Friday, February 09, 2007

Peter Toon on Sacraments and Individualism

The Rev. Dr. Peter Toon, Anglican priest and director of the Prayer Book Society wrote a short article entitled, "Sacraments—diminished by Subjectivism and Individualism?" Here is an excerpt worth pondering.

“The Sacraments do not operate by their effect upon our feelings, nor is their primary purpose our individual edification. They operate because they are the acts of Christ in his Mystical Body the Church, and their purpose is the building up of the Body of Christ by the ever closer and fuller incorporation of his members into him. It is the function of the Sacraments to establish, to maintain and to extend, to vivify and to unify, the Mystical Body of the whole Christ, made up of the Head and members in one organic and coherent pattern of life, to the glory of God the Father.”

1 comment:

Adam Gonnerman said...

Very good quote. With regard to the Lord's Supper/Eucharist, I have to say that there is some place for individual edification, though the primary purpose is the declaration of Christ's death. The church I attend is painfully low church, and though we have the Lord's Supper every Sunday, I'm afraid it is falling into mere routine rather than a time of reflection and proclamation. It should be a weekly announcement of the victory of God. I suppose it is anyway, no matter how poorly we treat it.