On Heresy and Heretics (the Sacraments and Experience)
On Heresy and Heretics (the Sacraments and Experience)
Heretics do not view the Sacraments in terms of their secret effect in man, through which man receives an invisible grace by the work of the Holy Spirit…
Rather, they view each Sacrament as an experience.
And they do not call the Sacraments “Sacraments”; rather, they call them experiences!!
They say that there are two important experiences which a person undergoes: ordination and sanctification. They make these two experiences in the place of the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacrament of Chrismation, without referring at all to these two Sacraments, nor to their relationship with the Church and the priesthood…
And life with God, in their view, is merely experiences!
The new birth, for example, is not, in their view, one of the Sacraments of the Church; rather, it is merely an experience! And they ask:
Have you, brother, had the experience of the new birth?
Come, speak to people about your experience—how were you born?
But we see it as a holy grace, which God has bestowed upon us in the Church through her holy Sacraments…
Anyone who speaks to you or asks you to speak about such an “experience”… tell him: Your language reveals you.
[1] An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, in Keraza Magazine, ninth year, issue 50, December 15, 1978.For better translation support, please contact the center.
