On the Sacraments

Albert the Great’s On the Sacraments is a scholastic treatise loosely based on Peter Lombard’s Sentences. Albert treats the full range of theological issues that will be found in his later Commentary on the Sentences, although in a much leaner manner. In this work, Albert finds himself less bound to the commentary style and sometimes more free to put forward his own conclusions. For example, Albert offers his own definition of a sacrament rather than only critiquing those of others. In most cases, Albert offers the same teaching which he will later present in his more mature Commentary on the Sentences, although there are a few points on which his teaching varies. These have often been noted in the introduction and footnotes.Albert’s sacramental theology centers intensely around the idea of inner healing. Albert’s paradigm for understanding the seven sacraments is Christ the Divine Physician who applies distinct medicines to seven different wounds. Albert roots a strong theology of sacramental signification and (dispositive) causality in the life and power of Christ. He writes, "there are two things in the Son of God, namely power and wisdom, from whom every sacrament draws power, there must be two things in a sacrament corresponding to these, namely, a cause and a sign." It is partially his consistent application of the rubric of signification and causality to each sacrament that allows Albert to offer a breakthrough teaching on the sacrament of marriage as able to cause grace.