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A Comparison of the Methodist and Catholic Sacraments

It is surprising how many ways a single statement can be interpreted by a number of different people. Throughout the course of history differing interpretations have led to many kinds of conflict, with Christianity it is no different. The actions and the stories of one man, Jesus of Nazareth and the religion that spread because of what he did were recorded as the New Testament in the Christian Bible; over the years the interpretation of this book has caused many schisms in the Christian community. In this paper, I will focus on the sacraments and the differing views of Methodists and Catholics in this area. Religion is man trying to reach for God, and each man is unique so therefore he has his own way of explaining and reaching for God.

Looking up the definition of the word “sacrament” brings up a few results that differ because of denominations in the church. In reference to Catholics, sacrament means “Any of the traditional seven rites that were instituted by Jesus and recorded in the New Testament and that confer sanctifying grace.” (dictionary.com). The seven rites, or church rituals are: “baptism, penance, Eucharist, confirmation, matrimony, anointing of the sick, and holy orders.” (Farah, Page 303) When look

Other than baptism, the Eucharist is the only sacrament shared by both the Methodist and Catholic churches. This is because Christ specifically instructed his followers to “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22: 7 – 23). However interpretation still differs on this ritual, to the Catholics “The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.” To Methodists even an uninitiated Christian may receive communion, so long as the person believes in Jesus. When observing the rite of Eucharist it is the Catholic’s view that the bread and wine are “transubstantiated” into the body and blood of Jesus, they are literally eating and drinking the body and blood of their savior. The Methodist viewpoint is that the bread and wine (which is actually grape juice in many Methodist churches) are a symbolic representation of the body and blood of Jesus and we partake in the ceremony to remember what he did for us.