In Christianity and Catholicism
In Christianity, a sacrament is just a holy deed, however in Catholicism, it refers to an external symbol established by Christ to bestow grace. Five of the seven sacraments that were endorsed by Roman Catholicism have been rejected by Protestantism. The two sacraments that are recognized by Protestants are baptism and the Eucharist (Lord's Supper). The seven sacraments—baptism, marriage, ordination, Communion, confirmation, repentance, and anointing with oil—are recognized by Roman Catholicism. (1999, Osborne).
Differences in Sacraments
Protestants hold that the sacraments of confirmation, marriage, repentance, ordination, and anointing with oil lack any biblical support. For a Protestant, the aforementioned five sacraments are merely scriptural doctrines, not rituals (White 1999). Roman Catholic believes that the seven sacraments are visible biblical rites seen as signs and effective channels of the grace of GOD to all those receive them with proper disposition. The two denominations, therefore, have a different understanding of the concept (sacrament) making the number of sacraments differ between the sect.
Interpretation of Baptism
Both denominations practice baptism but in different modes; immersion, pouring and sprinkling. Therefore, it is clear that the two denominations have a different interpretation of various types of sacraments. The enumeration, understanding, naming, and adoption of sacraments formally differ according to denomination. For instance, the compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic church highlights that Christian initiation is accomplished using the sacrament which establishes the foundation of the Christian life (Martos 2001). The Protestants view initiation as just a rite of passage which should not be accompanied by any sacrament. The differences observed in the enumeration naming and adoption of the sacraments between the Catholics and the Protestants bring about the variation in the number of the sacraments.
References
Martos, J. (2001). Doors to the Sacred: A Historical Introduction to Sacraments in the Catholic Church. Liguori/Triumph.
Osborne, K. B. (1999). Christian Sacraments in a Postmodern World: A Theology for the Third Millennium. Paulist Press.
White, J. F. (1999). The Sacraments in Protestant Practice and Faith. Abingdon Press.
