On Signs and Symbols

The Second Sunday in Epiphanytide

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epiphany of our Lord

O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, who know thee now by faith, may be led onward through this earthly life, until we see the vision of thy heavenly glory; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

While Christians today often speak of symbols, the Bible spoke to signs. When we read of signs in the Bible, it's easy to mistakenly interpret the use of the term sign as being equivalent to symbol. They aren't, however. When we speak of symbols, properly we are something that points beyond itself to that which it symbolizes. An example might be a cross which is processed to the Altar as a symbol of Christ’s presence. Christ is not present in the cross itself, but rather points outside itself and is a physical reminder of Christ's presence. This contrasts with a sign, which participates in the in the reality to which it points. In other words, signs are incarnational and come from God, while symbols are created and usually point to God.

In the example of a symbol, the processional cross was used. An example of sign would be the Supper of our Lord. Anglicans, and indeed all Catholics, believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the idea that Christ is truly present in a special way in the bread and wine after they have been consecrated. St Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians addresses this issue directly when he asks, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10. 16).

It should be noted that while all Catholic Christians agree to this view, many non-Catholic Christians do not all agree on this interpretation of Scripture, viewing the Eucharist instead as merely symbolic. The same could be said of all Sacraments. The Book of Common Prayer defines the sacraments as, “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, given to us by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive this grace, and a pledge to assure us thereof.” Whether it is Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony or the Supper of the Lord, a sacrament is an incarnational sign and not merely a symbol.

There is some controversy in Anglicanism on the sacraments, but that will be discussed another week.

Signs were important in Christianity. Throughout the Old Testament, there are references to signs. Starting in Genesis, when God makes a covenant with Noah, he makes a sign as a reminder of his covenant. God continually participates in the life of his chosen people and offers that participation as a reminder of his covenants.

It is interesting that while there are over a hundred references to signs in the Old Testament, the word sign appears also in the New Testament, but often in a different way. Whereas in the Old Testament, signs were direct references to God’s direct acts upon the created word (creating a sign for Noah in Genesis of his covenant with humanity, creating a sign with Abraham, etc) in the New Testament, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, is the ultimate sign. He is the sign that fulfils many of God’s promises and is the ultimate display of God’s love. Many of the Jews did not believe Christ, and so as St Paul notes, the, “Jews demand signs,” (1 Cor 1. 22).

It is through the Holy Spirit that more signs are shown, however. In particular St Paul describes the gifts of the Spirit in his epistle to the Corinthians as signs. Throughout the New Testament, signs are no longer direct acts by God, but rather signs conducted by both Christ and by the Holy Spirit acting through the early Christians. In 1 Cor 14. 22, St Paul describes the gift of speaking in tongues as a sign meant for the unbeliever, and the gift of prophecy as a sign for the believer. In the Acts of the Apostles, St Stephen, “full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people.”

In the Old Testament, signs were a tool of promise between God and man. In the New Testament, however, these promises were fulfilled. These incarnational signs instead became a tool of evangelism, an invitation to the ultimate promise and the ultimate gift: that of salvation through Jesus Christ.

As was mentioned previously, in Anglicanism, all of the sacraments are viewed as signs. This stems originally as noted from St Paul’s definition of the Eucharist as a sign. A participation in the body of Christ. Not everyone agrees with this stance, however.

Some protestant Christians believe the sacraments do not convey grace. They do not believe them to be signs, but rather symbols. They reject doctrines such as the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and even go so far as to refuse to describe the sacraments as such, instead calling them ordinances of the Church.

As previously noted, there are seven sacraments noted in the Book of Common Prayer, and they are defined through the previously quoted phrase as outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace. There are a few things to note in this definition which apply to each sacrament as we proceed.

First, they are holy mysteries, but there is nothing magical about them. The liturgies for the administration of these sacraments are not magical spells. As the catechism points out, they are given by God. He gives his grace as a gift and it is not compelled.

Second, this implies that grace is not conferred if our intentions are impure. Such a view is supported by Holy Scripture where St Paul warns, “For anyone who eats and drinks [the Eucharist] without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself,” (1 Cor 11. 29).

While each sacrament is different in nature, these two points hold for each, as will be seen as each of the seven sacraments are explored in turn.