General Principles of Sacramental Theology

by Roger W. Nutt

General Principles of Sacramental Theology addresses a current lacuna in English-language theological literature. Bernard Leeming's highly respected book Principles of Sacramental Theology was published more than sixty years ago. Since that time, there has been a noted decrease, especially in English-language sacramental theology, in treatments of the basic topics and principles―such as the nature of the sacraments of signs, sacramental grace, sacramental character, sacramental causality, sacramental intention, the necessity and number of the sacraments, sacramental matter and form, inter alia―which apply to all of the sacraments.

Rather than deconstruct the Church's tradition, as many recent books on the sacraments do, Roger Nutt offers a vibrant presentation of these principles as a sound foundation for a renewed appreciation of each of the seven sacraments in the Christian life as the divinely willed means of communion and friendship between God and humanity. The sacraments bestow and nourish the personal communion with Jesus Christ that is the true source of human happiness. Recourse to the patrimony of Catholic wisdom, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, can help to highlight the sacraments and their significance within the plan of salvation.

This book will be of use in seminary, graduate, and undergraduate courses. It is further offered as a source of hope to all those seeking deeper intimacy with God amidst the confusion, alienation, and disappointment that accompanies life in a fallen world. The sacraments play an irreplaceable role in pursuing a Universal Call to Holiness that is so central to Vatican II's teaching.

Genres: Religion, Theology

192 pages, Paperback

Published December 17, 2017

Reviews

[Pater Edmund]

An excellent introduction to sacramental theology. Particularly helpful is the way Nutt clears up some of the misunderstandings that arose in the Liturgical Movement. For example, Odo Casel's theory that the Liturgy makes the event of Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection present. Nutt argues that past events do not (as past) become present in the Sacraments—rather those mysteries are in risen and ascended Christ in the mode glory, and their power is mediated through the instrumental causality of the Sacraments, to give us participation in the glorified Christ.

[Michael Vidrine]

Decent introduction to sacramental theology. Basically, the book goes over the big points in Thomas’ sacramental theology, with more words and in more colloquial language, with a sprinkling of statements and ideas from other scholastic; Church councils and documents, and the heretics that they condemned; and contemporary theologians. The author did make some insightful connections, and perhaps my rating might be more of a reflection of the fact that I wasn’t exactly the target audience for this book (it was assigned for a class), but overall it is very “textbooky” and there were times when Nutt’s writings irked me for stylistic reasons as well.

[Justine Olawsky]

Very good overview of Thomas Aquinas's work in sacramental theology.

The structure of the book is very helpful in presenting the nitty-gritty of the sacraments (their theology, place in the economy of salvation, their matter and form, their necessity in worship, and their substance and effects, etc.) in a clear and concise way (with plenty of block quotes from Aquinas along the way). The only sore spot for me was chapter seven: "Sacramental Causality." Dr. Nutt jumps right into both philosophical and doctrinal weeds with far too much assumed-known jargon and far too little layperson framework for this neophyte. I barely made it through, and I am not sure how much I received from that chapter (though, I do think I understand the most bare of sacramental causality gists).

The rest of the book is crystalline prose, though. A nice, brisk, tangy counterpart to the gooeyness of Corbon's work on the liturgy, Wellspring of Worship.

[Richard Grebenc]

I purchased this book after an Amazon search for Catholic sacramental theology books as I prep for teaching a class on the sacraments. It is hard for me to rate this because this work contains some pretty lofty material in many places. This is theology from a Thomistic perspective and my philosophy is not as strong as it should be. Part I on methodological and doctrinal considerations and certain sections of Part III, particularly causality and grace were very challenging for me. The causality chapter could have used charts or tables to help clarify the different perspectives the author was presenting. On the other hand, Part II containing chapters on matter & form, intention, and necessity, was clearest and most interesting to me. The last chapter and conclusion were more down to earth and serve well as a wrap-up as well as providing some inspiration.

There are some fantastic insights and explications that most readers will be able to appreciate, but overall, it is not for the faint of heart. This may be best suited as supplemental material for a master's or doctoral class on the sacraments.

(A final note: The way block quotes are done in this book [maybe it's a CUA thing?] I found continually annoying. The quotes are not indented! I've never seen this in any other work. They simply do not stand out and seem part of the regular text. Strange.]

[Katherine Prezioso]

I have the tiniest background (about the same amount that there is grapefruit in a grapefruit LaCroix) that helped me in understanding this book (although it still took me forever to work through it), but I think that would be comprehensible and edifying to anyone who wanted to better understand the sacraments. I certainly don't think this is required reading and you could most definitely live a deeply sacramental life without ever picking this up. But if you have an interest in sacramental theology, I would highly recommend this book. It gives a thorough and straightforward overview of sacramental theology, based in Aquinas, with orthodox and thoughtful critiques and commentaries on modern theologians and schools of thought. 

[Kathryn]

Summary: The Sacramental theology of St. Thomas Aquinas broken down to help you understand the basics of contemporary sacramental theology and celebration.

Review: Not my favorite book. I think that sometimes the author's train of thought didn't follow through; it got tangled up in quotes from St. Thomas Aquinas and other Catholic philosophers. It's organization confused me. All around, good information, but not my favorite in terms of organization and straightforwardness.

[K.]

There is much of interest to the Reformed in this book. Written with exceptional clarity and drawing on the most careful and robust of the Roman tradition.