: Scripture

Acts 8:14–17 and 19:6: apostles lay hands on the baptized, who receive the Spirit. Heb 6:2 lists ’laying on of hands’ among elementary teachings. 1 John 2:20, 27: believers have an ‘anointing’ (χρῖσμα), probably metaphorical for the Spirit or the word. No command makes the laying on of hands a perpetual separate rite.

Step S06.1.2: Patristic evidence

Tertullian (T2): after the font ‘we are thoroughly anointed’, then ’the hand is laid on us, invoking … the Holy Spirit’. Cyprian (T3): the baptized are brought to the bishops and ‘by the imposition of hands obtain the Holy Spirit’. Cyril: chrism patterned on Christ’s anointing with the Spirit. Sources: tertullian-osr-s1 · tertullian-osr-s2 · cyprian-osr-s1 · cyril-of-jerusalem-osr-s1.

Step S06.1.3: Weighing decision

From T2, an anointing and laying on of hands follow baptism within one rite of initiation. Western separation of confirmation in time, reserved to the bishop, and its definition as a distinct sacrament are later. Its outright omission departs from T2.

• Confidence: Medium–high.

Step S06.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

• Scripture (benchmark): Acts 8 and 19 show apostolic laying on of hands with the Spirit’s coming; Heb 6:2 lists it among foundations. Whether it is a perpetual rite is not stated. (Scripture confidence: low-medium)
• Assessment: T2 supports a post-baptismal rite; Scripture gives examples (Acts) and a list (Heb 6:2) but no command. Traditions that keep a laying on of hands for the Spirit (Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox; Anglican; General Baptist SC art. 12) fit both; those with none depart from T2.

S06.2 (was other-sacraments/K2): Confession, penance and absolution

Step S06.2.1: Scripture

John 20:22–23: ‘If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven’. Matt 18:15–18: binding and loosing in church discipline. Jas 5:16: ‘confess your sins to one another’.

Step S06.2.2: Patristic evidence

Tertullian (T2): public exomologesis, a discipline of humiliation before reconciliation. Cyprian (T3): even those who only thought of apostasy ‘confess this very thing to God’s priests’. Chrysostom: priests are given power to remit sins. Sources: tertullian-osr-s3 · cyprian-osr-s2 · chrysostom-osr-s1.

Step S06.2.3: Weighing decision

The early form is public penance for grave sins, with confession and reconciliation through the bishop and priests (T2–T3). Obligatory annual private confession of all mortal sins (Lateran IV, 1215; Trent) is later. Rejection of any ministerial absolution departs from John 20:23 as the fathers read it.

• Confidence: Medium.

Step S06.2.4: Source-proximity weighing

• Scripture (benchmark): The church has authority to declare sins forgiven or retained (John 20:23; Matt 18:18); mutual confession is commanded (Jas 5:16). No text requires private enumeration to a priest. (Scripture confidence: medium)
• Assessment: T2 Tertullian and Scripture support confession with ministerial declaration of forgiveness; private, obligatory enumeration lacks early and biblical support.

S06.3 (was other-sacraments/K3): Anointing of the sick

Step S06.3.1: Scripture

Jas 5:14–15: elders pray over the sick, ‘anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord’, for raising up and forgiveness. Mark 6:13.

Step S06.3.2: Patristic evidence

Chrysostom (T3) quotes Jas 5:14–15 as a priestly ministry including forgiveness of sins. Sources: chrysostom-osr-s1 · chrysostom-osr-s2.

Step S06.3.3: Weighing decision

Anointing of the sick by presbyters, for healing and forgiveness, is attested (T3) on the plain basis of James. Its restriction to the dying (’extreme unction’) is a later medieval development. Abandoning the practice departs from James.

• Confidence: Medium (thin early evidence in this pass).

Step S06.3.4: Source-proximity weighing

• Scripture (benchmark): Jas 5:14–15 commands elders to anoint the sick with prayer; it is for the sick, not only the dying. (Scripture confidence: medium-high)
• Assessment: Scripture is explicit; early patristic evidence in this pass is only T3. Traditions without anointing depart from the plain text.

S06.4 (was other-sacraments/K4): Marriage as a sacrament

Step S06.4.1: Scripture

Eph 5:32: marriage is a ‘great mystery’ (μυστήριον) referring to Christ and the church. Matt 19:6–9: ‘what God has joined’, with the exception clause.

Step S06.4.2: Patristic evidence

Augustine (T3): marriage’s goods are faith, offspring and the sacramentum, ’that marriage be not severed’; the bond is indissoluble. Sources: augustine-osr-s1.

Step S06.4.3: Weighing decision

Augustine’s sacramentum means a holy, indissoluble bond, not a rite listed among channels of grace. Counting marriage as one of seven sacraments is later; permitting remarriage after divorce departs from Augustine but has Matt 19:9 in its favour.

• Confidence: Medium.

Step S06.4.4: Source-proximity weighing

• Scripture (benchmark): Eph 5:32 calls marriage a mystery pointing to Christ and the church; Matt 19:9 permits divorce for sexual immorality. (Scripture confidence: medium)
• Assessment: Only T3 evidence here; Scripture is the main measure.