268. Rational Causes of Old Law Sacraments

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Defense Against Rationality Objections: Ten objections claiming Old Law sacraments are irrational, arbitrary, or imitating idolatrous practices
• Twofold Causality in Sacraments: Each sacrament possesses both literal reason (practical purpose) and figurative reason (typological/Christological meaning)
• Structure of Old Law Sacraments: Three functions—institution in state of worship, use of divine things, and rules preventing impediments to worship
• Application to People vs. Clergy: Sacraments apply commonly to all people and specially to priests and Levites
• Sacramental Correspondence: How Old Law practices prefigure and correspond to New Law sacraments

Key Arguments #

Against the Claim of Irrationality #

• God’s Wisdom: “By God nothing without reason comes about” (Psalm 103)
• Authority Over Reason: “The argument from authority is the strongest in theology,” citing divine sanction in Leviticus 20: “I am the Lord who sanctifies you”
• Systematic Correspondence: Each Old Law sacrament has a New Law counterpart, showing deliberate theological design

Circumcision #

• Literal reasons:
  • Professes faith in one God, imitating Abraham’s separation from idolaters (Genesis 17)
  • Performed on eighth day—sufficient time for healing without grave harm; significance of eighth day (new creation, resurrection)
  • Weakens concupiscence (fleshly desire)
  • Honors the generative member through which humanity continues
• Figurative reason: Prefigures removal of corruption through Christ, completed in the eighth age (resurrection)
• Objection addressed: God prohibited cutting in idolatrous worship (Deuteronomy 12), but circumcision differs fundamentally in its purpose and referent (one God vs. idols)
• Correspondence: Circumcision ↔ Baptism (sacrament of faith)
• Apostolic witness: Romans (circumcision as sign of justice through faith); Colossians 2 (“circumcised in Christ”)

The Paschal Banquet #

• Literal reasons:
  • Commemorates liberation from Egypt
  • Haste of eating signifies urgency of departure (Exodus 12); not levity but preparedness
  • Unleavened bread represents inability to ferment due to hurried exodus
  • Fire (not boiling) shows readiness for swift preparation
  • Bitter herbs commemorate suffering in Egypt
  • Physical posture (loins girded, shoes on, staff in hand) manifests preparedness for journey
  • Eating in one house, one sitting, none left until morning—suggests unity and sufficiency
• Figurative reasons:
  • Paschal lamb prefigures Christ as Lamb of God (1 Corinthians 5: “our Paschal is offered up, Christ”)
  • Blood on doorposts signifies faith in Christ’s passion in the heart and mouth of faithful
  • Flesh eating signifies receiving the body of Christ (Eucharist)
  • Fire signifies Christ’s passion and charity
  • Unleavened bread signifies purity of life of faithful (1 Corinthians 5: “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”)
  • Bitter herbs signify penance for sin
  • Girded loins signify chastity of priesthood
  • Shoes on feet signify the dead father’s example
  • Staff in hand signifies shepherd’s custody and care
  • Bones not broken prefigures John 19 (none of Christ’s bones broken at crucifixion)
• Correspondence: Paschal banquet ↔ Eucharist (sacrament of charity)
• Convivium: Thomas’s term for both the Paschal feast and the Eucharist as banquet; called “ineffable convivium” (inexpressible banquet) in reference to heavenly communion

Purifications #

• Objection addressed: How can bodily water or ashes purify from spiritual sin? How can unclean things (ashes of red heifer) purify uncleanness?
• Principle: Through exterior uncleannesses are figured diverse sins
• Literal reasons for purification practices:
  • Reverence for sacred things (natural law: don’t touch precious objects with soiled hands)
  • Rarity of access to divine worship increases reverence and humility
  • Avoiding idolatrous practices (Gentiles used blood and seed in their rites)
• Figurative significations:
  • Corruption from death signifies death of soul through sin
  • Leprosy signifies heretical doctrine (contagious, mixing true and false)
  • Menstrual flux signifies idolatry
  • Male seed signifies perverse speech
• Correspondence: Purifications ↔ Penance (sacrament of hope)

Red Heifer Sacrifice #

• Literal reason: Commemorates sin of golden calf; performed outside camp; ashes collected by clean man and mixed with water for aspersion
• Figurative reason: Red cow signifies Christ in infirmity; redness represents passion; priest dipping finger signifies discretion considering mystery of passion; seven-fold sprinkling represents seven gifts of Holy Spirit; cedar, hyssop, scarlet thread signify hope, humility/faith, and charity

Three Sacraments Without Old Law Equivalents #

• Confirmation: No Old Law equivalent “because the time of fullness had not yet come; the law brings no one to perfection”
  • Described as “sacrament of fullness of grace”
  • Corresponds to anointing of high priests and priests in Old Law, but in fuller form
• Extreme Unction (Last Anointing): No Old Law equivalent because the price had not yet been paid; immediate preparation for entrance into glory
  • Traditionally called “Last Anointing” rather than “Extreme Anointing”
• Matrimony as Sacrament: Existed in Old Law as natural office but not as sacrament of Christ’s union with the Church
  • Moses permitted bill of repudiation (divorce), contrary to sacramental nature
  • Not yet elevated to sacramental dignity prefiguring Christ and Church

