Sacrament

Sacrament, in Christian theology, visible sign and pledge of invisible grace, ordained by Jesus Christ. The traditional 7 sacraments (first listed by Peter Lombard) are baptism, Holy Communion, confirmation, penance, ordination, marriage, and extreme unction, of which only the first two are accepted as sacraments by many Protestants. In Roman Catholic theology the sacraments, if validly administered, convey grace objectively to the believing recipients; Protestants stress the joining of Word and sacrament and the necessity of faith.

See also: Christianity.