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Course 11 · Lesson 5.4

Validity, efficacy and the role of faith

12 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 11 outline

Module 1: What the Church Is

  1. Biblical images of the church: body, people, temple and bride
  2. One, holy, catholic and apostolic: the four marks
  3. The mission of the church
  4. The visible and invisible church in Augustine, the Reformers and the East

Module 2: Ministry and Apostolic Succession

  1. Ministry in the New Testament: apostles, elders, overseers and deacons
  2. The bishop in the early church: Clement, Ignatius and Irenaeus
  3. Apostolic succession: three meanings (a line of bishops, the teaching, the mission)
  4. Ordination in the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions

Module 3: Scripture, Tradition and Church Authority

  1. Scripture and tradition in the early church
  2. The Catholic account: Scripture, tradition and the magisterium
  3. The Orthodox account: the living tradition of the church
  4. The Reformation and the question of sola scriptura

Module 4: Three Systems of Authority

  1. The bishop of Rome in early history
  2. Papal primacy and infallibility in Catholic teaching
  3. Orthodox conciliarity and the role of the patriarchs
  4. Protestant principles of authority: Scripture, confessions and the priesthood of believers
  5. The strongest objections each tradition raises against the others

Module 5: Sacramental Theology

  1. Mystery and sacrament: the words and their history
  2. Augustine and the definition of a sacrament
  3. How many sacraments? Seven, two, or none
  4. Validity, efficacy and the role of faith

Module 6: Baptism and the Eucharist

  1. Baptism in Scripture and the early church
  2. Infant baptism and believers baptism
  3. The Eucharist in the early church
  4. Real presence: transubstantiation, the Orthodox mystery, Lutheran, Reformed and memorial views

Module 7: Reconciliation and Liturgical Worship

  1. The forgiveness of sins in Scripture
  2. Confession and penance in the history of the church
  3. Confession across the traditions: Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed practice
  4. Liturgy, word and table, and the church year
  5. Worship without a fixed liturgy and its principles

Module 8: Schism and Christian Unity

  1. Early schisms: the Donatists and the churches after Chalcedon
  2. East and West: the long division and the events of 1054
  3. The Reformation divisions
  4. Ecumenism and the prospects for unity

All courses

Program / Course 11: Church, Sacraments, and Authority / Lesson 5.4

What you will learn

  • Define validity, efficacy and liceity in the Catholic account of sacraments.
  • Explain the Latin phrase ex opere operato and what it does and does not claim.
  • Describe the Orthodox approach, including economy, and the Protestant stress on faith.
  • Identify what each tradition says about sacraments given outside its own church.

The big idea

Three questions run through the debate about sacraments. When is a sacrament valid, so that it really takes place? When is it efficacious, so that it bears fruit in the recipient? What part does faith play? Catholic teaching says a sacrament is valid when the right matter, form, minister and intention are present, works by Christ’s action and not by the minister’s merit, and bears fruit when the recipient does not put up an obstacle. The Orthodox avoid a strict legal approach and appeal to economy. Protestants stress that sacraments are received by faith.

Key terms

Validity
The condition in which a sacrament truly takes place, because the necessary elements are present.
Liceity
The condition of being lawful. A sacrament may be valid but unlawful, if done against church rules.
Efficacy
The power to produce its effect, that is, to give grace.
Ex opere operato
Latin for by the work worked. The Catholic teaching that a sacrament gives grace through Christ’s action, not through the holiness of the minister or the recipient’s merit.
Matter and form
In scholastic theology, the material element of a sacrament (such as water) and the words said (such as the words of baptism).
Oikonomia (economy)
A Greek word used in Orthodox teaching for pastoral flexibility in applying church rules, for the good of souls.
Obstacle (obex)
A barrier, such as lack of faith or unrepentant sin, that prevents a sacrament from bearing fruit in the recipient.

Background

When Augustine answered the Donatists, he set in motion a lasting distinction. A sacrament can be real even if the minister is sinful, and it can be real without being fruitful for the recipient. Medieval theologians gave this distinction a precise vocabulary. In the sixteenth century the Reformers questioned whether the medieval vocabulary gave faith its proper place, and the Council of Trent responded.

