This unit covers how Christ continues to act through visible signs, with two full lessons on the Eucharist. You have received several of these sacraments and studied their rites at school; this unit supplies the doctrine behind the rites.
Lessons
| Lesson | Big question |
|---|---|
| 10.1 What is a sacrament? | Why does God use water, bread and oil? |
| 10.2 Baptism and Confirmation | Why baptise babies? |
| 10.3 The Real Presence | Is it really Jesus, or a symbol? |
| 10.4 The Mass as sacrifice | Is the Mass a re-crucifixion? |
| 10.5 Healing and service | Why confess to a priest? Why can’t marriage be undone? |
The lessons in this unit are being written. Until they are ready, the readings below cover the same ground in more depth.
Philosophy you will need
Substance and accident, without which transubstantiation cannot be understood; matter and form in the sacraments borrow the vocabulary of hylomorphism. Do the philosophy course’s metaphysics lessons before 10.3.
Watch out for
The sacraments are not magic: how much they bear fruit depends on how they are received. Limbo is a theologians’ theory, not Church teaching; the Church entrusts unbaptised infants to God’s mercy (CCC 1261).