The Articles.—There are seven Articles—xxv. to xxxi.—bearing more or less upon the subject; and from these we may gather the real teaching of our Church.  The first of them, the twenty-fifth, refers to sacraments in general.  ‘Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men’s professions, but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace, and God’s good will towards us, by the which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith in Him.’  In other words, before men they are badges of our profession, and before God they are signs or witnesses by which God works invisibly in the soul.  In this definition there is no idea of any change in the substance of the sign.  The sign is not described as being changed into the thing signified. . . Read More