Studies in Dogmatics: The Sacraments
Overview
The Sacraments is the tenth work to appear in the American edition of Berkouwer’s monumental Studies in Dogmatics. In it, the author 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.
The study proceeds to deal with the questions of: the number of the 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 is able to sort out the massive complications that have developed in their discussion over the years, and with devout faith and unfaltering logic, thread his way between confusion and over-simplification. The result is a brilliant statement of faith, which will illumine and inspire its readers and lay to rest much doubt and uncertainty about the significance of the vital church rites of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Top Highlights
“This question of correlation is especially important because we have already seen that the relation between faith and sacrament plays such an important role in Reformed sacramental doctrine. Both Luther and Calvin emphasize repeatedly that the sacrament is nothing without faith and that we participate in the blessing of the sacrament only if we use it in faith (usus sacramenti).” (Page 163)
“In the light of what has been said above, it is understandable that the Reformation should state emphatically that baptism had come in the place of circumcision, not in a sense that makes infant baptism unlawful, but as one of the strongest arguments for the lawfulness of infant baptism.” (Page 170)
“For in Romans 4 we read that Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of faith which he had possessed in his uncircumcised state (4:11). That is why he could be a father of believers, namely, of those who not only are of the circumcision, but those also who go in faith, the faith which our father Abraham possessed in his uncircumcised state (4:12). Without this faith, the meaning of circumcision is empty.” (Page 167)
“The redemptive-historical fulfilment in the Messiah does not exclude faith from the Covenant with Abraham, and therefore no contrast can be made between natural and spiritual birth. Rather, we see a continuity which does not, to be sure, negate the decisive significance of the fulfilment, but which nevertheless points to the unity of God’s work, in which believers from both Old and New Covenant are called to salvation in Christ.” (Page 167)
Product Details
- Title: Studies in Dogmatics: The Sacraments
- Author: G. C. Berkouwer
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Publication Date: 1969
- Pages: 308
G. C. Berkouwer (1903–1996) was the leading theologian of the Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands and served as pastor there for over 15 years. He was professor of systematic theology at the Free University of Amsterdam while also lecturing on modern theology. In 1962, Berkouwer was an observer at the Second Vatican Council in Rome. He studied at the Christian Gymnasium and at the Free University of Amsterdam.
Berkouwer was very influential among the Reformed churches and other groups in North America, were his series Studies in Dogmatics, was translated, published, and very well-known. The Studies in Dogmatics series is noted by many as one of the most significant works of Christian Dogmatics of the twentienth century.