Important Definitions #

• Sacramentum: Things applied to worshipers of God (χριστιανοί) for a certain consecration (consecratio) delegated to worship of God
• Ratio literalis (literal reason): Practical, historical, or immediate purpose; historical context and functional cause
• Ratio figuralis (figurative reason): Typological or prophetic meaning prefiguring Christ and New Testament realities
• Immunditia (uncleanness): State unfitting one for divine worship; either greater (corruption of mind/body) or lesser (contact with unclean things)
• Convivium: Banquet, feast; applied to both Paschal meal and Eucharist
• Consecratio: Consecration; the dedication of worship

Examples & Illustrations #

• Reverence through natural analogy: People don’t pick up precious books with soiled hands—showing natural human reverence for sacred things that justifies ritual purifications
• Eighth day significance: Animals not offered before eighth day, showing consistency in theology of new creation; Christ rose on the eighth day
• Haste vs. levity distinction: Eating quickly does not show lack of gravity in worship but rather preparedness and obedience to God’s command
• Paradox of purification: Ashes of red heifer—which normally render unclean—paradoxically purify; this teaches that Christ’s death (which the Jews’ sin occasioned) becomes means of universal purification

Notable Quotes #

“Sacraments are properly said those things which are applied to the worshipers of God for a certain consecration to which they are delegated in a certain way for the worship of God.”

“By God nothing without reason comes about, for it is said in Psalm 103: ‘He made all things in wisdom.’” —Aquinas’s response establishing the principle that all divine commands are rationally ordered

“The law brings no one to perfection” —explaining why Confirmation (sacrament of fullness of grace) has no Old Law equivalent

“Through the exterior uncleannesses are figured diverse sins” —establishing the hermeneutical principle for typological interpretation

“One house, one feast, one ritual happiness” —Berquist’s reflection on the unity and joy of the Paschal meal and its heavenly prefiguration

Questions Addressed #

Q1: Similarity to Idolatrous Practices #

• Objection: Why institute circumcision when Gentiles also cut themselves in their worship (Deuteronomy 12)?
• Resolution: Circumcision differs fundamentally—it is a sign of faith in the one God and imitates Abraham’s separation from idolaters. Idolatrous cutting was in worship of false gods and lacked the rational cause of professing true faith.

Q2: Levity in Eating #

• Objection: Doesn’t eating the Paschal lamb hastily show lack of gravity in divine worship (Psalm 34 on “grave” or serious worship)?
• Resolution: The haste does not indicate levity but rather signifies urgency of the exodus and readiness for God’s action. The gravity comes from obedience to divine command.

Q3: Missing Sacramental Correspondences #

• Objection: Why are there no Old Law equivalents to Confirmation, Last Anointing, and Matrimony as sacrament?
• Resolution: Confirmation requires fullness of grace (law brings no one to perfection); Last Anointing requires Christ’s price already paid; Matrimony as sacrament requires the Church prefiguring Christ’s union with it.

Q4: Bodily Purification of Spiritual Sin #

• Objection: Spiritual sin cannot be cleansed by bodily water or material ashes; how then do these purify?
• Resolution: These are signs and figures; the real cleansing comes through faith in Christ prefigured by these exterior practices. The exterior uncleanness figures the interior spiritual reality.

Q5: God Looks on Heart, Not Appearance #

• Objection: God sees the heart, not external appearance (1 Samuel 16); why command special vestments and exclude priests with bodily defects (Leviticus 21)?
• Resolution: External signs dispose the soul to reverence and internalize spiritual realities. Bodily defects, while not spiritually disqualifying in themselves, signify spiritual imperfection unfitting for priestly office as sacramental sign.

Q6: Paradox of the Red Heifer #

• Objection: How can ashes of the red heifer—which render unclean—paradoxically purify from uncleanness (Numbers 19)?
• Resolution: The priest who offered the heifer was stained until evening, teaching that the unclean becomes means of purification. Figuratively, Christ’s death (in which the Jews participated) becomes the universal means of cleansing from sin.

Theological Structure Established #

• Dual explanation method: All Old Law practices explained through both literal (historical/functional) and figurative (typological/Christological) causality
• Three functions of sacraments in Old Law: Institution, use, rules—applied proportionally to people and clergy
• Seven sacraments of New Law prefigured:
  1. Baptism (← Circumcision)
  2. Eucharist (← Paschal banquet)
  3. Penance (← Purifications)
  4. Holy Orders (← Priestly consecration)
  5. Confirmation (← No equivalent; fullness of grace not yet available)
  6. Last Anointing (← No equivalent; price not yet paid)
  7. Matrimony (← Existed naturally but not as sacrament of Church-Christ union)