The questions are practical. If a priest was not validly ordained, are the sacraments he gave real? If a child is baptized in another church, is the baptism recognized? Does a sacrament help someone who has no faith? The traditions answer differently, and the answers rest on their understanding of grace and of the church.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: Validity in Catholic teaching

Catholic theology says a sacrament is valid when there is the right matter, the right form, a qualified minister and the intention to do what the church does. For baptism, water is used and the minister says the words in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For the Eucharist, bread and wine are used and a validly ordained priest says the words of consecration. If any of these is lacking, the sacrament does not take place.

Valid is different from lawful. A priest who celebrates the Eucharist without permission from his bishop acts unlawfully, but if the elements and words are right, and he is a priest, the sacrament is real. The Catholic Church also recognizes baptisms performed in other Christian churches as valid if water and the Trinitarian formula are used with the right intention. It does not recognize most Protestant eucharists as valid because it holds that they lack validly ordained priests.

Step 2: Efficacy and ex opere operato

The Council of Trent taught that the sacraments of the New Law contain the grace they signify and confer it on those who place no obstacle in the way, and that grace is given by the work done (ex opere operato), not only by the faith of the recipient (Session 7, canon 8). The teaching is aimed at the idea that grace depends wholly on the believer’s inner state.

The phrase is often misunderstood as saying that sacraments work like magic. Catholic theology rejects that reading. An adult must come with faith and repentance. A sacrament received without them is valid but does not bear fruit. The teaching says that Christ is the one who acts, and that the minister and the recipient do not produce grace by their own power. A contrasting Latin phrase, ex opere operantis, refers to the effect that depends on the person’s own devotion, and Catholic teaching holds that both are real.

Step 3: The Orthodox approach

Orthodox theology does not usually speak in terms of matter, form and validity. The church is the place where the Spirit acts, and sacraments are actions of the church. A mystery performed outside the church raises the question of whether the Spirit acts there. Historic Orthodox practice varies. Some Orthodox churches receive converts from other Christian bodies by baptism, following the view of Cyprian that there is no baptism outside the church. Others receive them by chrismation or confession of faith, using economy to recognize the earlier baptism.

Economy means that the church may relax strict practice for the sake of salvation. Orthodox writers differ on whether economy means that the sacrament was real outside the church, or that the church supplies what was lacking when the person is received. Orthodox churches have not issued a single answer, and the question remains open. Many Orthodox theologians say that the church knows where the Spirit is, but does not claim to know where the Spirit is not.

Step 4: The Protestant emphasis on faith

The Reformers stressed that a sacrament is given with a promise, and a promise is received by faith. Luther said that the sacrament is not complete without faith. Without faith the Lord’s Supper is of no benefit and may bring judgment (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). Lutheran teaching, however, also holds that the word and the sign are objectively there, and that Christ’s body and blood are present even if the recipient has no faith, though without benefit.

Reformed teaching, in the Westminster Confession (27.3), says that grace is not conferred by any power in the sacraments, but that the efficacy depends on the work of the Spirit and the word of institution. Zwingli and the memorialist tradition held that the sacraments signify and testify to what God has done, and that the change is in the believer’s own remembering and commitment. The Protestant range goes from a high view of what the sacrament gives to a low one, but all stress faith.

Step 5: Faith and the sacraments compared

The three traditions all hold that faith matters. They differ on what happens if it is absent. Catholics say that the sacrament is valid, and its fruit is hindered. Lutherans say that the gift is offered but not received. Reformed say that the sign is given but the grace is given only to those whom the Spirit unites to Christ. Baptists say that baptism is a witness of faith already present. A fair student will see that the disagreement is not between faith and no faith, but about how God’s act and human response are related.

  1. What does this tradition require for a sacrament to be real?
  2. Does the tradition separate reality of a sacrament from its fruit?
  3. What does it say about the minister’s holiness?
  4. What part does faith play, and what happens if it is absent?
  5. How does the tradition treat sacraments given in other churches?
  6. What is the strongest objection to this account?

Examples

A baptism with no faith

An infant is baptized and grows up with no interest in religion. Catholic, Orthodox and many Protestant teachings say the baptism was real, and its fruit depends on the person’s later faith and repentance. A Baptist would say that the child was not truly baptized, since there was no profession of faith. (A constructed example.)

