VanderZee on Sacraments

Leonard J. Vander Zee’s Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper is the most satisfying introduction to sacramental theology that I’ve come across. VanderZee works out a Reformed understanding of sacraments in general (focusing on the fact that sacraments are God’s action – hardly a Reformed monopoly, of course), as well as a host of issues on the sacraments of baptism and the Supper. VanderZee, however, does not simply repeat Reformed slogans, but brings in voices and perspectives from other traditions (Schmemann is quoted a good bit, and William Cavanagh makes an appearance or two), and updates sacramental theology in all the right directions. He aims his main criticisms against evangelical Protestant anti-sacramentalism, which he sees, quite rightly, as a manifestation of gnosticism. This book would make a wonderful text for a class on sacraments, or even for a church reading group, since it’s written in a popular style.