Four Books Of The Sentences By Peter Lombard

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Sacrament Reflection Paper
Peter Lombard, professor and bishop at Paris, author of “Four Books of the Sentences” is the book that formed the framework of Christian dogma and was composed of biblical interpretation as a source of authoritative instructions to establish a list of sacraments that became the standard for centuries to come.
According to James White (2000), “Lombard summarizes earlier teaching on each of these seven sacraments. Following Augustine, he distinguishes between sacraments of the old covenant (such as circumcision) “which only promised and signified salvation” and those of the new covenant which “give it.” Using language originally used by Augustine, Lombard defines a sacrament as “the sign of a sacred thing (res).” …show more content…
From the start of these practices, they originally had a biblically-based background. However, as time passed, man’s interpretation and practices of the sacraments became a problem.
James White (2000) states, “The sacramental system embracing all of life was a brilliant product of human ingenuity dealing with all aspects of pastoral care. That was its problem. There are limits to human ingenuity when reality breaks out in unexplained ways not comprehended in our philosophy. Too neat a system led Roman Catholicism, especially after the Reformation, to treat the sacraments in excessively juridical ways and to overemphasize the question of validity, an obsession reaching its peak in the eighteenth century” (p. 187).
It is to be understood that as it was with the Mosaic Law, the Pharisees and scribes added their laws to the God-given Law to the Jews, thus rendering God’s perfect Law to become burdensome to men. So, it was with the sacraments; gradually they became perverted and more ritualistic than genuine worship accepted by …show more content…
Other sacraments were of a matrimonial and ordination nature. It has been stated again and again throughout this class that God accepts worship from those who worship Him “in Spirit and truth” (John 4:24 KJV). God is concerned with our hearts and motives for what we do in reverence to Him.
Jesus said in Mat.15:8 (KJV) “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Worshiping in Spirit and truth is my personal reflection on the use of sacraments in worship. I am in agreement with God who is holy and has called me to “be holy as He is holy” (1Pet 1:16 KJV). He has set the standard for how He is to be worshiped, and it is the believer’s responsibility to measure up to it.
As far as the sacraments that God has made biblically clear that are to be observed are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper which are ordinances. Holy matrimony is an additional sacrament that He has instituted and honors as a union between a man and a woman. We must remember that whatever we do in the name of the Lord should be done decent and in order with love (1 Cor. 14:40; 16:
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