late 4th – early 5th century

Augustine on the sacraments: validity, efficacy and sign

In the controversy with the Donatists, who held that the validity of a sacrament depends on the holiness of the minister, Augustine taught that the sacrament is performed by the authority of Christ and is valid even with an unworthy minister. Unlike Cyprian he recognized as valid the sacraments performed outside the catholic Church, but regarded them as irregular and of no benefit until the person joined the Church; therefore those returning were not rebaptized but received the laying on of hands. McGrath describes this as the contrast between the Donatist "ex opere operantis" and Augustine's "ex opere operato," which the magisterial Reformers also accepted. For Augustine "sacrament" is akin to "sign"; he ascribed to baptism cleansing from sins, regeneration and the gift of the Spirit and extended them to infants, and spoke of the Eucharist in both realistic and spiritual language. Hall and González regard his teaching as the foundation of Western sacramental theology.