A convert received into Orthodoxy

A Presbyterian woman wishes to join an Orthodox church. In some Orthodox jurisdictions she is baptized, and in others she is received by chrismation. The difference reflects different views on how to apply economy. Both approaches are used by bishops in good standing.

An invalid mass

A man who pretends to be a priest says the words of the Mass over bread and wine. In Catholic teaching nothing happens, because he is not ordained. The example shows why Catholics treat the minister’s ordination as part of validity. (A constructed example.)

Different perspectives

Catholic

Sacraments are real by Christ’s action, through the right matter, form, minister and intention. They bear fruit in those who place no obstacle. The church recognizes valid baptisms in other communities and valid orders and Eucharists in the Orthodox churches.

Orthodox

The church is the place of the Spirit, and sacraments are acts of the church. Orthodox practice varies on receiving those baptized elsewhere. Orthodox writers prefer to speak of the grace of God and the church’s judgment, and avoid a strict juridical theory of validity.

Protestant

Sacraments are received by faith. Lutherans hold that the word makes the sacrament and that unbelief does not make it void, but prevents benefit. Reformed churches stress the Spirit’s work, and many Baptist churches hold that the ordinance is a believer’s public response.

Scholarly view

Historians note that the language of validity belongs to the medieval West, and that earlier churches dealt with the same questions with other terms. Ecumenical dialogues have reached agreed statements on baptism, such as the 1982 Lima document, while differences about the Eucharist and ministry remain.

Why it matters

Whether a person’s baptism is recognized, whether a priest’s mass is real, and whether a believer can receive communion in another church all depend on these questions. Understanding the distinctions shows how churches think about grace, and prevents the common mistake of saying that one tradition cares about faith and another only about ritual.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Ex opere operato means the sacraments work like magic.

Correction: It means Christ is the one who acts. Catholic teaching also requires faith and repentance in adults, and holds that a sacrament received with an obstacle does not bear fruit.

Misunderstanding: Protestants think the sacraments do nothing.

Correction: Lutherans, Reformed and Anglicans teach that sacraments are means of grace. Some Baptist and memorialist traditions give them a smaller role, but that is not the Protestant position in general.

Misunderstanding: The Orthodox have no concept of validity.

Correction: Orthodox writers use different vocabulary and are cautious about the Western juridical approach. They do recognize that the church’s mysteries are real, and they use economy to handle difficult cases.

Misunderstanding: A sacrament is useless without a worthy minister.

Correction: Since Augustine, Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestant teaching has held that the minister’s personal worth does not affect the reality of a sacrament, though the minister must have the proper office.

Knowledge check

What are the four things Catholic teaching requires for a valid sacrament?

The right matter (such as water), the right form (the words), a qualified minister and the intention to do what the church does. If one is missing, the sacrament does not take place. Valid differs from lawful, which concerns obedience to church rules.

What does ex opere operato mean, and what does it not mean?

It means that a sacrament gives grace by Christ’s action and not by the minister’s merit or the recipient’s own power. It does not mean that sacraments work automatically or magically, since an adult needs faith and repentance for them to bear fruit.

What is economy in Orthodox teaching?

It is the church’s pastoral flexibility in applying rules for the good of souls. In practice it is used in deciding how to receive converts from other churches, and Orthodox writers differ on what exactly it implies about earlier baptisms.

How do Lutherans and Reformed differ on faith and the sacraments?

Lutherans hold that the word and sign are objectively given and that faith receives the benefit. Reformed teaching stresses that the Spirit works through the sacraments in those who believe. Both hold that unbelief prevents benefit, and they differ over the manner of presence in the Supper.

Think it through

  1. Why might the Donatist question have been so urgent for ordinary believers?
  2. Is it possible to speak of the reality of a sacrament without a theory of validity?
  3. How does the question of validity affect relations between churches?
  4. What would be lost if faith were thought unimportant, and what would be lost if the sacrament were thought to depend entirely on faith?

Independent assignment

Three cases

In your notebook, take three cases: a baptism by a layperson in an emergency, a communion service led by a pastor who is not a bishop or priest, and an infant baptism followed by a lifetime of unbelief. For each, write how a Catholic, an Orthodox and a Protestant (name the church) would respond, using at least one source for each. Add 200 to 300 words on what the cases show about the role of faith. Keep the work in your notebook.

Further study