Sacramentarians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of Protestant reformers who emphasize the significance of sacraments, advocating for a spiritual understanding rather than a literal interpretation
2. Individuals who maintain that sacraments are symbolic in nature, rejecting the belief in their intrinsic efficacy
3. Advocates for a view of religious rituals that focuses on personal faith and divine grace, rather than on the physical elements involved

Etymology: The plural "sacramentarians" is simply the plural of "sacramentarian," which is built from "sacrament" and the suffix "-arian," used to form nouns for adherents or followers of a doctrine. The pattern is the same as in "Unitarian" or "antiquarian," where the suffix attaches to a root to name a person who holds a particular belief or belongs to a particular camp. The base word "sacrament" came into English from Latin "sacramentum," a term that originally meant a sworn military oath, a pledge binding a soldier to his commander. Christian writers adopted it to render the Greek "mysterion," so the sense shifted from an oath of loyalty to a sacred rite. The word "sacramentarian" therefore names people defined by how they understand that rite, and in its specific sense it refers to those who read the Eucharist as a commemoration of grace received by faith rather than a change in the bread and wine.