The Doctrine of the Church (17): The Idea of the Sacraments

The First Helvetic Confession, Art. 21, also describes the sacraments. In this article the emphasis evidently falls on the fact that the sacraments, considered as a whole, do not merely consist in the signs and seals, but also include the things signified. The article reads as follows: "The signs, which, in the church of Christ, are called sacraments, are two, baptism and the Eucharist (the Lord's Supper). These symbols of hidden things do not consist of mere signs, but the signs and the things...